Amendments to the UAE Civil Procedures Law took effect in 2015 but three years on what are the practical ramifications of these?
As part of The Oath GC Talks Series, Horizons & Co hosted a seminar to discuss how the amendments have affected service and notification, claims and appeals and attachment orders.
The interactive seminar was hosted by Chairman Adv. Ali Al Zarooni and was attended by a mix of legal professionals from various local and international organisations based here in the UAE.
The amendments to the Civil Procedural Law were primarily introduced to expedite and facilitate the process of notification and service, therefore Adv. Ali began the session by sharing his knowledge of the system. A discussion followed and attendees shared their experience regarding the notification procedure and how the changes have affected them; given that a notice can now be served through a company or any employee, including domestic helpers. Using modern communication methods, including email, text message and Whatsapp was another great talking point where it was highly advised that companies use a centralised email address for all official notifications.
Commencement and lodging of claims and appeals was the next topic, where Adv. Ali discussed the modernisation of the court system in that it is now possible for cases to be registered electronically on the court website. However, the practical problem arises in determining the date of registration of the case. The amended articles determine that a lawsuit is considered filed when it is logged or registered online, however, the Law on Fees determines that a lawsuit is considered filed once the fees are paid in full.
As with the previous topic, attendees had an abundance of personal experience in this regard and Adv. Ali’s experience with the UAE courts and judges proved to be a great source of knowledge for our attendees.
The majority of participants were interested to learn about attachment orders, with the discussion ranging from; the types of attachment orders, the requirements for successful attachments, practical steps for attachment and most importantly the time frame for securing attachments. The time frame is 8 days, however, there always seems to be confusion and debate over when the 8 days should begin.
The session ended with Adv. Ali sharing his experience of the Dubai Court system, highlighting how crucial it is for organisations to partner with a local lawyer.
We were given excellent feedback on the session and intend to make it a regular occurrence, both in partnership with The Oath as well as hosting in-house seminars.
If you would like to speak to our legal team on the topic discussed, or any other matter, contact us at [email protected] or on 04 354 4444.