DUBAI 21 June 2021: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has directed the Ministry of Justice to hold 80 percent of litigation sessions virtually on a permanent basis before the end of 2021.
“The UAE has succeeded in adopting virtual litigation systems during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Sheikh Mohammed tweeted today.
“Today, we directed the Ministry of Justice to turn 80 percent of litigation hearings to virtual sessions on a permanent basis before the end of 2021. Our goal is to be the fastest, the best and the fairest in judicial services,” he added.
The UAE, he continued, boasts an advanced infrastructure that has been developed across the recent years on a solid basis, The aim now, he said, is to expand the government services relying on holistic digital solutions in a way that enables the litigation system to continue to ensure social justice despite besetting challenges, said Wam.
“The UAE has turned the Covid challenges into unprecedented opportunities for growth and development and secured qualitative jumps in developing the country’s vital sectors and digitising services thanks to its forward-thinking vision and readiness to continue to provide optimum services for the people,” he added, noting that improving people’s quality of life lies at the heart of government work objectives.
‘Small Claims Court’ set up in Abu Dhabi
H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs, and President of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD), has signed a decision establishing the Small Claim Court, based on the strategic priority of the Judicial Department.
Youssef Saeed Al-Abri, Under-Secretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, affirmed the commitment of the UAE’s leadership to establish a legislative and judicial infrastructure to organise litigation procedures, particularly small cases in terms of the value of the claim, by reducing the number of measures taken to shorten the adjudication time in comparison to ordinary litigation procedures in line with the global competitiveness standards.
He stated that the decision guarantees a speedy adjudication of cases and preserves at the same time the rights of all parties, as the court has the jurisdiction to settle civil, commercial and labour disputes in addition to salary claims of less than Dh500,000 of value. The final decisions of this Court are rendered at the same hearing.
The decision to establish the Small Claims Court has provided a mechanism to expedite the case preparation. The said procedure shall be finalised within 15 days as of the date of registration of the case, which period can be extended for a similar period only by a decision of the supervising judge, and the decision ending the litigation shall be issued in one and same hearing during which the grounds of the dispute are set out.
The decision also provides a set of procedures that ensure the completion of the case in a record time. This happens by devising proactive solutions before filing the lawsuit, as the need for the claimant who files a request requiring the opinion of a technical expert to pay the expert’s fees up to 3 percent of the amount of the claim and this sum shall not be less than AED2,000 with the requirement to set the preparation session within 3 days from the date of receiving the report, as well as the possibility to take the expert’s opinion orally during the hearing.
Concerning appeal procedures, the decision allows the appeal of the decisions ending the litigation and which value exceeds the amount of AED50,000, within 15 days from the date of the judgment, provided that a fixed security amount of Dh1,000 is deposited for each appeal.
The said amount is refundable if the appeal is accepted. The court shall determine the appeal in chambers within 5 working days at the latest as of the date of registration. In all cases, the decisions rendered on the appeal shall be final and cannot be challenged by any means of appeal.
