ABU DHABI 28 November 2021: His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, has approved a wide-ranging reform of the country’s legal system, which aims to strengthen economic, investment and commercial opportunities, in addition to maximizing social stability, security and ensuring the rights of both individuals and institutions.
The draft of new laws and legislative amendments came during the “Year of the 50th” and are intended to keep pace with the developmental achievements of the UAE and reflect the country’s future aspirations. Over 40 laws are included in the changes, which together represent the largest legal reform in the young nation’s 50-year history.
The amendments aim to develop the legislative structure in various sectors, including investment, trade and industry, as well as commercial company, regulation and protection of industrial property, copyright, trademarks, commercial register, electronic transactions, trust services, factoring, and residency, in addition to laws related to society and personal security including as the Crime and Punishment Law, the Online Security Law, and a laws regulating the production, sale and use of narcotics and psychotropic substances.
The new legislative changes came after intensive coordination at both the local and federal levels, where teams comprising 540 specialists and experts from 50 federal and local authorities have worked together over the past five months in consultation with over 100 private sector organisations in order to reflect global best practice in the new legal provisions.
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