UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohammed Alsuwaidi, Ali Alraeesi, Rajiv Suri and Merline Dsouza, Alsuwaidi & Company
(a) money judgments and non-money judgments, whether rendered by onshore or offshore courts; (b) payment orders; (c) precautionary attachment orders, whether ren - dered by onshore or offshore courts; (d) interlocutory or interim orders, whether ren - dered by onshore or offshore courts; (e) judgments in presence or in absentia rendered by the criminal court; and (f) reconciliation judgments rendered by the crimi - nal court. • Notarised documents in accordance with the law on authentication and notarisation. This category includes any mortgage contract. • Minutes of the conciliation ratified by the courts, whether onshore or offshore courts. • Other documents granted in the capacity set by the law. Enforcement Before Offshore Courts DIFC and ADGM Each free zone has its own enforcement regime and reciprocal enforcement mechanisms. Judgments of the DIFC Courts and ADGM Courts are enforce - able within their jurisdictions and onshore through co-operation protocols with UAE judicial authorities. Both of these courts also recognise and enforce UAE judgments, foreign judgments, and arbitral awards under the New York Convention. Through treaties and memoranda, including the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and Riyadh Conventions and bilateral agree - ments with countries such as India, China, France and now the UK, they benefit from extensive cross-border enforcement networks. 2.2 Enforcement of Domestic Judgments Enforcement Before Onshore Courts For a judgment or any writ of execution to be enforced, it must have the exequatur form affixed by the court. On obtaining the exequatur, the creditor shall rely on Article 233 of the Civil Procedure Law (CPL) on enforcement procedures, in addition to other Articles. A creditor shall apply to the execution judge, asking for the enforcement of the above-mentioned exequa - tur, following which the execution court will open a new lawsuit called an “execution case” and notify the
debtor to pay the debt within seven days from the date of the notification. The provisions of the CPL grant the holder of a writ of execution the right to impose pre - cautionary attachments as well as executory attach - ments over assets that are owned by a debtor or in the possession of a third party. Upon successful applica - tion, the court issues an attachment order against the debtor’s assets. The provisions allow the holder of a writ of execution to request that the court declare the debtor insolvent or bankrupt (as the case may be), and/or impose detainment and a travel ban in certain circumstances to fulfil the judgment debts. Declaration of bankruptcy or insolvency UAE law differentiates between bankruptcy and insol - vency procedures, as follows: • bankruptcy procedures apply to commercial companies and any person having the capacity of trader, and are now regulated by the new law – ie, UAE Federal Decree Law No 51 of 2023 on Bank - ruptcy; and • insolvency procedures apply to natural persons or non-trader debtors who are regulated by UAE Federal Decree Law No 19 of 2019 on Insolvency, and who are not subject to the provisions of UAE Federal Decree Law No 51 of 2023. Under either of the aforementioned laws, a judgment creditor can apply to the Court of First Instance, requesting that it declare a debtor bankrupt or insol - vent, depending on the capacity of the debtor, if the assets of the latter are insufficient to satisfy the judg - ment. Detainment When the creditor possessing any writ of execution, such as a judgment ordering specific performance, finds that the debtor fails to fulfil their obligations, they may approach the execution judge to request that the debtor’s imprisonment be for a period not exceed - ing one month, renewable for additional periods. That being said, the decision of the General Assembly of the Court of Cassation in Dubai (Decision No 4/2023) and the General Assembly of the Dubai Court of Cas - sation (Decision No 9 of 2024) regarding the rules of
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