UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohammed Alsuwaidi, Ali Alraeesi, Rajiv Suri and Merline Dsouza, Alsuwaidi & Company
• by way of deputising an Abu Dhabi Judicial Depart - ment enforcement judge; or • by a direct application to the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department for enforcement. Both of these methods would require: • a copy and a translation of the judgment into Ara - bic, along with an executory letter from the ADGM Court; and • written evidence that the judgment has been served upon the judgment debtor. Enforcement Before Offshore Courts Enforcement of onshore judgments before DIFC Courts Charging order This is undertaken by obtaining a court order putting a charge over property (including land and securities) that is owned by the judgment debtor. This order pre - vents the judgment debtor from selling assets that are covered by the order without reference to the judg - ment creditor. It also allows the judgment creditor to seek an order from the court for the sale of those assets in order to pay the judgment debt. An application is made without notice to the court, and a judge handles the application without a hearing. Following this, a final judgment order can be applied for, where the judgment debtor will be able to dispute the charging order. Attachment of assets This follows the same procedure as a charging order but pertains to obtaining a third-party debt for pay - ment owed to the judgment debtor (a third-party debt order). This allows the judgment creditor to receive payment directly from the third party for which an application is made, similar to a charging order, except that the order is final unless the third party applies for it to be reconsidered, contending that the sum paya - ble to the judgment debtor exceeds the amount owed, or no debt is owed to the judgment debtor. Attachment of earnings Where the judgment debtor is an individual, the judg - ment creditor may make an application for an attach - ment of earnings. This provides for a court order
instructing the judgment debtor’s employer to pay a specified amount out of the judgment debtor’s earn - ings to the judgment creditor. The debt must be in excess of USD100. An application is made in the same way as for a charging order. Enforcement by taking delivery of goods The judgment creditor may apply to the court to take delivery of the judgment debtor’s goods in order to sell them and pay the judgment debt. If the court makes such an order, an enforcement officer (bailiff) will be instructed to serve a writ of execution upon the goods of the judgment debtor. The goods are usually sold by public auction, although an application can be made for sale other than by public auction. The judgment debtor may make an application to the court to stay the execution of the court order for such periods as the court considers reasonable. An application is made in the same way as for a charg - ing order. Insolvency proceedings – appointment of a receiver This is an unusual method of enforcing a judgment debt and should only be used as a last resort where it is not possible to use the other methods of enforce - ment. The difficulty will be that the fees of a receiver may outweigh the assets of the judgment debtor or that a significant proportion of the judgment debtor’s assets are covered by security from banks, etc, which may take precedence over the debts owed to the judgment creditor. Freezing order A judgment creditor may apply for a freezing order where the judgment debtor may move assets out of the court’s jurisdiction. Good evidence of such a risk will be needed. Enforcement of onshore judgments – DIFC Courts The DIFC Courts can enforce judgments from onshore UAE courts. This is undertaken by an application made to the DIFC Court with all relevant details of the debtor along with a copy of the award to be enforced. The DIFC Court Registrar may deal with the applica - tion without the need for a hearing, although one may occasionally be required. Once the DIFC Court has decided that the onshore award can be enforced, the
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