UAE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ibrahim Al Qassim, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Qassim and Abdulla Ibrahim Al Qassim, Ibrahim Al Qassim & Partners
Recent Developments in the ADGM Enforcement Framework Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone operates its own inde - pendent judicial system, applying English common law directly and issuing judgments enforceable imme - diately within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The practical question is what happens once the debt - or’s assets sit outside ADGM. On 14 January 2025, the ADGM Courts and the onshore Dubai Courts signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a direct reciprocal enforcement mechanism, building on a similar 2018 arrangement with the onshore Abu Dhabi courts. The underlying principle is consistent across the UAE; a judgment is directly enforceable within the jurisdiction that issued it, while enforcement outside that jurisdiction generally requires a recogni - tion process, and any movement beyond that system requires a recognition step, however abbreviated that step may now be. Unlike the DIFC, legislation expressly prevents the ADGM Courts from operating as a conduit for judg - ments with no connection to the ADGM at all, so par - ties seeking that broader conduit function may there - fore consider the DIFC rather than the ADGM. For businesses structuring holding companies or funds in the ADGM, the practical lesson is to consider in advance where any judgment obtained would need to be enforced. Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments For international businesses, the most pressing enforcement question is often the simplest to state and the most difficult to answer: if a party holds a judgment issued by a foreign court or an arbitral award issued by a foreign tribunal, can it be enforced against assets located in the UAE? As of 2026, the answer depends on a framework comprising appli - cable treaties, reciprocity principles, and mandatory procedural requirements. The UAE operates within a comprehensive network of international enforcement instruments. The New York Convention provides a widely recognised basis for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, while the 1966 International Centre for Set - tlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention
provides the framework for investor-State arbitration and the recognition of ICSID awards. Regional instru - ments, including the Riyadh Arab Agreement for Judi - cial Co-operation and the GCC Convention, facilitate recognition and enforcement within their respective scopes, while bilateral agreements with numerous countries further expand the available enforcement framework. In the absence of an applicable treaty, reciprocity may remain a relevant consideration in the enforcement analysis. However, recent UAE practice indicates an increasingly pragmatic approach to facilitating the recognition of foreign judgments while maintaining the mandatory procedural safeguards prescribed by UAE law. What is frequently overlooked is that this framework operates on a reciprocal basis: the UAE facilitates the recognition of foreign judgments while requiring compliance with the mandatory conditions prescribed by UAE law. A foreign judgment will not be enforced unless the statutory requirements and procedures for recognition and enforcement have been satisfied, regardless of the value of the judgment. This was demonstrated in a case where enforcement of an Eng - lish judgment valued at approximately AED494 million was refused due to the failure to satisfy the mandatory procedural requirements for recognition and enforce - ment, rather than as a result of any reconsideration of the merits of the underlying dispute. Practical Implications • Before commencing proceedings, identify attach - able assets and build the evidentiary record neces - sary for a precautionary attachment application proportionate to the claim, rather than automati - cally seeking the maximum available amount. • Treat detention and travel bans as procedurally dis - tinct measures: conduct asset-disclosure enquiries before relying on detention, given that the eviden - tiary threshold is materially higher. • Review arbitration clauses in financing and com - mercial agreements before assuming that a debt - or’s arbitration objection will successfully delay enforcement of a clear and well-documented claim. • Integrate enforcement strategy into contract draft - ing itself: dispute resolution clauses in multi-tiered
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