UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohammed Alsuwaidi, Ali Alraeesi, Rajiv Suri and Merline Dsouza, Alsuwaidi & Company
Tier 2 See 2.3 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Domestic Judgments . Before Offshore Courts (DIFC and ADGM Courts) The DIFC and ADGM Court processes can vary due to potential enforcement challenges and required hearings to ensure compliance with court require - ments. This may take several months, depending on the challenge and hearing preparation. Costs are low for straightforward applications for recognition and enforcement, but any challenge by the defendant could be lengthy and complex. 3.6 Challenging Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Before Onshore Courts It is not possible for any UAE court to order the execu - tion of a foreign judgment before the following is veri - fied: • the reciprocity requirement – the UAE court must ensure that the judgments and orders delivered by a foreign country may be ordered to be executed in the UAE under the same conditions as prescribed in the law of that country for the execution of judg - ments and orders issued in the UAE; • the UAE courts are not exclusively competent in the dispute in which the judgment or order was rendered; • the judgment or order is delivered by a competent court in accordance with the law of the country in which it was issued, and the judgment or order is duly ratified and authenticated (ie, it must be shown that the judgment or order has been ren - dered enforceable in the jurisdiction in which it was made by having the exequatur form affixed by the court of issuance); • the litigants in the case in which the foreign judg - ment was delivered were summoned and were duly represented; • the judgment or order has the force of res judicata in accordance with the law of the court that issued it; • the judgment does not contradict any existing judgment or order rendered by any UAE court, and does not contain anything contrary to public policy or morality in the UAE; and
• the execution judge has the right to obtain the documents supporting the application before issu - ing their decision. Therefore, if a creditor obtained an execution order that the debtor finds does not comply with these con - ditions, the debtor may challenge the execution order following the Tier 2 procedure, as stated in 3.4 Pro- cess of Enforcing Foreign Judgments . Before Offshore Courts DIFC The DIFC Courts will only look to ensure that the court that issued the judgment had jurisdiction to determine the dispute, and will assume that the foreign court had jurisdiction where the defendant: • was present in the jurisdiction when proceedings were commenced; • was a party to the proceedings; or • otherwise submitted to the jurisdiction of the rel - evant court (ie, by filing a defence or party agree - ment). ADGM The following requirements must be met in order to avoid a challenge. • In the case of a judgment given in an action in person: (a) the judgment debtor voluntarily appeared in the proceedings; (b) the judgment debtor was a claimant or coun - terclaimant in the proceedings in the original court; (c) the judgment debtor had agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of that court or of the courts of the country of that court, before the com - mencement of the proceedings; (d) the judgment debtor was resident in – or being a body corporate was registered under the laws of – the country of that court when the ac - tion was commenced; or (e) the judgment debtor had an office or a place of business in the country of that court, and the proceedings in that court were in respect of a transaction effected through or at that office or place.
518 CHAMBERS.COM
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