UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohammed Alsuwaidi, Ali Alraeesi, Rajiv Suri and Merline Dsouza, Alsuwaidi & Company
Enforcement in Dubai Outside of the DIFC of Arbitral Awards Ratified by DIFC Courts Awards recognised by the DIFC Courts may be enforced outside the DIFC in accordance with the Judicial Authority Law, which provides for the same procedures as outlined in 2.2 Enforcement of Domes- tic Judgments . Recognition under this Law includes ratification for the purposes of Article 7 of the Judicial Authority Law. Process of Enforcing Arbitral Awards Before the Offshore Courts DIFC Articles 42–44 of the DIFC Law No 1 of 2008 as amended by virtue of DIFC Law No 1 of 2013 (the “DIFC Arbitration Law”), together with Parts 43.62– 43.74 of the RDC, are relevant for the enforcement of awards within the DIFC (wherever the seat of the award). A party must make an application for enforcement in the DIFC Courts under Articles 42 (1) and 43 of the DIFC Arbitration Law, and under Part 43 of the Rules of the DIFC Courts by using a Part 8 claim form. Appli - cations can be made without notice. Subject to any challenges to recognition and enforcement, the DIFC Court will issue an order in both English and Arabic if it decides to recognise the award. The applicant must then serve the DIFC Court order on the other party. It should be noted that the award cannot be enforced until a period of 14 days has elapsed since the publication of the award or until any set-aside order has been finally dealt with. Parts 43.62–43.74 of the RDC regulate the enforce - ment of arbitral awards, regardless of the seat of the award. The documents for enforcing an award in the DIFC include: • a witness statement exhibiting the original award, or a certified copy; • the original arbitration agreement, or a certified copy (if these are not in English, a certified transla - tion should also be provided); and
• a draft recognition/enforcement order in English and Arabic. ADGM Part 4 of the ADGM Arbitration Regulations 2015 and Chapter 10 of the ADGM Court Regulations are the pertinent legislation for the ADGM procedure. Article 56 of the ADGM Arbitration Law sets out the basic requirements for the recognition or enforcement of an arbitral award, regardless of the seat of the arbitration. The documents for enforcing an award in the ADGM include: • the original or a duly certified copy of both the arbi - tral award and the arbitration agreement; and • an application for the enforcement of an award, which must contain: (a) an arbitration claim form; (b) the name and registered business address (or usual or last known place of residence for an individual) of the award creditor and debtor; and (c) any information on the extent to which the award has been complied with at the date of the application. 4.5 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Arbitral Awards Domestic Arbitral Awards Before Onshore Courts The court fees payable for Tier 1 related to the con - firmation of the award vary between AED320 and AED520, depending on the emirate in which the appli - cation is submitted. The court will issue its decision on an ex parte basis within 60 days of submission of the request for confirmation and enforcement. For Tier 2, after obtaining the confirmation of the award and the exequatur referred to in Tier 1 above, the creditor shall rely on the provisions of the CPL in the same way as explained in 3.4 Process of Enforc- ing Foreign Judgments . The costs and timeframe will be the same as described in 2.3 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Domestic Judgments . Foreign Arbitral Awards Before Onshore Courts The court fees payable are the same as listed for Tier 1 above. The court will issue its decision on the execu -
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