UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Farida Safwat, Elham Mobini and Ramy George, NHB Legal
2.3 Cross-Border Disputes and Conflicts Issues Jurisdictional and choice-of-law disputes commonly arise where policies involve international elements, for example, where the insurer is incorporated in a different jurisdiction to the policyholder, where the insured assets are located elsewhere, or where the insured risk extends across several territories. These issues are most common in commercial insurance and reinsurance matters involving overseas insurers or insureds. In the UAE onshore courts, conflicts of jurisdiction are determined by the UAE’s new Civil Transactions Act, which provides that the law expressly chosen by the parties will govern their contractual obligations, in relation to both form and substance. Where the parties have not chosen an applicable law, this is determined by a range of relevant factors, including the parties’ place of business and domicile, the location of the risk, and the place of contractual performance. In practice, the application of foreign law has proven challenging for parties in the UAE courts. Foreign law is treated as a question of fact by the UAE courts and so the parties will need to set out the contents of the applicable foreign law to the court’s satisfaction. Such international elements can give rise to practical challenges, including parallel proceedings in different jurisdictions or uncertainty regarding the interaction between onshore, offshore and foreign courts. 2.4 Anti-Suit Injunctions With regards to the UAE courts’ approach, where pro- ceedings are commenced in breach of an arbitration agreement, the UAE courts will generally refer the par- ties to arbitration, provided that the arbitration clause itself is not subject to dispute. This approach is reflec- tive of the UAE’s obligation as a signatory to the New York Convention. In relation to exclusive jurisdiction clauses, the posi- tion differs slightly. UAE courts will apply the UAE legislative framework in deciding whether they have jurisdiction over a case.
Importantly, anti-suit and anti-arbitration injunctions are not a traditional form of relief offered by the UAE onshore courts in the same way they are in common- law jurisdictions. UAE courts will not issue injunctions restraining foreign proceedings in breach of an exclu- sive jurisdiction or arbitration agreement. In these matters, the most common approach is to challenge jurisdiction in the proceedings themselves where they have been commenced. These issues are particularly relevant in the context of international commercial policies and reinsurance arrangements, where exclusive jurisdiction and arbi- tration clauses are common. Practical challenges can often arise in the context of parallel proceedings where foreign courts are already hearing the dispute, requiring the UAE courts to balance enforcement of contractual rights against the risk of duplicative pro- ceedings and inconsistent judgments. 2.5 AI-Related Dispute Resolution and Jurisdiction AI-related disputes are an emerging area of law, par- ticularly in relation to jurisdictional and conflict-of-laws issues. Given the relatively recent development of AI technologies, the onshore UAE courts have had little opportunity to develop a coherent body of case law addressing these disputes. The multi-jurisdictional nature of AI technology creates particular jurisdictional challenges, as liability could potentially span different jurisdictions. For example, the AI model may be developed in one jurisdiction, trained in another and then deployed to users across multiple locations. These factors are likely to compli- cate where precisely the cause of action arose, where the loss was sustained, and consequently, which law should apply. Data protection considerations are likely to be a key connecting factor in determining jurisdiction in AI- related disputes. UAE data protection law regulates certain international data activity. AI disputes involv- ing UAE-based data subjects or activities may trig- ger UAE data protection obligations regardless of the location of the AI system or the cloud provider.
271 I NSURANCE L I T IGATI O N 2026
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