UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Law and Practice Contributed by: Stuart Paterson, Janine Mallis and Tania Forichon, Herbert Smith Freehills
The debt must be settled within 15 days. If the debtor fails to do so, the execution judge can be requested to enforce the judgment. Usually, a UAE judgment is enforced in the form of an attachment order. The attachment could be to property, stocks, bonds, shares, or real estate. Other methods of enforcement may include bankruptcy proceedings. However, debtors will usually appeal such judgments to achieve delay. Process of Deputation Enforcement for inter-emirate judgments (and previously the enforcement of DIFC court judg - ments and orders outside Dubai, but in the UAE) must be pursued through the process of “depu- tation” or “referral” as provided under Article 71 of Cabinet Decision No 57 of 2018. Article 71 provides that the execution court will refer the judgment or order to the execution judge for the area in which the judgment or order is sought to be enforced and provide the latter with all the legal documents required for execu - tion. The execution judge to whom the referral is made would then take all the decisions neces - sary to execute the referral and rule on proce - dural objections relating to the execution. The execution judge who has carried out the execution will inform the execution court which made the referral of what has happened, and transfer any items or property received by them; if the execution judge to whom the matter has been referred finds legal reasons precluding the execution, they must notify the execution court. Dubai and the DIFC In Dubai, there is a reciprocal protocol of enforcement between the courts of the DIFC and onshore Dubai, pursuant to which a judgment of the Dubai courts (or DIFC court) can, subject to certain procedural formalities being met, be
enforced in the DIFC as though it were a DIFC court judgment (or enforced in the Dubai courts as though it were a Dubai court judgment). For a number of years, the DIFC Courts were labelled as ‘conduit jurisdiction’ because foreign judgment holders were bypassing the onshore courts by first enforcing their foreign judgments in the DIFC Courts (and then enforcing them in onshore UAE). To address this concern, a Com - mittee was established to determine issues of conflict of jurisdiction between the DIFC and Dubai Courts. This Committee was recently replaced by the Judicial Authority for Resolving Jurisdictional Conflicts between DIFC Courts and Judicial Authorities in Dubai and has been given a wider remit. Abu Dhabi and the ADGM In Abu Dhabi, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department and the ADGM has been signed to reciprocally enforce their judgments, decisions, and orders. MoU Between DIFC/ADGM and Ras Al Khaimah Similarly, an MoU between DIFC courts and Ras Al Khaimah courts and an MoU between Ras Al Khaimah courts and ADGM courts for enforce - ment of judgments have been signed. Arbitral Awards A domestic award must first be ratified by the UAE Court of Appeal, which will issue an enforcement order (see Articles 52-57 of the UAE Arbitration Law). Several documents need to be filed to proceed. The enforcement order will be issued 60 days after filing unless opposed on grounds for annulment under Article 54. In the DIFC, an arbitral award will be recognised as binding as soon as the DIFC Courts have
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