Many people opt to go for litigation without hiring a legal professional, mainly because they can’t afford it. This article provides a brief summary of the steps and procedures of litigation. As the process itself can be confusing to many, even after getting a favorable judgment, we present some tips to help them execute judgments issued by the court and get their rights if an amicable solution has not been reached.
The structure of the UAE legal system is guided by Civil Law. Below is an overview of the UAE court procedures which answers the most common queries. It is a procedure in which the party in whose favor the court rules seeks to collect their rights at the Execution Judge’s desk by mandate of Law if their right is not fulfilled amicably.
No executory action can be taken in the absence of a legally enforceable document according to Article 225 of the Federal Law no. 11/ 1992 as the Civil Procedures Law states that:
Executive instruments include:
1) Decisions and orders
2) Authenticated documents in accordance with the authentication and attestation of the regulatory law
3) Reconciliation minutes attested at the courts
4) Other documents carrying similar capacity by law include:
- Orders and decisions issued by Freezone.
- Judicial deputations from other courts in the country or diplomatic deputations from courts in other countries.
- Execution of Personal Status cases and including documents resulting from judgments, certifications, and attestations such as alimony, visitation, custody, transferring of children and so related to family matters.
- Execution of a judgment issued by Dubai Courts for the execution of a judgment issued by a foreign country or the execution of an issued judgment to execute a foreign arbitration decision.
- Execution is not permissible except for the exceptions mentioned in the law unless a copy of an executive bond carrying the following phrase is presented:
“All concerned authorities must initiate the execution of this bond and all its requirements. Authorities must strive to implement it when asked to do so by force if necessary”.
Requirements for Execution Petition
1) Submitting the execution petition in Arabic inclusive of:
- Name of the petitioner and the name of the judgment debtor.
- Reference to the execution bond, field of execution and the possibility of execution by force.
- Details about the rights in question.
- Petitioners’ demands with the limitations of the execution bond.
2) Submitting the attested Power of Attorney or any document proving legal representation of capacity of the petitioner.
3) Presence of the petitioner or the legal representative, guardian, establishment owner or manager.
4) Payment of legal fees.
Court Procedures for Application
1) Registering the petition at the Central Services Section.
2) A notice for the executive bond is prepared and mandated to fulfill the judgment. The defendant is given a notice period of 15 days to fulfill obligations along with payments of the execution fee from the date of the notice of the execution bond.
3) Execution notice of evacuation is 30 days from the date of the notice of the execution bond.
4) The defendant is notified of the above-mentioned notice through the notification section.
5) If the defendant does not fulfill his obligations upon the notification during the allotted period, the plaintiff can follow up with the Execution Section and ask for the defendant’s assets to be frozen, if any. A sale order of such assets is issued to collect the amount owned or an arrest order against the defendant is issued until dues are paid.
Execution Application
All applications are directed to the execution judge except for the suspension of judgment application. It is presented before the Judge after the suspension judgment is issued by the specialized Judge.
Examples of applications in the execution file:
1) Inquiry of Judgement debtor’s assets including [vehicles, vessels, real estate, shares, securities and investment bonds, bank accounts and cash deposits to banks, salaries and dues (Employee/ worker), trade and professional permits, stocks and profits].
2) Attachment of Judgement debtor’s assets within the limits of the claim.
3) Summary application (Summary Actions).
4) Subpoena Application.
5) Travel ban cancellation application.
6) Participation in execution application.
7) Property sale application.
8) Sale of property share application.
9) Renew the debtor’s detention application.
10) Release application.
There are also procedures for attachments and the related documents required with the sale of the Assets. Also, there are procedures for sale and attachment which are done at the final stage in order to realize the amount of claim in the Execution.
The procedure for the Execution before UAE Court is steady and fast. However, the delay happens due to the non-existence of the registered address of the Judgement Debtor and the problem faced by the bailiff (i.e. the UAE Court Execution department) to confiscate the properties and locate the same.
