Federal Decree-Law No. (32) of 2022 On the Federal Judicial Authority

Purpose and legislative background

The decree-law consolidates the institutional rules governing the federal judiciary and public prosecution while expressly protecting judicial independence and defining the Federal Judicial Council's role.

The official source remains published as the current federal judicial-authority framework in the 2026 research pass. Because judicial personnel legislation may be amended by later federal instruments, the official source should be checked before relying on a service-condition rule.

Scope and who it applies to

• Federal judges and members of Federal Public Prosecution.
• The Federal Judicial Council.
• Federal courts and their judicial administration.
• Judicial inspection bodies and relevant Ministry of Justice functions.
• Persons interacting with the federal judicial system where institutional competence is relevant.

Key definitions

• Federal Judicial Authority comprises the federal courts and Federal Public Prosecution.
• Federal Courts are structured in the hierarchy defined by Article 12.
• Federal Judicial Council is the statutory governance council described in Part One.

Main rights and obligations

• Judges are protected by statutory judicial independence.
• Judicial officers must comply with the professional, ethical and service duties imposed by the decree-law.
• The Federal Judicial Council exercises the statutory governance and personnel powers allocated to it.
• Federal court/public-prosecution administration must operate within the legal institutional framework.

Procedures and compliance

1. For institutional questions, identify the relevant part on the Council, courts, prosecution or judicial personnel.
2. For a litigation step, use the Civil Procedure Code or Criminal Procedure Law rather than this institutional law unless the issue is judicial competence/structure.
3. For appointment or disciplinary matters, follow the detailed internal process stated in the decree-law and implementing decisions.

Deadlines and time limits

• Issued date: 3 October 2022.
• Effective date: 2 January 2023.
• Personnel or disciplinary time limits are issue-specific and must be checked in the exact article.

Enforcement, violations and penalties

Institutional and disciplinary enforcement is carried out through the bodies and procedures established by the decree-law. This law is not a general criminal-penalty code for court users.

Important distinction: Penalties and enforcement powers must be taken from the enacted article and any current implementing resolution. Practical commentary in this file explains the framework but does not create additional duties or sanctions.

Practical scenarios

1. A question about which level of federal court exists in the hierarchy should be answered from the institutional law, while filing deadlines come from procedural law.
2. A judge's transfer or promotion must follow the statutory governance route rather than an ordinary employment process.
3. A court administration reviewing remote-hearing authority should consider the judicial-authority law together with procedural and technical rules.
4. A researcher analysing federal versus local courts should start with the constitutional allocation and this decree-law's federal framework.

Amendments and related legislation

The official source remains published as the current federal judicial-authority framework in the 2026 research pass. Because judicial personnel legislation may be amended by later federal instruments, the official source should be checked before relying on a service-condition rule.

What businesses and individuals should check

• This is an institutional judiciary law, not the Civil Procedure Code; procedural steps in a case come from the applicable procedural legislation.
• The federal/local judicial boundary matters because not every Emirate uses the federal court system for all matters.
• Appointment and service provisions for judges/prosecutors should be read in their current amended form.
• Jurisdiction of the Federal Supreme Court is also governed by specialised constitutional and federal legislation.
• Confirm the current version of the principal law and any implementing resolutions on the date the issue arises.
• Check whether a federal, local-Emirate or financial/free-zone rule changes the applicable regulatory perimeter.
• Keep the official source reference used for any compliance or procedural decision.

When legal advice may be useful

Professional interpretation may be useful where the applicable legal regime is disputed, a licensing or jurisdictional boundary is unclear, a transitional rule affects an existing right, a procedural deadline may expire, or a penalty/enforcement measure is possible.

Information status

Research checked on 2026-08-31. This page is general legal information and should be re-verified against the official UAE source before use in a transaction, proceeding or compliance decision.