UAE Jurisdiction
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Article 19 of Federal Law No. 11/1992 on the Civil Procedures Code (the “CPC”) stipulates that barring lawsuits involving real estate property located abroad, UAE Courts have jurisdiction to examine claims against UAE citizens and claims against foreigners who reside, or whose chosen domicile is the UAE.
Furthermore, Article 20 of the CPC states that UAE Courts have jurisdiction over claims filed against a foreigner who has no domicile or residence in the UAE in following cases (the list is illustrative only not a complete list):
- Selected UAE as place of domicile;
- If action relates to real estate in UAE or UAE national heritage;
- If contract was executed in UAE or obligations are performed/to be performed in UAE;
- If one of the defendants has a domicile or resides in the Thus, the courts of UAE will not let the jurisdiction go to another court over a matter where UAE courts will have the jurisdiction.
This can be witnessed in the following disputes:
- Disputes pertaining to real estate situated in UAE;
- Contract finalized in UAE;
- Happening of an event in UAE;
- Matters regarding the employment of a resident in UAE;
- Issues regarding UAE Commercial agencies;
- Property matters related to UAE.
In accordance with the above, if the UAE courts will inherit the jurisdiction, the governing law will be the law of the UAE itself. Accordingly, the court will strike down the governing law and jurisdiction clause in the agreement in certain instances highlighted above.
P.S. – Please be careful in drafting jurisdiction clause and governing law clause in agreements as your legal position in case of dispute is largely dependent on the laws applicable to your agreement.
The above analysis is not to be considered as legal advice. Please reach out for further queries or legal advice: info@meritlegalconsultants.com
