English in the UAE Courts?
Transport & Logistics Focus
Wesley WoodPartner,Transport & Insurance
On 2 January 2023, Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 Promulgating the Civil Procedure Code (the “Civil Procedure Code”) came into effect in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”). The Civil Procedure Code repealed and replaced Federal Law No. 11 of 1992, which had itself been amended a number of times in recent years by various Cabinet Resolutions and Decree-Laws. The Civil Procedure Code will be welcomed by legal practitioners as a consolidated law covering all procedural matters before the local courts.
There are a number of provisions in the Civil Procedure Code which will also be welcomed by both foreign and domestic litigants involved in proceedings before the local courts, including those who may be either claimants or defendants in shipping, commodities and international trade disputes.
Of particular relevance is the provision which now permits the Federal Judicial Council or the Head of the local judicial body to exercise a discretion to permit English to be the language of trials, procedures, judgments and decisions in respect of certain tribunals that are assigned to hear specialised matters, specific cases or particular proceedings. Where the discretion is exercised in favour of allowing English to be the language of the proceedings, then statements of the litigants, witnesses or lawyers, shall be heard in English and statements, pleadings, applications and other documents shall be submitted in English. Additionally, the Court shall hear statements of non-English speaking litigants, witnesses or other persons through an interpreter after the relevant individual takes the oath.
Whilst Arabic remains the official language of the courts, these changes represent a significant departure from the historical position in which all pleadings and hearings were to be submitted and conducted in the Arabic language and will dispense with the need to have documents translated into Arabic by a Ministry of Justice approved translator, sparing litigants both time and cost.
Not only does this signify the UAE’s willingness to adapt which has also been evident from a raft of legislative amendments in recent years, but it is likely to have practical benefits for litigants who use English as their primary language of business.
Time will reveal exactly in which circumstances and to what extent the Courts exercise their discretion to permit trials to take place in the English language, and it is possible that there may not necessarily be uniformity in the exercise of that discretion across the various courts of the individual emirates but the inclusion of such a provision in the Civil Procedure Code is certainly a positive development.
For further information,please contact Wesley Wood
Published in August 2023
