Court Rejects Bid To Overturn €35.36 M Judgment Over Notification Claims

The Dubai Civil Court has rejected a lawsuit filed by two men seeking to overturn a judgment ordering them to jointly pay approximately €35.36 million, ruling that the issue of whether they had been properly notified had already been finally determined by the courts.

The plaintiffs had sought the annulment or invalidation of the earlier judgment, which was issued in a civil case brought by a company seeking recovery of the amount. The claim was linked to financial transfers allegedly made by the men to purchase gold and precious metals that were never delivered.

The court had previously ordered the two plaintiffs to pay the claimed amount. They subsequently challenged the ruling before the Court of Appeal, but their appeal was rejected after the court found that it had been filed after the prescribed deadline. The Court of Cassation later upheld the ruling. A subsequent petition seeking judicial review was also declared inadmissible.

The plaintiffs then brought a separate lawsuit challenging the validity of the earlier proceedings. They argued that one of them was a foreign national living outside the UAE who had not returned to the country since March 2023 and had not been properly notified of the original lawsuit or judgment in accordance with procedures governing notification of persons residing abroad.

They also submitted documents claiming that the company that had brought the original proceedings had entered bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings in a European country.

The Dubai Civil Court rejected the arguments, finding that the earlier judgment had already conclusively addressed the validity of the notification. As a result, the court held that the same issue could not be reopened through a new lawsuit.

The court therefore dismissed the case and ordered the two plaintiffs to pay the court fees and expenses.