Guide to Executing Court Judgements in the UAE

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Staff Writer, TLR

Updated July 14, 2023

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Guide to Executing Court Judgements in the UAE

Winning your case and getting a decision in your favour might get you ecstatic. However, being perplexed as to bringing the same into effect might not be something everyone calculated. Once you've received your final judgment, you can apply to the Execution Court which will take things forward. In this article, we simplify the process of ascertaining finality and executing the final judgment of the courts.

The Procedure

The Law: The enforcement of the decisions of the court is governed by Federal Law No. 11 of 1992, read with the recent amendments effected by Cabinet Decision No. 57 of 2018 and Cabinet Decision No. 33 of 2020, or the Civil Procedure Code in short.

Ascertaining Finality: Once you receive a final judgment in your favor, you can move forward with the procedure to execute the same. Here it is pertinent to ascertain that you have received your final decision. If you've received the judgment from the Court of First Instance, the same would become final after the time period for appeal has elapsed. However, a judgment from the Court of Appeal or the Court of Cassation can be moved for appeal right away.

Application and Execution Procedure: After making sure that a final judgment has been received, the concerned party can apply to the Execution Court for execution. They'll open an execution file has to be opened and the court fee has to be paid. If applicable, requests on the available assets of the other party or to check commercial licenses need to be filed. It is pertinent to note here that you might need to follow up with these requests that you make.

The Execution Court, on receiving the application and opening of the execution file, sends a notice to the respondent requesting payment of the judgment sum; this is called the Execution Order. If the respondent does not comply within the time frame given, the court has the power to force execution of the judgment, which may include attachment orders, travel ban; if the person is a company, the court can block all the activities on their trade license and can even freeze their bank accounts. Hence, once you've received a judgment in your favor, the law is exhaustive enough to effect execution as soon as possible.

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