The Middle East's largest law firm, Al Tamimi & Company, has won an appeal on behalf of its client, DNB Bank, setting a precedent for the potential enforcement of foreign court judgements throughout the UAE, using the DIFC Courts as a conduit.
In a widely anticipated decision issued on 25th February 2016, the DIFC Court of Appeal confirmed that parties may seek the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in the DIFC Courts, and then take the resulting DIFC Court judgments to the Dubai Courts for enforcement throughout the UAE.
The DIFC Courts are already an established conduit jurisdiction for the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, both foreign and domestic, so this decision means that they can treat foreign court orders in the same way for recognition and enforcement purposes.
Commenting on the decision, Tarek Shrayh, Senior Counsel at Al Tamimi, said:
"This is potentially a landmark ruling in the ongoing development of the UAE's judicial system. Until now, it has generally been accepted that foreign court judgments are difficult if not impossible to enforce in the UAE, particularly in the absence of a treaty obligation. This decision challenges that assumption and opens the door to the use of the DIFC Courts as a conduit jurisdiction for the enforcement of foreign court judgments throughout the country. The other courts of the UAE are legally bound to enforce DIFC Court judgments, so the response from the authorities to this decision will determine whether this gateway to enforcement remains open. For now, parties based in the UAE may feel more exposed to foreign court proceedings as a result of this decision."
Al Tamimi & Company represented DNB Bank in these proceedings, with Senior Counsels Tarek Shrayh and Robert Karrar-Lewsley instructing Tom Montagu-Smith of XXIV Old Buildings for the hearing before the DIFC Court of Appeal.
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© Press Release 2016
