Can Cases Still be Filed in Dubai Courts During COVID-19 Restrictions?
You are all aware that the current situation with Covid 19 has caused the UAE government to impose measures to contain the outbreak. Given most of the official authorities are either working remotely or closed, people ask what the status of the courts is.
The Chief Justice decided to postpone all court hearings and pause non-urgent proceedings such as normal commercial and civil cases, however for the critical divisions such as the Public Prosecution and the Summary Courts, it is business as usual.
Many mistakenly believe that all legal actions shall be on hold until the courts return to normal working hours, consequently losing their right of litigation. We would like to confirm that the below legal actions are still active and do not require the client’s attendance before the Court.
Legal Notices
You may now proceed with any activity that needs to go through the Notary Public online, i.e. Power of Attorneys, legal notices and signing any undertakings. All you need to do is to submit all documents to the Notary Public by email, pay the fees and then a video call will be arranged with the Notary to complete the notarization process.
Payment Order Application
This type of application does not require any attendance before the Court. Once you send the legal notice as mentioned above, you can file the Payment Order application using the Court’s website and a decision shall be issued within 48 hours without any other process. No service or summons, attending in person or hearing is required.
Precautionary Attachment
If you fulfil the requirements of Article (111) of the Regulations of the Civil Procedure Code, you can draft your Statement of Claim and submit it in an online application to the Court, along with the necessary documents. A decision shall then be issued within 48 hours. Again, neither a hearing or any court attendance is required.
Enforcement
Similar to the above, you can lodge an enforcement file and follow the enforcement process, including the investigation and the attachments of your opponent’s assets, through the Court website without the need to attend personally.
We actually recommend that you proceed with your legal actions today (if they fall within the above scope) for two main reasons:
– Courts will be overwhelmed with work once the curfews are lifted and business is back to normal, and
– Costs are less, as lawyers are able to action these processes in a more time-efficient manner.
If you have any queries or require any legal assistance, please contact us on info@adglegal.com