UK court judgment enforceable in United Arab Emirates

On September 13, 2022, the Director General of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Justice of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued a communiqué to the Director General of the Dubai Courts confirming the enforceability of United Kingdom (UK) court judgments in the UAE Article 85 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the UAE Civil Procedure Law and the satisfaction of the principle of mutual enforcement between the two jurisdictions.

background

Historically, it has been much easier to enforce foreign judgments in the UAE if the jurisdiction in which the judgment was issued has a bilateral treaty with the UAE for the mutual recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.

Currently, there is no bilateral treaty between the UAE and the UK on the recognition and enforcement of judgments. The 7 December 2006 Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil and Commercial Matters between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates does not deal with the enforcement of foreign judgments. Therefore, the enforcement of UK judgments in courts within the UAE is subject to the provisions of UAE law.

Article 85 of the Regulations for the Implementation of the UAE Civil Procedure Code sets out the criteria that must be met for a foreign judgment or order to be enforceable in the UAE. Paragraph 1 of Article 85 states that judgments and orders made in foreign countries can only be enforced in the UAE under the same conditions as those provided for by foreign laws for the execution of judgments and orders made in the UAE. Therefore, UAE courts will only recognise and enforce foreign judgments or orders if there is reciprocity between the UAE and the issuing jurisdiction.

Enforcement of UAE judgments in the UK

Following a hearing in January 2020, the UK High Court (Court) agreed to recognise and enforce the Dubai Court’s Lenkor Energy Trading DMCC v Puri [2020] EWHC 75 (QB) (Lencole). In that case, the defendants sought to reject the Dubai court judgment on the grounds that doing so would be contrary to public policy in England and Wales. Defendants made a number of public policy arguments, including: the underlying agreement was illegally tainted; the personal responsibility of the defendants amounted to lifting the corporate veil; and the interest charged on the debt was too high and therefore punished. The court rejected these arguments. The court noted that it does not matter that UAE law is different from UK law, or that UK courts may approach matters differently than UAE courts; this is a Dubai court that applies Dubai law. The court was clear that to refuse enforcement, the judgment would have to be contrary to British public policy, but that was not the case.

Evidence of reciprocity

It is now clear that the UAE Ministry of Justice considers the Lenkor judgment and its status as a binding judicial precedent to demonstrate the requirement of reciprocity between the UK and the UAE, as stated in Article 85(1) of the Implementing Regulations, UAE Civil Procedure Code , is satisfied. As such, the UAE Ministry of Justice asked Dubai courts to keep this in mind when considering the enforcement of UK court judgments in Dubai.

In the absence of a mutual recognition and enforcement treaty between the UK and the UAE, this communiqué – reflecting the UAE’s official position on the enforcement of UK judgments – is a significant development and should assist all parties seeking to enforce UK court judgments parties in Dubai and the wider UAE.