Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation (General Assembly), Request No. 1 of 2023 (Rent), decision of 17 May 2023
Under Article 6 of Judicial Department Resolution No. 25 of 2018, no rent claim is registered unless the lease is attached and registered with the municipality. This is a mandatory public-order rule, so the rental disputes committee at either level must of its own motion declare inadmissible a claim based on an unregistered lease governed by Law No. 20 of 2006. When a commercial or civil court declines jurisdiction and refers a case to the committee, its ruling binds the committee only as to the characterisation of the dispute as a rental one, not as to the conditions of admissibility, including registration.
A claimant's lease dispute was first brought before the Commercial Court, which held that it lacked jurisdiction because the dispute was a rental one, and referred the case to the rental disputes committee. The committee and the appellate committee declared the claim inadmissible because the lease had not been registered with the municipality. In his appeal in cassation (No. 10 of 2023, rent) the claimant argued that this disregarded the binding effect of the Commercial Court's referral ruling. Because the cassation rent committee had previously held that the committee was bound by referral rulings as to the form and admissibility of the claim, the question was referred to the General Assembly.
The General Assembly held that Article 6 of Resolution No. 25 of 2018 of the Chairman of the Judicial Department on rental disputes committees, which provides that no rent claim is registered unless a copy of the lease is attached and its registration with the municipality has been verified, means that non-registration of a lease subject to Abu Dhabi Law No. 20 of 2006 makes the claim inadmissible. Although the text is addressed to the registry staff, it is a mandatory public-order rule, and the committees at both levels must apply it of their own motion. Only the operative part of a judgment, and the reasons inseparable from it, have the force of res judicata. A final ruling of the commercial or civil court that the committee has jurisdiction binds the committee as to the characterisation of the dispute as a rental dispute governed by the rent law, which was the basis of the declining of jurisdiction, but not as to the conditions that law sets for admitting the claim, which the referral ruling did not need to decide.
By the majority required by Article 10 bis (3) of Law No. 23 of 2006, the General Assembly departed from the contrary principle, adopted the principle that a referred claim is inadmissible if the lease is unregistered, and dismissed the appeal.
Landlords and tenants in Abu Dhabi cannot use a detour through the commercial or civil courts to avoid the lease registration requirement. Whatever the route, a claim on an unregistered lease will be dismissed by the rental disputes committee, which raises the point of its own motion. Registering the lease is therefore a precondition to enforcing it.
| Article 6 of Resolution No. 25 of 2018 of the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department on rental disputes committees |
| Abu Dhabi Law No. 20 of 2006 on the leasing of premises |
| Article 10 bis (3) of Abu Dhabi Law No. 23 of 2006 on the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, as added by Law No. 13 of 2018 |
“وإقرار المبدأ الذي يقضي بعدم قبول الدعوى المحالة إلى اللجنة الابتدائية للاختصاص إذا تخلف شرط تسجيل عقد الإيجار المُقدم فيها”Short quotation from the judgment as published by the court. The full judgment is on the court’s official service.
Property investment contracts are commercial and belong to the Commercial Court, not the rental disputes committee
A lease governed by Abu Dhabi Law No. 20 of 2006 presupposes that the tenant uses the premises himself. An investment contract, under which an investor exploits property …
Under the 2011 registration rules, an unregistered Abu Dhabi lease did not make a rent claim inadmissible
Executive Council Chairman Resolution No. 4 of 2011 requires leases of up to four years under Law No. 20 of 2006 to be registered with the municipality, and provides that…
The Abu Dhabi real estate register is conclusive proof of ownership and can be challenged only for fraud or forgery
Under Articles 2, 3, 4 and 6 of Abu Dhabi Law No. 3 of 2005 and its implementing regulation, the real estate register kept by the municipal registration department is bin…
A final civil award made in criminal proceedings survives the accused's later acquittal on the criminal charge
A judgment has res judicata effect only if it is final (قطعي) and issued by a court with jurisdiction, and only on a question that is fundamental, unchanged, argued betwe…
Al Ain appellants get the ten-day distance period for cassation appeals; non-compete limited by place
The 60-day period for a cassation appeal (Article 176 of the former Civil Procedure Law) is extended by the ten-day distance period under Article 12 for an appellant whos…
When the statement of claim was never validly served, the appeal court must send the case back to the first-instance court
Where the Court of Appeal annuls a first-instance judgment because the statement of claim was not validly served on the defendant, so that proceedings were never properly…
Whether you are establishing a new venture, restructuring an existing enterprise, or exploring residency pathways — we are here to advise.
Arrange a Consultation →