97 leading judgments of the Dubai Court of Cassation, summarised in English with the articles they apply and a link to each judgment on the court’s official service.
The Dubai Court of Cassation is the highest court of Dubai Courts, the emirate’s local judiciary. Its General Assembly settles principles on which the chambers have differed or that the Chief Justice refers to it.
Each entry is Polaris’s own English summary of a judgment: what the court decided and why, the articles it applied, and why it matters to companies and their owners. The judgment itself stays with the court: every entry links to it on the court’s official publication service and quotes one short passage in Arabic. Entries applying a law that has since been replaced say so and point to the current law.
Laws changing court jurisdiction do not apply to cases whose first-instance pleadings closed before they took effect
Procedural laws apply immediately to pending cases, but provisions that amend jurisdiction, whether by subject-matter, type, value or territory and whether in civil or criminal procedural legislation, do not apply where they come into force after the close…
Since the 2025 amendment, an appeal statement must set out detailed grounds when filed, or the appeal is inadmissible
Article 164 of the Civil Procedure Code, as replaced by Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2025, removed the former paragraph 3 that allowed an appellant to file the grounds of appeal up to the first hearing. Every statement of appeal, of whatever kind, must now…
Dubai courts cannot hear a standalone action to annul a UAE Sports Arbitration Centre award; objections go to enforcement
Under Federal Law No. 16 of 2016 establishing the UAE Sports Arbitration Centre and the Centre's Procedural Rules (second edition, in force from 25 October 2023), awards, decisions and orders of the Centre in sports disputes are final, carry res judicata…
A creditor's claim against a garnishee who fails to declare is a merits case, not one for the execution judge
Under Articles 255, 256 and 259 of the Civil Procedure Code, a garnishee that neither deposits what it holds nor declares, within seven days of service of the attachment, what it owes the debtor, or that declares insufficiently or untruthfully or hides…
Islamic financial institutions cannot recover late-payment interest, even as compensation, on Sharia-governed transactions
Under Articles 468, 472, 473 and 474 of the Commercial Transactions Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 50 of 2022), in force from 2 January 2023, an Islamic financial institution, meaning one whose constitution says it operates under Sharia or which operates…
An LLC cannot be annulled because its Emirati partner was nominal; it converts into a company of the real partners
Some Dubai judgments had held that proof that the real partners differed from those in the memorandum of association meant an LLC lacked its essential elements and was absolutely void, leading to dissolution and liquidation. The General Assembly held…
Personal status courts hear only spouses' claims over the marital home; other money disputes go to ordinary courts
Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2024 on Personal Status gives each spouse a separate estate and allows a spouse who helped develop the other's assets or build a home 'or the like' to claim his or her share, during the marriage, after separation,…
Reconsideration under Article 190 is available against Cassation rulings on remand points until the remand court decides
Article 190 of the Civil Procedure Code is an exception to res judicata that lets the Court of Cassation revoke its own final judgments or chamber decisions in limited cases. When it quashes and remits, the remand court is bound by the points of law…
Once bankruptcy proceedings open, the bankruptcy court alone decides disputes over the debtor company's debts
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 51 of 2023 on Financial Reorganisation and Bankruptcy, the specialised bankruptcy court has exclusive jurisdiction over all requests and proceedings in bankruptcy cases, including disputes over a company's debts, from the…
Failure to involve the Public Prosecution where its intervention is mandatory makes a civil judgment absolutely void
Under Articles 63 to 72 of the Civil Procedure Code, the Public Prosecution must intervene (except in urgent matters) in cases it may itself bring, in cases concerning persons lacking or with limited capacity and absent or missing persons, in cases on…
A lawyer with a written fee agreement sues for fees by ordinary action before the competent court of first instance
Under Article 52 of Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2022 regulating the advocacy and legal consultancy professions, a lawyer is paid according to the written agreement with the client, and a claim for agreed fees is brought by ordinary action before the court…
A co-owner may force a sale of the whole property only if co-owners living there are not harmed
Under Article 1166 of the Civil Transactions Law (as replaced by Federal Decree-Law No. 30 of 2020), where co-owned real property cannot be divided in kind, or division would cause harm or a serious loss of value, any co-owner may sell his share to another…
A developer's mortgage of a project has no effect if the lender did not pay the loan into escrow
Under Article 13 of Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 on Real Estate Development Escrow Accounts, a finance institution lending to a developer against a mortgage of the project must deposit the loan amount in the project's escrow account. The General Assembly held…
Funds in a Dubai project escrow account cannot be attached by any creditor of the developer
Article 9 of Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 on Real Estate Development Escrow Accounts dedicates each project's escrow account exclusively to building the project and bars attachment of its funds for the developer's creditors. The bar is absolute: no…
A properly filed and served claim interrupts limitation even if it is later dismissed or declared inadmissible
Under Article 484 of the Civil Transactions Law the limitation period is interrupted by a judicial claim, or any judicial step by which the creditor asserts its right against the debtor, before the courts or an arbitral tribunal. A statement of claim filed…
A debtor may not be detained unless the creditor proves solvency or a listed exception applies
Under Article 319 of the Civil Procedure Code (outside the public-funds recovery regime), an execution judge may order the detention of a debtor able to pay who refuses to satisfy an executory instrument. Detention is not allowed unless the creditor proves…
Personal accident cover for a vehicle's driver is capped at the endorsement sum, with blood money counted within it
Under the unified motor insurance policy (Insurance Authority Board Decision No. 25 of 2016), compulsory cover obliges the insurer to pay injured third parties whatever the insured or driver is legally liable for, and policy limits cannot be invoked…
A developer may terminate an off-plan sale only through the Land Department procedure, which buyers can contest in court
Under Article 11 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008, as replaced by Dubai Law No. 19 of 2020, a developer alleging an off-plan buyer's breach must follow a public-order procedure: notify the Land Department, which verifies the breach, gives the buyer 30 days'…
A good-faith buyer is protected against the true owner when the seller's title is later invalidated
A disposition made by an owner whose own transaction or title is later invalidated, in favour of a third party acting in good faith, is effective against the true right-holder, in actions of unenforceability and in title claims alike, provided the third…
The Attorney General's one-year period to appeal in the interest of the law is suspended while a party's appeal is pending
Under Article 176 of the Civil Procedure Code, the Attorney General may challenge in cassation, within one year of its issue, a final judgment that breaches the law where the parties could not challenge it, missed the deadline, waived the challenge, or had…
Appeal judgments in substantive enforcement disputes, unlike those on pure enforcement steps, can be challenged in cassation
The Civil Procedure Code distinguishes temporary enforcement disputes, which seek only a stay or continuation of enforcement without touching the right and are decided by the execution judge subject to a final grievance (Articles 209 and 239), from…
An appeal court that overturns a judgment for applying the wrong law must decide the merits itself
Under Article 168 of the Civil Procedure Code, where the court of first instance has decided the merits, a Court of Appeal that sets the judgment aside must go on to decide the dispute; it remits the case only where the first-instance court declined…
A court may rely on an expert report filed in another case, even one before a court lacking jurisdiction
An expert report prepared in another case, even one heard by a court without territorial jurisdiction or between different parties on a different subject, may be relied on by the trial court once the report or a copy has been filed in the case. It then…
A debtor company's trade licences and other intangible business assets can be attached by its creditors
All of a debtor's assets secure its debts (Article 391 of the Civil Transactions Law), and a creditor may attach the debtor's movable and immovable property except what the law exempts (Articles 242 and 247 of the Civil Procedure Code). Attachable property…
Challenges to insurance-committee decisions issued before 1 December 2023 go to first instance, later ones to appeal
Federal Decree-Law No. 48 of 2023 on Regulating Insurance Activities, in force from 1 December 2023, sends challenges against decisions of the insurance dispute settlement committees to the Court of Appeal within 30 days and bars insurers from challenging…
An LLC may increase its capital by a three-quarters vote; dissenting partners can challenge only on specific grounds
Under Articles 96 and 101 of the Commercial Companies Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021), an LLC may increase its capital with the approval of partners holding at least three quarters of the shares represented at a validly convened general meeting;…
Proceedings against a party who had already died are cured by joining the heirs at the same level
In principle proceedings can be brought only against living persons, and a claim or appeal against someone who died before it was filed is non-existent. But the rule exists to protect the right of defence, and nullity is not declared where the purpose of a…
Limitation for damages arising from a crime is suspended while criminal proceedings remain possible or pending
Under Article 298 of the Civil Transactions Law a claim for damages for a harmful act is barred three years after the victim actually learned of the harm and of the person responsible, and in any case after fifteen years. Where the act is also a crime, the…
An appeal court that finds the claim was not properly served must still decide the merits itself
Under the 2022 Civil Procedure Code a claim is brought when the case management office registers the statement of claim and the fee is paid (Articles 44 and 47); service on the defendant is a separate, later step. A defect in service therefore does not…
When the addressee's home is closed, a process server may serve by posting directly on the court website
Under Article 9(1)(b) of the Civil Procedure Code, if the process server does not find the addressee at his domicile or residence, he serves any spouse, relative, in-law or employee living with him; if they refuse, nobody who may lawfully receive it is…
Workers with labour claims of up to AED 100,000 pay no court fees or cassation deposit at any stage
Reading Articles 181(2) and 188 of the Civil Procedure Code with Article 9(1) of Dubai Law No. 21 of 2015 on Judicial Fees in the Dubai Courts, claims, appeals, cassation appeals and petitions for reconsideration brought by workers, or those entitled…
One address inquiry before service by publication can suffice for every stage of the same litigation
Under Article 9(3) of the Civil Procedure Code, where a person cannot be served by the ordinary methods, the case management office or competent judge has an inquiry made with at least one relevant authority, and the person is then served by posting on the…
Actions to record the state of facts belong to the urgent-matters judge unless joined to a pending merits case
An action to record the state of facts (دعوى إثبات الحالة) is a purely precautionary procedural action, brought at the claimant's expense, to preserve proof of facts likely to be disputed; it does not decide the right itself. Under Article 108 of the…
Closure of a DIAC arbitration file for unpaid costs does not extinguish the arbitration clause
The General Assembly unanimously abandoned the earlier view that closure of a Dubai International Arbitration Centre case for unpaid costs makes the arbitration clause lapse. Under Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 on Arbitration, proceedings end with an award…
A claim fee paid late but before the first hearing makes the claim effective from the date of payment
Under Articles 44, 45 and 47 of the Civil Procedure Code a claim is registered and effective from the filing of the statement of claim only if the fee is paid within three working days of the payment notice; otherwise the supervising judge may declare the…
A grievance against a payment order must be heard by a judge other than the one who issued it
Under Article 147(1) of the Civil Procedure Code, a party may file a grievance against a payment order whose value is within the final jurisdiction of the first-instance court before 'the competent payment-order judge'. The judge who issued the order has…
When a claim or memorandum is filed electronically, only its electronic text is before the court
Articles 44(1) and 48(2) of the Civil Procedure Code require statements of claim and defence memoranda to be filed electronically or on paper according to the system in use at the court, and the Dubai courts use electronic filing. Where a statement of…
Joining the driver and vehicle owner does not oust the insurance committee's jurisdiction over the claim against the insurer
Under Article 4 of Insurance Authority Board Chairman's Decision No. 33 of 2019, insurance dispute committees hear complaints by insured persons, beneficiaries or injured parties against the insurer only. A claimant may sue the insurer together with the…
A request to sell the whole co-owned property must be made in the claim, not to the enforcement judge
Article 1166(2) of the Civil Transactions Law, as amended, allows a co-owner who cannot sell his share to ask for the whole property to be sold. Such requests must be made in a substantive action, where they are granted, refused or declared inadmissible.…
An unlicensed real estate broker cannot recover commission, compensation or expenses under a void brokerage agreement
Dubai legislation (Articles 3 and 24 of Local Order No. 32 of 1987 regulating real estate brokerage and Articles 3 and 21 of Regulation No. 85 of 2006 on the Register of Real Estate Brokers) prohibits any natural or legal person from brokering the sale,…
A debtor's only home cannot be sold in execution on the ground that it exceeds his housing needs
Under Article 106(2) of the Civil Procedure Regulation (Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2018), the house used as a residence by the debtor and the dependants living with him may not be attached, unless it is mortgaged and the debt arises from its price. The…
Off-plan registration rules do not void a sale where the property was completed before suit or later registered
Article 3 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 voids sales of off-plan units not entered in the interim real property register. The General Assembly held that the Law covers units that are still under construction and exist only on plan. Where a unit not previously…
The payment-order procedure is mandatory for qualifying debts, but an ordinary claim is admissible once a serious dispute arises
Under Article 62 of the Civil Procedure Regulation (Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2018, as amended by Cabinet Resolution No. 33 of 2020), a creditor must use the payment-order procedure, not an ordinary action, where the debt is proved in writing by a…
Where no rate is agreed, Dubai courts award legal and delay interest at 5 per cent a year
Where the parties have not agreed on an interest rate, interest on an adjudged debt, whether 'legal' interest or delay (late-payment) interest, is calculated at 5 per cent a year until full payment. The Dubai courts had applied 9 per cent a year as a…
A contract's clear terms bind the parties; a buyer who accepted unfinished infrastructure cannot rescind because of it
The General Assembly restated that a contract is the law of the parties: neither may revoke, amend or rescind it except by agreement or on grounds the law allows, and clear terms may not be departed from by interpretation, since they express the parties'…
Appeal judgments on enforcing foreign judgments can go to cassation, and default judgments need proof of proper service
Article 173(3) of the former Civil Procedure Law made appeal judgments 'in execution proceedings' final, but that covers only disputes about pure enforcement steps. A ruling on whether a foreign judgment qualifies for enforcement under Article 85 of the…
An entry in Dubai's interim real property register is an official record binding on all unless forged
Under Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 every disposition of an off-plan unit, whether made before or after the Law, must be entered in the interim real property register kept by the Land Department; the developer must apply for it (Articles 2, 5 and 8). Under the…
A payment order requires a valid prior demand on each debtor, and one co-debtor's personal defect does not free the others
Under Article 63(1) of the Civil Procedure Regulation (Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2018), a creditor must first serve on the debtor a demand to pay within at least five days before applying for a payment order. The demand is an essential step: if its…
Dubai's 2020 off-plan termination rules apply to earlier contracts, and courts may set the developer's retention below the maximum
Dubai Law No. 19 of 2020, which replaced Article 11 of Law No. 13 of 2008 on the Interim Real Property Register, applies retroactively to off-plan contracts governed by the 2008 Law, including terminations already made (except those annulled by a final…
Unregistered sales of land granted to UAE nationals in Dubai give the buyer no title and no limitation defence
Under the Ruler of Dubai's instructions of 2 September 1994 (published on 18 November 1994), dispositions of land granted by the government to UAE nationals without the Ruler's permission are void as a matter of public order. Earlier sales are not void, as…
A buyer under an unregistered contract may claim attached property if he shows evidence of ownership or possession
Although ownership of real property passes, between the parties and against others, only on registration (Article 1277 of the Civil Transactions Law), Article 166(1) of the Civil Procedure Regulation (Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2018) allows a third party…
A mortgage securing present and future facilities survives repayment of one facility, and a guarantor-mortgagor can be sued first
Under Dubai Law No. 14 of 2008 on mortgages, a mortgage gives the creditor a real right over the property to be paid from its price ahead of ordinary and later creditors. Applying to sell the mortgaged property is only an option: the creditor may instead…
An owner who signs facility terms for his free-zone company is not a guarantor unless he expressly guarantees its debts
A limited liability company formed in a Dubai free zone has, from its formation and registration, a legal personality and assets separate from those of its partners, who are liable for its debts only up to their shares. A person who signs a contract as the…
A cheque given as security can be enforced only for the part of the secured debt actually unpaid
A cheque is presumed to be an instrument of payment with a valid underlying cause, but the drawer may prove that it was given for another purpose, such as security. If it was given as security, the obligation to pay it is subject to a suspensive condition,…
Facilities run through a current account fall due on closure, and refinancing does not end guarantees reaffirmed for it
Where credit facilities are linked to a current account, the rights and obligations they create become entries in the account that set off against each other, and the final balance on closing is a debt immediately due to the bank, whatever the original…
Guarantors are released if the creditor does not claim within six months of maturity, unless they clearly agreed otherwise
Under Article 1092 of the Civil Transactions Law, once a guaranteed debt falls due the creditor must claim it within six months, failing which the guarantor is released; this applies to commercial guarantees. The rule is not of public policy, so a…
Bank loans earn compound interest until the account is closed, and suing to sell the mortgaged home does not close it
Loans granted by banks are commercial transactions whatever the borrower's status or purpose, and produce interest automatically during the loan, at the agreed rate or otherwise at the market rate, compounded unless agreed otherwise, even if interest…
Bankruptcy petitions belong to the court of the debtor's place of business, and jurisdiction rulings can reach cassation
Article 265(2) of the 2023 Bankruptcy Law makes final the Court of Appeal's judgments on challenges to decisions of the bankruptcy court; as an exception it is read narrowly and covers only judgments on the bankruptcy procedure itself, so judgments on…
Directors of a bankrupt company are liable for its debts only on proof of fault under the law applicable then
Where a bankrupt company's assets do not cover at least 20 per cent of its debts, the court may order its directors and managers, jointly or not, to pay all or part of the debts, but only if their liability for the company's losses is proved under the…
Opening bankruptcy of an LLC does not extend to its partners, and the bankruptcy court cannot rule on managers' personal liability
A creditor of a limited liability company may seek its bankruptcy if it has stopped paying a due commercial debt because its finances are disturbed. Refusal to pay without a legitimate reason is evidence against the debtor, but there is no cessation if the…
Dubai courts must stay a claim to receivables of a company under an ADGM administration order barring proceedings
A final order of the ADGM Courts placing a company in administration, which forbids starting or continuing legal proceedings against the company or its property without the administrators' consent or the ADGM Courts' permission, has res judicata effect…
A creditor can set aside an insolvent debtor's transfers within three years of learning why they harm it
All of a debtor's assets secure his debts. A creditor may have a debtor's disposal declared ineffective against it (Articles 391, 396 and 397 of the Civil Transactions Law) if its right arose before the disposal and is due and undisputed; what matters is…
A subrogated insurer's recovery claim against a negligent contractor and its insurer runs from the date it paid
Under Article 1036(1) of the Civil Transactions Law, claims arising from an insurance contract cannot be heard after three years from the event giving rise to the claim, which is not necessarily the occurrence of the insured risk; for an insurer that has…
In medical negligence, limitation ran from the committee's final report, and damages must be itemised head by head
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 4 of 2016 on medical liability, only the medical liability committees may give an opinion on whether a medical error occurred, its cause, the resulting harm and causation; the higher committee's report is final, and a damages…
A creditor whose payment order and asset freeze are later overturned is not liable without abuse of right
Under Articles 104 and 106 of the Civil Transactions Law, no one is liable for harm resulting from the lawful exercise of a right, including the right to go to court. The exercise of a right is unlawful, and gives rise to liability, if it is intended to…
A sale of a business binds the parties once agreed; registration governs only when ownership passes
A business (محل تجاري) is the set of tangible and intangible assets used for a commercial activity, physical or virtual (Article 36 of the 2022 Commercial Transactions Law). Its sale is a consensual contract formed by offer and acceptance, which obliges…
Accepting a right-of-first-refusal offer at a different price is a counter-offer, not an acceptance
A contract is formed only when an acceptance matches the offer (Article 125 of the Civil Transactions Law). An offer is a definite expression of the will to conclude a particular contract; an acceptance that modifies, adds to or reduces it is a rejection…
Between LLC partners, a sham shareholding must be proved in writing, and profits are due only once distributed
Between partners, none may prove anything contradicting or going beyond the memorandum of association except in writing, so a partner cannot prove without written evidence that another partner's recorded holding is sham; this rule is of public policy and…
A claim that the Emirati partner was nominal fails where the memorandum and audited accounts show its capital was paid
Sham (صورية) means that the parties agreed on an apparent transaction that is not real and conceals their true relationship; the sham act has no existence in their intention, and the hidden agreement is the one in force between them. Whether a transaction…
A partner's work cannot pay for a share in an LLC, so a share transfer made for services alone is void
Under Article 17 of the Commercial Companies Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021, corresponding to Article 17 of Federal Law No. 2 of 2015), the capital of a limited liability company consists of cash or in-kind contributions of appraised value; a…
Any LLC partner may seek the manager's removal for serious cause, but resolutions can be annulled only on three grounds
Any partner of a limited liability company, whatever the size of its holding, may ask the court to remove the manager if there are serious reasons, such as mismanagement, illness or inability to work, or disloyal acts against the company and the partners,…
A claim that an Emirati partner's 51 per cent holding was nominal cannot be sent to arbitration
Arbitration may not be agreed on matters that cannot be the subject of compromise (Article 4(2) of the Federal Arbitration Law). A claim that a UAE national's 51 per cent holding in a company was nominal, brought on the footing of the former rule requiring…
Removing an LLC manager from office does not dispose of a separate claim to expel him as a partner
The Court distinguished two remedies against the managing partner of a limited liability company. Removal (عزل) only relieves the manager of management, and he remains a partner. Expulsion (فصل وإخراج) ends his membership of the company and requires…
Courts must examine evidence that an LLC manager acted fraudulently and that two companies operated as one
A managing partner of a limited liability company is not liable in his own assets for the company's debts unless he commits a fault. If he breaches a management duty, the law or the company's constitution, he is liable for his personal faults and for acts…
The 30-day limit for annulling an award runs only from the tribunal's notification of it to that party
Article 54(2) of the Federal Arbitration Law bars an annulment action brought more than 30 days after the award is notified to the party seeking annulment, and Article 44 requires the tribunal to notify each party by delivering a signed original or copy…
The agreed legal seat, not the institution or its rules, decides which court hears an action to annul an award
The seat (legal place) of arbitration is the jurisdiction in which the arbitration takes place, and it determines the law governing the procedure, the court supervising the arbitration and hearing annulment actions, and whether the award is domestic or…
An optional arbitration clause does not oust the courts, and the new five-year limit for traders runs from 2023
An agreement to arbitrate is not presumed: its wording must show that the parties made arbitration the only way to resolve their disputes. A clause that sits alongside the courts' jurisdiction or offers a choice between them, such as one allowing either…
An arbitration clause binds only its parties, and enforcing a cheque in Dubai courts can waive it
A party who relies on an arbitration agreement must raise it before making any request or defence on the merits (Article 8(1) of the Federal Arbitration Law). The right to arbitrate may be waived expressly or impliedly, but implied waiver requires conduct…
A party may resist enforcement of an award on annulment grounds even after the time to sue for annulment has passed
Under Articles 55 and 57 of the Federal Arbitration Law, an award may be challenged either by an action for annulment or during the application to confirm and enforce it. A party who has not sued for annulment may still object to the enforcement order by a…
An employer enforcing a non-compete clause must prove actual loss; a breach alone earns no compensation
Under Article 10 of the Labour Relations Law, an employee who breaches a post-employment undertaking not to compete is liable to compensate the employer for the resulting damage. The liability is contractual: breach of the undertaking is not enough, the…
A 'pension' paid with salary during employment cannot replace a free-zone employee's end-of-service gratuity
Under Article 51 of the Labour Relations Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021), a foreign full-time worker with at least one year of continuous service is entitled to an end-of-service gratuity when his service ends. Rights that arise only when the…
An employer's claim to recover a personal loan to an employee is not subject to the labour-law one-year bar
Laws do not apply retroactively; a legal relationship and its effects are governed by the law in force when they arose. Under Article 6 of the former Labour Relations Law (Federal Law No. 8 of 1980), which governed a cash advance made and fully due before…
An employer that stops a resigning employee from working her notice period must pay her notice wages
A worker is entitled to the agreed wage if he performs the work or makes himself available for it, even if no work is assigned (Article 912 of the Civil Transactions Law). Under Article 43 of the Labour Relations Law either party may end the contract for a…
An employee suspended during a criminal case and later acquitted recovers full wages; limitation waits for the verdict
Under Article 40(2) of the Labour Relations Law an employer may suspend a worker accused of certain offences, without pay, until a final decision; if the worker is not sent for trial, is acquitted for want of an offence, or the investigation is closed for…
On termination of a completed-unit sale, the contractual late-payment penalty falls away and damages follow general rules
Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 applies only to units still under construction; once a unit exists or is registered in the Real Property Register under Law No. 7 of 2006, that Law and its Article 11 procedure no longer apply, even if the contract was made…
A developer that sues instead of terminating lets the off-plan buyer avoid termination by paying before final judgment
Once the Land Department has issued its document confirming the procedure under Article 11 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 (as amended by Law No. 19 of 2020), a developer may terminate an off-plan sale on its own without going to court, but it may instead sue.…
A signed off-plan reservation form is a binding sale, and without interim registration the developer must refund
A sale is concluded when offer and acceptance meet on the property and the price; no written form is required, and agreement may be shown by conduct or by exchanged correspondence. An off-plan sale is a complete sale subject to special rules, under which a…
Claims over a property's missing area are price-reduction claims, barred one year after handover
A court must give a claim its correct legal characterisation according to what is actually sought and its legal basis, whatever label the claimant uses, and limitation depends on that characterisation. Under Article 524 of the Civil Transactions Law, no…
A developer that never registered an off-plan sale in the interim register must refund the price and pay damages
Under Articles 3 and 5 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008, every disposition of an off-plan unit (one that does not yet exist, is under construction or is incomplete) must be entered in the interim real property register, whether the unit was sold before or after…
Group companies behind one property project are jointly liable, and VAT charged on an undelivered hotel unit is refundable
In real estate investment several companies with separate legal personality and assets may share a single project and so be jointly liable for its obligations; whether they do is a question of fact. Money paid for a debt whose cause never arose, or later…
A sale contract e-signed through the Land Department's system binds the buyer and defeats a bare forgery claim
Under Articles 54 to 58 of the Evidence Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 35 of 2022), electronic evidence, including electronic records, signatures and correspondence such as email, has the same effect as written evidence; formal electronic evidence, including…
Late deposit of instalments into escrow does not entitle an off-plan buyer to terminate before completion is due
An off-plan buyer cannot terminate merely because the developer paid his instalments into the project escrow account late. Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007 on real estate development escrow accounts contains no provision allowing a buyer to terminate where the…
A mortgaged property's auction award can be appealed only for defects in the bidding, its form or a missed stay
Under Article 300(1) of the Civil Procedure Code, a judgment awarding a property at auction may be appealed only for a defect in the bidding procedure or in the form of the judgment, or because it was issued without a stay that was legally required.…
A developer in breach of its own obligations cannot use the Land Department procedure to cancel an off-plan sale
Article 11 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 lets a developer terminate an off-plan sale and retain no more than a set percentage of the price, according to the stage of completion, after notifying the Land Department, which gives the buyer 30 days to perform.…
Seller owes no double deposit when the master developer's refusal of a no-objection certificate blocks the transfer
Payment of a deposit (earnest money) shows that the parties intended the sale to be final; unless the agreement or custom provides otherwise, a recipient who withdraws must return it doubled and a payer who withdraws forfeits it. A suspensive condition…
When a developer's instalment sale is terminated, it refunds the instalments less a fair rent for the buyer's use
Where a transaction is commercial for one party and civil for the other, the Commercial Transactions Law governs both parties' obligations unless the law or the parties provide otherwise. Under its instalment-sale rule, if the buyer fails to pay an…
Service-charge claims under Dubai's jointly owned property law belong exclusively to the Rental Disputes Centre, including older debts
Article 42 of Dubai Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned real property, in force from 9 November 2019, gives the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre exclusive jurisdiction over all disputes concerning the rights and obligations under that Law, and Article…
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