Dubai Court of Cassation (General Assembly), Resolution No. 1 of 2026, 14 January 2026
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 state when filed the judgment appealed, its date, the relief sought and the grounds of appeal in detail. Generic phrases, such as 'error in applying the law' or 'insufficient reasoning', without identifying the defect, do not suffice. Otherwise the court declares the appeal inadmissible of its own motion, and a later memorandum cannot cure the omission even if the appeal period is still open. The right to change or add to the cause of action, keeping the original request, is preserved.
At the request of the President of the Court of Cassation, the General Assembly gave its interpretation of Article 164 of the Civil Procedure Code (Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022), as replaced by Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2025, on the essential contents of a statement of appeal.
Paragraph 3 of the former Article 164 allowed an appellant, subject to any special provision, to submit the grounds of appeal up to the first hearing before the case management office or the court, failing which the appeal was inadmissible. The new paragraph 1 provides that an appeal is filed by a statement lodged with the case management office of the Court of Appeal or registered electronically, and that the statement must contain the judgment appealed, its date, the grounds of appeal and the relief sought, failing which the appeal is inadmissible.
The Assembly held that by deleting paragraph 3 the legislature abolished the grace period for grounds and turned their inclusion in the statement into an essential condition of admissibility. Besides the judgment, its date and the relief sought (including what Article 167(5) provides), the appellant must set out the grounds in detail. Rhetorical, general or vague statements do not meet this requirement; an appeal containing only such phrases is treated as having no grounds. The parties keep the right to change or add to the cause of action while maintaining the original request, to raise substantive defences and to ask for means of proof. The rule extends to cross-appeals and counter-appeals: if brought by statement, the statement must contain the requests and detailed grounds; if brought by memorandum, the memorandum itself must contain them when filed. It also applies to appeals against judgments on payment orders.
The Assembly resolved accordingly: missing grounds lead the court, of its own motion, to declare the appeal inadmissible, and a later memorandum does not cure the defect.
Appeals in Dubai civil and commercial cases can now fail at the threshold if the statement filed is a placeholder with generic objections. The resolution replaces the former practice under Article 164(3), which allowed grounds to be supplied up to the first hearing, and applies equally to cross-appeals and to appeals in payment-order cases, where time limits are short.
| Article 164 of Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 (Civil Procedure Code), as replaced by Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2025, and Article 167(5) of the Code — text of articles 164, 167 |
“ولا يغني عن ذلك تقديم الأسباب في مذكرة لاحقة، ولو كان ميعاد الاستئناف مازال مفتوحا”Short quotation from the judgment as published by the court. The full judgment is on the court’s official service.
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