Dubai Court of Cassation (General Assembly), Resolution No. 2 of 2025, 26 March 2025
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 charitable endowments, gifts and bequests, in challenges to judges and prosecutors, and wherever the law requires. That intervention is a matter of public order: if it is not notified, or not allowed to give its opinion, the judgment is absolutely void, which the court raises of its own motion and any interested party may invoke at any stage. Trial and appeal courts must also follow principles of the federal-local unification body, the General Assembly and recently published settled principles of the Court of Cassation.
At the request of the President of the Court of Cassation, the General Assembly considered when the Public Prosecution intervenes in civil cases under Articles 63 to 72 of Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 (Civil Procedure Code), and with what effect, because of some unpublished judgments given on specific facts.
The Assembly distinguished two kinds of intervention. Mandatory intervention (except in urgent cases) covers: cases the Prosecution may bring itself; challenges and requests before the Federal Supreme Court other than cassation appeals in civil, commercial and administrative matters; cases concerning persons without or with limited legal capacity and absent or missing persons; cases on charitable endowments, gifts and bequests; challenges for the recusal of judges and members of the Prosecution; and any other case where the law requires it. In all these cases intervention is an essential step of public order. If the case management office or the court does not notify the Prosecution, or does not enable it to give its opinion, the judgment is absolutely void; the court must raise this of its own motion and any interested party may invoke it at any stage. If the Prosecution, once notified and given a deadline, files no opinion and asks for no extension, it is treated as leaving the opinion to the court.
Optional intervention, where non-intervention does not void the judgment, covers pleas of lack of jurisdiction, preventive composition with creditors (الصلح الواقي من الإفلاس), cases the Prosecution considers to involve public order or morals, and other cases the law allows.
To secure consistency, the Assembly also resolved that the trial and appeal courts must follow the principles issued by the body for unifying principles between federal and local judicial authorities and by the General Assembly, as well as recently published settled principles of the Court of Cassation's chambers, describing this as a legal duty rather than mere guidance.
Commercial and property disputes sometimes involve minors or other persons under guardianship, such as heirs holding shares or units, or endowment property. A judgment given without notifying the Public Prosecution in such cases is exposed to being declared void at any stage. The second part of the resolution gives General Assembly principles and recent published principles binding force on Dubai trial and appeal courts.
| Articles 63 to 72 of Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 (Civil Procedure Code) — text of articles 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72 |
“عدم إخطار مكتب إدارة الدعوى أو المحكمة (بحسب الأحوال) النيابة العامة بالدعوى أمام محكمة الموضوع بدرجتيها، أو عدم تمكينها من تقديم رأيها، يؤدي إلى بطلان الحكم الصادر في تلك الدعوى”Short quotation from the judgment as published by the court. The full judgment is on the court’s official service.
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