Dubai Court of Cassation (General Assembly), Resolution No. 6 of 2023, 24 October 2023
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 through them, under the labour law are exempt from court fees where their value does not exceed AED 100,000, and the worker is also exempt from the AED 3,000 cassation deposit, because anyone exempt from fees is exempt from the deposit. Labour claims above AED 100,000, and appeals and petitions in them, attract fees and require the deposit. If the opponent is ordered to pay costs, fees are collected from it on the amount awarded.
Acting under Article 20(a)(1) of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2016 on the Judicial Authority, the President of the Court of Cassation referred to the General Assembly the question of fees and deposits in labour appeals before the Court of Cassation.
The Assembly reviewed Dubai Law No. 21 of 2015 on Judicial Fees in the Dubai Courts: Article 32 imposes a fixed fee of AED 2,000 on a cassation appeal and AED 1,000 on a request to stay execution; Article 37(b) requires an appellant in cassation in civil-rights cases to deposit AED 3,000; Article 34 sets the fee for a petition for reconsideration at 25 per cent of the fee charged before the court that gave the judgment. Article 181(2) of the Civil Procedure Code of 2022 likewise requires a cassation appellant to deposit AED 3,000 when paying the fee, refundable if the appeal succeeds, and exempts from the deposit anyone exempt from fees. Article 9(1) of the Fees Law exempts claims, appeals and requests brought by workers or their successors under Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 whose value does not exceed AED 100,000, with fees collected from the opponent, on the basis of the amount awarded, if it is ordered to pay costs.
Reading Articles 181(2) and 188 of the Code with Article 9(1) of the Fees Law, the Assembly concluded that labour claims, requests, appeals and petitions for reconsideration by workers under the labour relations law are exempt where their value does not exceed AED 100,000. It followed that fees are payable, and the deposit must be made, in labour claims above AED 100,000 and in appeals and petitions in such claims. It resolved that a worker is exempt from court fees for the claim, the appeal, the cassation appeal and the petition for reconsideration where the labour claim does not exceed AED 100,000, and from the deposit.
Employees in Dubai can take claims of up to AED 100,000 through every level of the courts without paying fees or the cassation deposit, which lowers the cost of appeals for employees in disputes with employers. Above that threshold the ordinary fee and deposit rules apply.
| Articles 9(1), 32, 34 and 37 of Dubai Law No. 21 of 2015 on Judicial Fees in the Dubai Courts |
| Articles 181(2) and 188 of Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 (Civil Procedure Code) — text of articles 181, 188 |
| Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 regulating Labour Relations, as referred to in Article 9(1) of the Fees Law Decided under this law; it has been replaced by UAE Labour Law. |
| Article 20(a)(1) of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2016 on the Judicial Authority in the Emirate of Dubai |
“اعفاء العامل من سداد الرسوم القضائية للدعاوى والاستئناف والطعن بالتمييز والتماس اعادة النظر اذ كانت قيمة المطالبه العمالية لا تزيد عن مبلغ (100.000) درهم”Short quotation from the judgment as published by the court. The full judgment is on the court’s official service.
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