Federal Supreme Court (General Assembly), Commercial Appeals Nos. 462 and 487 of 2022 (General Assembly No. 1 of 2022), judgment of 5 December 2022
Registering a claim or an appeal involves three steps: filing the statement, paying the fee and entry in the register. A first-instance claim takes effect from filing if the fee is paid within three working days. That three-day rule does not govern appeals: an appeal is validly brought if the statement is filed and the fee paid and the appeal registered within the thirty-day appeal period. Where an error or omission of the case management office, or a technical failure, prevents the fee from being assessed and paid in time, payment outside the period counts as timely if the appellant was not at fault. The General Assembly may decide a referred appeal itself after ruling on the principle.
A contractor claimed AED 1,064,275 from an employer under a 2013 contract to build a four-storey building. On 13 July 2021 the court of first instance awarded AED 300,000 with 5 per cent interest. Both parties appealed by statements filed on 9 August 2021, but on 14 February 2022 the appeal court in Ajman held that their right of appeal had lapsed because the fees were paid more than three days after filing, applying Article 19 of the 2018 Regulations to the former Civil Procedure Law. The Commercial Chamber referred the cassation appeals to the General Assembly under Article 65 of the Federal Supreme Court law, because the Personal Status Chamber had applied the three-day rule to appeals while commercial chambers treated the filing date as decisive. The General Assembly relied on Article 3 of Federal Law No. 13 of 2016 on court fees (no claim or appeal is registered until the fee is paid), Articles 16(1) and 19 of the Regulations, and Article 162 of the former Code, under which an appeal statement is filed and registered immediately. Since registration presupposes payment, an appeal is filed in time if the fee is paid and the appeal registered within the appeal period; the filing date then governs, and the three-day rule, which concerns first-instance claims, does not apply. It added the exception for registry error or technical failure. Deciding the appeals itself, it noted that the appeal period is thirty days from the day after a judgment given in the parties' presence. The appeal court had applied the three-day rule and had not stated when the fees were assessed and notified, although the appellants said the delay resulted from an update of the electronic fee system at the Ajman Court of Appeal. Its judgment was quashed and the case remitted. The collection notes that the provisions applied are now Articles 44, 47, 161 and 164 of Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022.
Appeals are regularly lost on fee-timing points in electronic filing systems. This General Assembly ruling sets the federal courts' position that the stricter three-day fee window for new claims does not shorten the thirty-day appeal period, and that registry errors or system failures outside the appellant's control do not forfeit an appeal. It was decided under the former Code and its 2018 Regulations.
| Article 3 of Federal Law No. 13 of 2016 on Court Fees before the Federal Courts |
| Articles 9(1), 16(1) and 19 of Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2018 (Regulations to the former Civil Procedure Law) |
| Articles 152, 159 and 162 of Federal Law No. 11 of 1992 (former Civil Procedure Law) Decided under this law; it has been replaced by Civil Procedure Code. |
| Articles 44, 47, 161 and 164 of Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 (Civil Procedure Law), listed in the collection as the replacement provisions — text of articles 44, 47, 161, 164 |
| Article 65 of Federal Law No. 10 of 1973 on the Federal Supreme Court (referral to the General Assembly) |
“التاريخ الذي يعتد به عند احتساب مواعيد الطعن للاستئناف هو تاريخ إيداع صحيفة الاستئناف طالما تم سداد الرسم والقيد خلال الميعاد المحدد للإستئناف”Short quotation from the judgment as published by the court. The full judgment is on the court’s official service.
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