The DIFC statute that constituted the DIFC Court as a Court of First Instance and a Court of Appeal, fixed the minimum bench and set the powers, procedures and administration of the courts. Consolidated March 2022; superseded by Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025 and now listed by DIFC under Past Laws.
The DIFC Court Law, DIFC Law No. 10 of 2004, was the DIFC statute that constituted the DIFC Courts and set their composition, jurisdiction, procedure and administration. It has been repealed: Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025 concerning the DIFC Courts replaced it, and DIFC now lists it among its past laws. The record is kept because the DIFC Courts' rules, practice directions and two decades of judgments cite it. The copy read is the consolidated version of March 2022, as amended by DIFC Laws Amendment Law No. 2 of 2022, and it is the text as it stood before repeal.
Made by the Ruler of Dubai, its purpose was to provide for the independent administration of justice in the DIFC in accordance with Dubai Law No. 9 of 2004 and the Judicial Authority Law (Article 6). The Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal established under the Judicial Authority Law were together known as the DIFC Court (Article 7), with at least four judges including the Chief Justice (Article 8). Judges were appointed for terms of up to three years, renewable, not extending beyond age 75, and had to have held high judicial office in a jurisdiction recognised by the UAE and have significant common-law experience (Article 9).
Article 19 restated the Court of First Instance's original jurisdiction under Article 5(A) of the Judicial Authority Law: civil or commercial disputes involving the Centre, its bodies or establishments; disputes arising from contracts or transactions concluded by them; disputes arising from contracts performed or transactions concluded wholly or partly in the Centre or incidents there; and any application given to the Court by DIFC law. A single judge sat at first instance; the Court of Appeal heard appeals from the Court of First Instance with at least three judges, none of whom had heard the case below (Articles 26 and 29). Article 24 gave the Court of First Instance jurisdiction to ratify judgments, orders and awards of foreign courts, the courts of Dubai and the UAE and arbitral tribunals for onward enforcement in Dubai. The Court applied the Judicial Authority Law, DIFC law, the Rules of Court or the law the parties agreed, and could consider decisions from other jurisdictions (Article 30).
The Chief Justice recommended Rules of Court for enactment by the President after at least 30 days' consultation (Article 31). Judgments were enforceable within the DIFC under the Rules of Court and outside it under the Judicial Authority Law (Article 42); the Court had contempt jurisdiction (Article 43). English was the official language (Article 60) and the Court and its judges enjoyed immunity for acts done in good faith (Article 61). Which of these provisions survive, and in what form, is now governed by Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025 and the rules issued under it.
Historically, the DIFC Courts and their judges, Registrar and staff, and every party litigating before them, including DIFC companies, their counterparties and persons who opted into DIFC Court jurisdiction; today, anyone reading older DIFC Court rules, practice directions or judgments that cite this Law.
| Article 6 | The Law's purpose was to provide for the independent administration of justice in the DIFC in accordance with Dubai Law No. 9 of 2004 and the Judicial Authority Law. |
| Articles 7–8 | The Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal established under the Judicial Authority Law were together known as the DIFC Court, consisting of at least four judges, one of whom was the Chief Justice. |
| Article 9 | Judges were appointed for specified periods not exceeding three years, renewable but not beyond age 75, and had to have held high judicial office in a jurisdiction recognised by the UAE and have significant experience as a lawyer or judge in the common-law system. |
| Article 19 | The Court of First Instance had original jurisdiction under Article 5(A) of the Judicial Authority Law over civil and commercial disputes involving the Centre, its bodies or establishments, contracts or transactions concluded by them, contracts performed or incidents occurring in the Centre, and applications under DIFC law, exercised by a single judge. |
| Article 24 | Under Article 7(4) of the Judicial Authority Law the Court of First Instance could ratify judgments, orders and awards of recognised foreign courts, Dubai and UAE courts and arbitral tribunals, including for subsequent enforcement in the courts of Dubai. |
| Articles 26 and 29 | The Court of Appeal heard appeals from the Court of First Instance with the full range of orders available below; it sat with at least three judges, none of whom had heard the matter at first instance, with the Chief Justice or next most senior judge presiding. |
| Article 30 | The DIFC Court applied the Judicial Authority Law, DIFC law and legislation under it, the Rules of Court or the law agreed by the parties, and could consider decisions from other jurisdictions. |
| Article 31 | The Chief Justice recommended Rules of Court for enactment by the President, publishing the draft with a statement of substance and inviting representations for at least 30 days. |
| Articles 42–43 | Judgments, orders and awards issued or ratified by the DIFC Court were enforceable within the DIFC under the Rules of Court and outside it under the Judicial Authority Law; the Court had contempt jurisdiction and could impose fines or refer matters to the Attorney General of Dubai. |
| Articles 60–61 | English was the official language of the DIFC Court and its tribunals, and the Court, its judges, officers and employees were immune from liability for acts done in performance of their functions unless in bad faith. |
The Law carried no fine schedule of its own; the Court could impose fines for contempt or refer the matter to the Attorney General of Dubai (Article 43), and it had jurisdiction over decisions relating to fines imposed under other DIFC laws (Article 23).
Older DIFC Court practice directions, rules and judgments that our clients and their counsel rely on cite this Law, especially the jurisdiction gateways in Article 19, the ratification route in Article 24 and the enforcement provisions in Article 42. When a client asks why a contract clause written before 2025 refers to this Law, we explain that the DIFC Courts now sit under Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025 and that the clause still works because the courts, their gateways and the opt-in mechanism continue under the new law. For enforcement planning we check the 2025 law and the current Rules of Court rather than this text, and we refer clients to DIFC-registered counsel for the filings themselves.
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