Dubai Law No. 12 of 2004 · Dubai
The former Judicial Authority Law that gave the DIFC Courts exclusive jurisdiction over civil and commercial matters connected with the Centre and, after the 2011 amendment, allowed any parties to opt in by a specific written agreement. Superseded by Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025; listed by DIFC under Past Dubai Laws.
Dubai Law No. 12 of 2004 in respect of the Judicial Authority at Dubai International Financial Centre was the law that established the DIFC Courts and fixed their jurisdiction. It has been repealed and replaced by Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025 Concerning Dubai International Financial Centre Courts, and the DIFC lists it among its past Dubai laws; it is kept in this library because a very large body of contracts, facility letters and arbitration-related documents still refer to its Article 5(A) when choosing the DIFC Courts. The text read is the consolidated version as amended by Law No. 16 of 2011, which replaced Articles 2, 4, 5 and 7 with effect from 31 October 2011.
Article 3 established the Courts of the Centre as independent courts of two ranks, a Court of First Instance sitting with a single judge and a Court of Appeal of three judges, with judges appointed by decree of the Ruler and judgments issued in the Ruler's name. Article 4 gave the Chief Justice general supervision of the Courts, including power to issue the Rules of the Courts.
Article 5 is the provision everyone cites. As amended in 2011, the Court of First Instance had exclusive jurisdiction over civil or commercial claims to which the DIFC, a DIFC Body, a DIFC Establishment or a Licensed DIFC Establishment is a party; claims arising from contracts concluded, performed or to be performed in the DIFC; claims arising from incidents or transactions performed in the DIFC and related to DIFC activities; appeals against decisions of DIFC Bodies; and anything else given to it by DIFC law (Article 5(A)(1)). The 2011 amendment added the opt-in: under Article 5(A)(2) any parties could agree in writing, before or after a dispute, to bring a civil or commercial claim before the Court of First Instance, provided the agreement was specific, clear and express; Article 5(A)(3) let the Court take a case another chosen court had dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal's judgments were final (Article 5(B)) and Article 5(D) created the DIFC execution judge.
Article 6 required the Courts to apply DIFC laws and regulations unless the parties expressly chose another law not conflicting with public policy. Article 7 set out the mutual enforcement mechanics: DIFC judgments and ratified arbitral awards were executed by the DIFC execution judge inside the DIFC, and outside it through the competent authority on a final judgment, a translation and the executory formula, with an execution-letter procedure through the Dubai Courts, whose execution judge could not reopen the merits; Dubai Courts judgments were executed in the DIFC on reciprocal conditions. Article 8 gave judges immunity except for bad faith. The Law took effect on publication in the Official Gazette (Article 11) and its 2011 amendments on 31 October 2011. It is now repealed.
Historically, the DIFC and its bodies, DIFC-registered and DFSA-licensed establishments, parties to contracts performed in the DIFC, and any parties who opted into DIFC Courts jurisdiction by express written agreement under Article 5(A)(2); today it matters to anyone holding a contract or facility letter that still refers to it.
English official text in 11 articles. Open the full text or jump to a provision:
| Article 1 | As amended by Law No. 16 of 2011, Articles 2, 4, 5 and 7 of the original 2004 law were superseded by the replacement provisions with effect from 31 October 2011. |
| Article 2 | Defines DIFC Establishments as any entity established, licensed, registered or authorised to carry on business in the DIFC under DIFC laws, and Licensed DIFC Establishments as those licensed or authorised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. |
| Article 3 | Established the DIFC Courts as independent courts of two ranks, a Court of First Instance of a single judge and a Court of Appeal of three judges, situated in the Centre, with judges appointed by decree of the Ruler and judgments issued in the Ruler's name. |
| Article 4 | Gave the Chief Justice general supervision of the Courts, including setting up circuits, contracting with third parties, proposing draft DIFC laws within the Courts' jurisdiction and approving and issuing the Rules of the Courts, with a Deputy Chief Justice acting in his absence. |
| Article 5(A)(1) | The Court of First Instance had exclusive jurisdiction over civil or commercial claims to which the DIFC, a DIFC Body, a DIFC Establishment or a Licensed DIFC Establishment is a party, claims from contracts concluded or performed in the DIFC, claims from transactions performed in the DIFC related to DIFC activities, and appeals against decisions of DIFC Bodies. |
| Article 5(A)(2)–(4) | Any parties could agree in writing, before or after a dispute, to bring a civil or commercial claim before the Court of First Instance, provided the agreement was made in specific, clear and express terms; the Court could also take a case dismissed by another chosen court for want of jurisdiction, but not one already finally decided. |
| Article 5(B) | The Court of Appeal had exclusive jurisdiction over appeals from the Court of First Instance and over requests by the Chief Justice to interpret DIFC laws, such interpretations having the force of the legislation; its judgments were final and not subject to any further appeal. |
| Article 6 | The Courts applied DIFC laws and regulations unless the parties had explicitly agreed that another law governed the dispute, provided that law did not conflict with public policy and morals. |
| Article 7 | The DIFC execution judge enforced DIFC judgments and ratified awards within the DIFC; outside it enforcement went through the competent authority on a final judgment, translation and executory formula, with an execution-letter procedure through the Dubai Courts whose execution judge could not revisit the merits, and Dubai Courts judgments were enforced in the DIFC on reciprocal terms. |
| Article 8 | Judges of the Courts were not liable for anything done or omitted in performing their functions unless proven to have acted in bad faith. |
Thousands of existing contracts and bank facility letters held by our clients, and many of the shareholder and loan agreements drafted before 2025 for their DIFC entities, choose the DIFC Courts by reference to Article 5(A) of this Law. The clause still works, because Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025 carries the same exclusive and opt-in jurisdiction forward, but when we review or renew those documents we update the reference to the 2025 Law so that a counterparty cannot argue the clause points to a repealed statute. We also use the old Article 5(A)(2) wording as the benchmark for what an opt-in clause must say: specific, clear and express. Where a client needs to enforce a DIFC judgment against assets on the Dubai mainland, the Article 7 execution-letter route through the Dubai Courts is the mechanism that applied to older judgments, and we explain how the 2025 Law now handles the same step.
| Amended by | Dubai Law No. 16 of 2011 |
| Repealed by | Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025 Concerning Dubai International Financial Centre Courts |
| Cites | DIFC Court Law · DIFC Establishment Decree · Financial Free Zones Law |
| Cited by | DIFC Arbitration Law · DIFC Foundations Law · DIFC Trust Law · DIFC Courts Law 2025 · DIFC Law 2021 · RAK ICC Business Companies Regulations 2018 |
“Cites” and “Cited by” are built automatically from references in the full texts held in this library; they cover only instruments in the library.
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