5 conditions for implementing foreign judicial rulings in the country

A judicial order to implement a custody ruling within the country despite it being issued by another country has raised questions about the possibility of implementing foreign rulings in the country, and whether there are specific circumstances or requirements for that.

A senior legal advisor, Wajih Amin Abdulaziz, said that the UAE legislator permitted the implementation of judicial rulings and orders issued by a foreign country, related to personal status, civil and commercial rights, according to the laws in force in that country, but according to five specific conditions stipulated in Article 85 of the regulations of the Code of Procedure. Federal Civil Code, pointing out that it is formally reviewed after submitting a request for its implementation, and an order is issued regarding it within three days.

He stated that the first condition is that the ruling or order to be implemented must be issued by a court, and in accordance with the law of the country in which it was issued, and that the state’s courts are not exclusively competent in the dispute in which the ruling was issued, and that the foreign court that issued it must be competent to consider it, according to the established rules of international jurisdiction. In its law. Abdulaziz pointed out that the second condition is that the opponents in the case in which the foreign judgment was issued must be summoned to appear and properly represented, in order to ensure the integrity of the procedures taken in the case subject to the judgment or order to be implemented. He added that the third condition is that the ruling or order must have the force of a res judicata according to the law of the court that issued it, meaning that the ruling to be implemented must be enforceable and may not be appealed in any form of appeal, in accordance with the law of the country that issued it.

He explained that the fourth condition is that the ruling or order to be implemented must not conflict with a ruling or order previously issued by the state’s courts, and does not include anything that contravenes morals and public order therein, pointing out that this condition ensures maintaining the supremacy of the rulings and orders issued by the state’s courts.

He stated that the fifth condition requires that judicial rulings issued by foreign courts may be implemented mutually, and in accordance with the terms of collective treaties concluded and ratified by the UAE, including the Arab League’s agreement to implement mutual judicial rulings between its members, which entered into force pursuant to Federal Decree No. (93) of 1972. The League’s Charter stipulates in its second article that “every final ruling establishing civil or commercial rights or awarding compensation before the criminal courts or relating to personal status, issued by a judicial body shall be subject to For implementation in all other League countries. He pointed out that, in general, the person requesting the implementation of a foreign judgment must submit to the court of first instance in whose jurisdiction the execution is to be executed a petition that includes specific documents certified by the competent authority, including the original of the judgment to be implemented removed in executive form from the country that issued it, and a certificate from the competent authorities that the judgment to be implemented He now has the force of a res judicata if this is not stipulated in the ruling, and a certificate that the ruling will not be implemented in the country in which it was issued. He pointed out that the court issues an order regarding the petition within a maximum of three days from the date of its submission, after considering it formally and procedurally and not on its substance.

Bilateral agreements

Senior Legal Advisor, Wajih Amin Abdulaziz, stated that the Agreement on the Implementation of Judgments and Judicial Deputies of the Gulf Cooperation Council States, which entered into force pursuant to Federal Decree No. (41) of 1996, stipulated in its first article that “Each of the member states of the Cooperation Council shall implement the judgments issued.” For the courts of any member state in civil, commercial, administrative, and personal status cases that have the force of res judicata in its territory.

He pointed out that the UAE has concluded bilateral agreements with several countries, according to which judicial rulings are implemented interchangeably between them.