Abu Dhabi: Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs, and President of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD), has signed a decision establishing the Small Claim Court, based on the strategic priority of the Judicial Department.
The move aims to achieve justice and build confidence in the judicial system in a way that contributes to enhance the competitive position of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Youssef Saeed Al-Abri, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, stated that the decision guarantees a speedy adjudication of cases and preserves at the same time the rights of all parties, as the court has the jurisdiction to settle civil, commercial and labour disputes in addition to salary claims of less than Dh500,000 of value. The final decisions of this Court are rendered at the same hearing, Al Abri said.
The decision to establish the Small Claims Court has provided a mechanism to expedite the case preparation. The said procedure shall be finalised within 15 days as of the date of registration of the case, which can be extended for a similar period only by a decision of the supervising judge. The decision ending the litigation shall be issued in one and same hearing during which the grounds of the dispute are set out.
Procedure
The decision also provides for a set of procedures that ensure the completion of the case in a record period of time, by devising proactive solutions before filing the lawsuit. The claimant who files a request requiring the opinion of a technical expert needs to pay the expert’s fees up to 3 per cent of the amount of the claim. This sum shall not be less than Dh2,000. The preparation session will be within three days from the date of receiving the report. The expert’s opinion can be taken orally during the hearing.
With regard to appeal procedures, the decision allows the appeal of the decisions ending the litigation and which value exceeds the amount of Dh50,000, within 15 days from the date of the judgement, provided that a fixed security amount of Dh1,000 is deposited for each appeal. The said amount is refundable if the appeal is accepted. The court shall determine the appeal within five working days from the date of registration. In all cases, the decisions rendered on the appeal shall be final and cannot be challenged by any means of appeal.
