Labour Courts Moving

The Dubai Judicial Council has approved plans to shift its Labour Courts to a new facility near the main workers' acommodation in Sonapur, Al Quoz or Al Qusais, the top Labour Court judge told XPRESS.

Judge Abdul Qader Mousa, head of the newly-formed Labour Court of First Instance, said the council recently approved plans to set up an independent building for the Labour Courts, which will include offices of the Ministry of Labour and the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD).

“We aim to have the new Labour Court building in Sonapur, Al Quoz or Al Qusais with all the concerned departments in it, to save the complainants the trouble of travelling between government institutions,'' said Judge Mousa.

The exact location of the court is still to be decided.

Judge Mousa also said that Dubai Courts is setting up a building within the Dubai Industrial City to deal with expected rise of cases in that area. The industrial city, near Jebel Ali, is expected to have between 200,000 to 300,000 employees once it becomes fully operational.

The number of labour cases has surged 51 per cent, with construction workers topping the list of complainants, he said. The court received 705 cases between November 9 last year and April 9. A total of 468 cases were received over the same period a year ago.

The Dubai Court of First Instance previously heard labour cases.

Judge Mousa said construction workers lodged most cases at the six-month-old Labour Court. “The Ministry of Labour and the courts are closely monitoring these companies, including their financial transactions and payments,'' he said.

If a company goes bankrupt, the court liquidates company deposits at the Ministry of Labour before liquidating the company's assets, he said, adding that employees must be compensated before creditors.

All labour cases from 2005 have been settled, and Judge Mousa promised cases filed in 2006 would be settled by next month. Ten judges (four Emiratis, three Sudanese, two Egyptians and a Jordanian), divided into seven departments, sit in the Labour Court.

An office of the Ministry of Labour also opened alongside the Labour Court within the Dubai Courts complex, a move that helped speed up processing of cases, he added.

The Dubai Economic Depart- ment (DED) provides the Labour Court with full access to company records.

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