Landmark Victory Secured by Galadari at the Court of Cassation

Galadari’s team has recently secured a significant victory in a lawsuit before the UAE Courts involving the enforcement of a foreign judgment issued in one of the GCC countries against a defendant not residing in the UAE.

Acting on behalf of our client, we filed an enforcement application with the Abu Dhabi court of execution to recognize and enforce the above-mentioned foreign judgment. The opposing party contested our application and filed an appeal, which was subsequently dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

Unhappy with the appeal judgment, the opponent escalated the matter to the Court of Cassation, arguing that the case documents clearly demonstrated that the underlying company was based in another Gulf state, and that there was no evidence indicating the presence of any assets or funds within the UAE, contending that the UAE courts lacked jurisdiction to enforce the foreign judgment, as the conditions required for the court to assume enforcement authority had not been met.

Our team successfully refuted the opponents’ arguments and submitted a comprehensive response to the opponent’s appeal before the Court of Cassation, systematically addressing and challenging each of the legal grounds raised. The response was accurately crafted to reinforce the validity of the enforcement proceedings and to strengthen our client’s position.

The Court of Cassation reviewed the matter and referred to the provisions of the GCC Convention for the Execution of Judgments, Delegations and Judicial Notifications. It emphasized that, under the GCC Convention, all GCC countries should enforce final judgments which carry the force of res judicata issued by the courts of any member state in civil, commercial, administrative, and personal status matters, so far as the judgments do not violate the conditions set forth in Article 2 of this Convention.

Article 2 of the GCC Convention outlines the grounds on which a court may reject the enforcement of a foreign judgment. These include: if the judgment violates Islamic Sharia, the Constitution, or public order; if it was issued in absentia without proper notification to the debtor; if the matter has already been decided in a final judgment between the same parties; if a case involving the same dispute and parties is already pending before the enforcing court and was filed earlier; if the judgment is against the government or its officials for acts performed in their official capacity; or if enforcement would conflict with international treaties or protocols applicable in the enforcing state.

However, none of the above-mentioned condition include a requirement for the debtor or the party against whom enforcement is sought to be residing or to have assets within the enforcing state. As such, the absence of assets in the UAE does not preclude the enforcement of the foreign judgment.

The Court of Cassation added further that the procedural rules governing the enforcement of foreign judgments within the United Arab Emirates must not prejudice the treaties concluded between the UAE and other countries in this regard.

The Court of Cassation has upheld our legal position and dismissed the opponent’s appeal that sought staying the execution process, and affirmed that, upon reviewing the judgment issued by the GCC member state, all conditions necessary for the enforcement of a foreign judgment had been satisfied.

For further advice on related matters, please contact Charbel Fadel, Partner and Hussein Momani, Partner at Galadari Advocates and Legal Consultants, at 

Charbel Fadel Partner charbel@galadarilaw.com

 

Hussein Momani Partner hussein.momani@galadarilaw.com