What is an appeal under UAE law? What are its procedures?
Definition of Appeal
An appeal is a challenge filed by one of the parties, whether the party in favor of the judgment or the party against whom the judgment was filed, against a judgment issued by a first-instance court before the Court of Appeal classified as a second-instance court, within the legal period prescribed for appeal.
When may an appeal be filed in the United Arab Emirates?
In response, Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 promulgating the UAE Civil Procedure Code sets out the conditions required for appeal as follows:
An appeal must be filed after a final judgment is rendered. That is, the appeal must be against judgments issued in their final form. Therefore, it is not permissible to appeal judgments issued during the course of a lawsuit, with the exception of interim and urgent judgments. Appeals must be filed against judgments that are legally subject to appeal. Some judgments are not subject to appeal if the value of the lawsuit or dispute is small.
The appeal must be filed within the legal period prescribed after the issuance of the final judgment. This period is 30 days from the day following the date the judgment was notified to the convicted person.
Appeals may only be filed by the judgment creditor, the convicted person, or their representative.
There must be a substantial reason for the appeal.
The appeal procedures in UAE law are as follows:
The appellant must appoint a specialized attorney to file the appeal before the competent appeals court. The specialized attorney will prepare the appeal brief, which must include the name of the appellant and the name of the respondent, the appealed judgment, its number and date, and the case in which the judgment was issued, its number and date. The appeal brief must also state the facts of the appeal, supporting all of this with legal grounds and attached documents. The appeals are then submitted.
The attorney files the appeal petition, deposits it with the Case Management Office of the Court of Appeal, and records it in the designated register. The appeal may also be filed electronically.
The attorney must submit copies of the appeal brief, equal to the number of appellees, along with a copy to the Case Management Office.
The Case Management Office of the Court of Appeal to which the appeal is filed must request the attachment of the initial case file starting the day following the day on which the appeal is filed.
The Case Management Office of the Court of First Instance must send the case file within a maximum of ten days from the date of the request. This period is reduced to three days for urgent cases.
The respondent may file a counter-appeal up to the date of the first session to exchange memoranda and responses.