Acquiring an arbitral award or a judgment isn’t the end of a legal battle. Execution or enforcement of such award or judgment is subsequent step and this step can be colossal and complicated particularly is the implementation or execution of any order is in another country as opposing to where the judgment or the award was issued. The execution of an arbitral award or a foreign judgment in UAE can turn out to be very challenging especially when the other party (obliged to pay) is running from his obligations under the judgment or award. In such circumstances, it is inevitable for a judgment creditor to formulate strategies which can assist him in successful execution of a foreign judgment or an arbitral award with the help of Best Civil Lawyers in Dubai.

UAE is signatory to New York Convention on Recognition and Implementation of Foreign Arbitral Awards which, allows automatic acknowledgment of foreign awards from countries signatory to this convention. Upon signing the treaty, the country has altered their procedure for enforcement or acknowledgment of foreign arbitral awards, even in cases when such awards fails to comply with the requirements of UAE civil Code, yet fulfils the requirements of New York Convention.

The Issuance of New Rules

The government of UAE issued new rules and regulations under a Cabinet Decision for implementation of foreign judgments and arbitral awards. Under the provisions of new rules, the application for enforcement will be directly submitted before the execution judge and the judge is obliged to rule upon such application within 3 days of its submission, however, such application can still be appealed.

Within the given timeframe, the execution judge should be satisfied about the following facts of the matter in order to issue an enforcement order on the foreign judgment or an arbitral award:

• The courts of UAE do not have any exclusive authority or jurisdiction to try the matter;
• The order by the foreign court or an arbitration institute shall be issued in accordance with the rules and regulations of that country and it shall be duly attested from relevant ministries.
• The award or a foreign judgment so obtained was not an ex-parte (absent) judgment or award wherein, both the parties were duly summoned and the judgment was issued in their presence;
• The award or the judgment issued is final and binding on the parties as per the law of that country;
• The award or foreign judgment issued in the country should not be against the public order of UAE.

The foregoing requirements are new basic prerequisites established by courts of UAE when it comes to enforcement or acknowledgment of foreign judgments or arbitral awards. As similar to any other contractual cases, construction contracts will similarly face the same requirements when presented before the Execution Courts of UAE. Construction Contracts, although are comparatively complexed and intricated as compared to other contracts, yet foreign judgments or arbitral awards issued under such contracts will be enforced or acknowledged either through the provisions of New York Convention or through the requirements of new Cabinet Decision for enforcement of foreign awards or judgments. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article that obtaining a judgment is not the end of the road, the next step is the enforcement where the judgment creditor will be obliged to remit the payments and that’s where you would need the Top Lawyers in Dubai to assist you with every step possible.