Maktoum bin Mohammed: To provide the global financial and business sector with dispute resolution services
Dubai International Financial Center Courts launched the world’s first tribunal of its kind for global companies and institutions working in the areas of digital economy and training a global team of lawyers and industry experts to prepare rules for the new specialized court trial, as part of a new set of specialized rules that are the first of their kind in the world at the court sector level. The courts at the Dubai International Financial Center also announced the holding of a virtual court, attended by teams of international law students and qualified magistrates, to test the new rules of the Digital Economy Tribunal regarding a cryptocurrency dispute, during the period from 26 to 27 November.
His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Dubai International Financial Center said: “The Dubai International Financial Center Courts continue their strategy to provide the ‘Emirate of Dubai, the UAE and the global financial and business sector with an integrated set of dispute resolution services that represent a pioneering qualitative leap beyond the traditional framework of services recognized in ordinary courts.
His Highness added: “The launch of the Dubai International Financial Center Courts, the first court of its kind in the world, enhances the ability of global companies and institutions working in areas of the digital economy to adapt to the changing and future needs of this promising industry, which is one of the fastest growing industries.”
His Highness continued: “The new court represents an advanced and effective arbitration umbrella in providing the legislative environment that ensures the support and protection of the stability, sustainability and growth of business projects in the field of digital economy, which has become one of the most important components of the overall development of various regional and global economies, and contributes positively and increasingly to the growth of the national product.” in many countries.”
A group of international judicial experts
The courts at the Dubai International Financial Center have drawn on the development and professional skills of a group of eminent international judicial experts to oversee and manage the advanced digital infrastructure and service capabilities of the new court, within the Digital Economy Court loop , where a group of international expert lawyers and industry experts were tasked with formulating and confirming New specialized rules, access to effective and modern dispute resolution in the digital economy, standardization of the use of smart forms to provide information through a platform dynamic powered by artificial intelligence, while the courts will hear cases using advanced digital systems, with the aim of upholding environmental sustainability standards.
In 2021, the Dubai International Financial Center Courts established the Digital Economy Court Chamber to address complex domestic and international disputes related to current and emerging technologies in various fields, from big data to blockchain technologies and artificial intelligence, financial technologies and cloud services for vehicles Unmanned aerial vehicles, 3D printing technologies and robotics.
Creative technology applications
For his part, Judge Omar Al Muhairi, Director of Courts at the Dubai International Financial Centre, said: “With the rapid emergence of the digital economy’s role as a major driver of business globally, the design of these specialized rules comes with the aim of supporting the construction of a system endowed with flexibility which makes it possible to address and settle the new disputes that emerge, merging judicial skills with innovative technological applications.
In 2022, the Dubai International Financial Center Courts handed down a ruling related to one of the first cryptocurrency disputes in the region and one of the few recorded cases globally.
This ruling addressed issues such as the secure transfer of cryptocurrencies between the buyer and seller and the obligations owed by the custodian of the cryptocurrency. This issue has led to many other interesting questions such as the nature of bitcoins i.e. whether cryptocurrencies are considered commodities, currencies, property or something else entirely, and the right time to value bitcoins.
The trust of the circles of the international community
Established in 2004, the Dubai International Financial Center Courts provides an international court system operating under the English-language Anglo-Saxon legal system in Dubai and forms an essential part of the UAE legal system. It was established with the express purpose of increasing the trust of the departments of the UAE international community in the legal system of the Emirate of Dubai and to strengthen the investment and trade relations of these departments with Dubai and the UAE at large. the jurisdiction of the central courts has been expanded outside the financial center to include international companies, which allows any party anywhere in the world to have recourse to the DIFC courts by “incorporating” this neutral global jurisdiction. Furthermore, in 2017, the Center Courts, in collaboration with the Dubai Future Foundation, launched a think tank “Courts of the Future” with the aim of exploring the most important areas of various legal technologies and preparing research leaders and intellectuals for to promote and encourage contemporary methods to increase and improve the efficiency of user access to court services worldwide. This research center has enabled DIFC Courts to smoothly advance their major technology projects under the aegis of the courts of the future, bringing together talent and resources from global partners and experts in the fields of law, technology and business, so they can help justice systems absorb and benefit from emerging technologies.
