The Emirate of Dubai has adopted a comprehensive judicial system structured in multiple stages of litigation to ensure that the courts have fully considered both the factual background of a dispute and the legal elements that apply to those facts. The judicial system in Dubai is structured three level of courts, the court of first instance, the courts of appeal and the court of cassation. In addition to these regular proceedings structed in three stages, certain disputes must be filed before the Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes before being filed before the court of first instance.

First: Litigation Stages before the Dubai Courts

The judicial system in Dubai consists of three primary levels of litigation as follows:

1.Court of First Instance (Partial or Plenary)

This is the initial court competent to examine claims based on the nature and value of the dispute, and it is divided into:

A. Partial Court (Minor Circuit):

It has jurisdiction over the following matters:

  1. Civil, commercial, labour, and real estate claims that do not exceed AED 1,000,000.
  2. Personal status claims.
  3. Bankruptcy-related requests, disputes, and claims.
  4. Counterclaims linked to original claims falling within the jurisdiction of these circuits, regardless of their value.
  5. Execution-related requests, disputes, and claims.
  6. Any claims or applications stipulated by applicable legislation in the Emirate to fall under its jurisdiction.

B. Plenary Court (Major Circuit):

It has jurisdiction over the following:

  1. Civil, commercial, labour, and real estate claims exceeding AED 1,000,000, and claims of undetermined value.
  2. Administrative claims regardless of their value.
  3. Counterclaims linked to original claims falling within the jurisdiction of these circuits, regardless of their value.
  4. Claims not falling under the jurisdiction of the minor circuits of the civil courts.
  5. Any claims or applications stipulated by applicable legislation in the Emirate to fall under its jurisdiction.

2. Court of Appeal

This is the second level of litigation. Judgments rendered by the Court of First Instance may be appealed before the Court of Appeal when the value of the dispute exceeds AED 50,000. The appeal consists of re-trial where fact and legal arguments are re-examined.

3.Court of Cassation (Supreme Court)

This is the highest level of litigation. Appeals are admissible against final judgments rendered by the Court of Appeal, provided that the value of the dispute exceeds AED 500,000. The Court Cassation only examines legal challenges. It does not re-examine factual challenges which have been established by the lower courts.

Second: An additional litigation stage pre-trial: The Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes

To promote amicable settlement of dispute, the Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes (the Centre) was established pursuant to Law No. (16) of 2009 and updated under Law No. (18) of 2021 concerning the regulation of conciliation in the Emirate of Dubai, in addition to Resolution No. (4) of 2025 regarding the determination of disputes under the Centre’s jurisdiction.

The Centre has exclusive jurisdiction to consider the following in the Emirate of Dubai, as per Law No. (18) of 2021 and Resolution No. (4) of 2025:

  1. Requests for the division of common property, excluding disputes arising from inheritance-related common ownership.
  2. Requests for the approval of settlement agreements, regardless of their value.
  3. Disputes with a claimed value not exceeding AED 500,000, excluding substantive disputes involving financial institutions governed by Federal Decree-Law No. (14) of 2018.
  4. Standalone requests for expert appointment, provided the subject matter falls within the jurisdiction of Dubai Courts and is not linked to a pending case or one already decided by a judgment or order.
  5. Disputes where both parties are UAE nationals and the claimed value does not exceed AED 1,000,000.
  6. Disputes involving persons with disabilities or female beneficiaries of social financial benefits as stipulated under Law No. (7) of 2012.
  7. Disputes in which the parties have agreed to refer the matter to the Centre.
  8. Claims that the court decides to refer to the Centre at any stage of proceedings, based on the litigants’ agreement.

The Dubai Courts have dismissed any claims filed directly before the court where the subject matter falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Centre. Accordingly, the failure to resort to the Centre as an initial step before commencing the trial has been a ground to invalidate the proceedings before the court. In such circumstance, the claimant had to file a new case before the Centre and pay new fees, in addition to the court fees before the court that dismissed the claim. This therefore imposed an additional procedural and financial burden on the claimant.

A legal and judicial debate arose regarding the legal nature of the Centre and whether it is part of Dubai Courts’ judicial structure. One opinion held that the Centre is not considered part of the Dubai Courts, and therefore, the Dubai Courts have no authority to transfer a case to the Centre; rather, it must dismiss a case when there is a requirement that the case be first submitted to the Centre before being considered by the court. Conversely, another opinion argued that the Centre should be regarded as part of the Dubai Courts. Accordingly, if a court determines that the dispute falls under the Centre’s jurisdiction, it should transfer the file directly to the Centre without instead of dismissing the case leaving it for the claimant to file a new case before the Centre.

In this context, the Dubai Court of Cassation issued a landmark ruling on 15 May 2025, settling the debate.  The Court of Cassation held that if the claimant filed a case before the Court of First Instance in one of the circumstances where the matter should have been considered by the Centre first, the court instead of dismissing the case, must refer the case to the Centre, as the Centre forms part of Dubai Courts’ structure and aims to encourage  amicable settlement of disputes before the recourse to the judiciary.

The court emphasised in its reasoning that the objective of establishing the Centre is to facilitate procedures for litigants and reduce financial and procedural burdens. Therefore, dismissing cases in such circumstances contradicts the legislative intent behind the Centre’s establishment and constitutes an unjustified burden on the claimant.

Accordingly, this ruling is a significant shift in the cooperation between the Centre and the Courts which will ensure that claimants are not prejudiced by the stage of the proceedings before the Centre which is intended to facilitate the process and not be burdensome on them.