Dubai & DIFC
Dubai and DIFC Legal Information
The DIFC is a separate legal jurisdiction inside Dubai, with its own courts, its own laws and its own procedure. Which one applies to your problem decides almost everything that follows.
Legal information about Dubai and DIFC matters. Not legal advice.
- DIFC Courts, from the Small Claims Tribunal to the Court of Appeal
- Dubai mainland regimes distinguished, not merged
- Written from the published decisions and the current laws
Two legal systems operate in the same city. Most of Dubai runs on UAE federal law and Dubai law, in Arabic, before the Dubai Courts. The Dubai International Financial Centre runs on its own body of DIFC law, in English, before the DIFC Courts, under a common-law style procedure. A dispute that looks identical in commercial terms can follow a completely different route depending on which of those two systems governs it.
That is the question this section answers first, on every page. Which forum can hear the claim, which law applies to the contract, what has to be proved, and what the procedure actually requires at each stage. The answers here are drawn from the published DIFC Court decisions and the current DIFC legislation rather than from general commentary, and each page names the material it relies on.
A Dubai address on a contract or a payslip does not settle the question. Neither does the nationality of the parties, the currency of the invoice or the place where the money was paid. What matters is the agreement, the entity, the place of the obligation and the jurisdiction clause, read together.
Where the DIFC framework currently stands
Law 2 of 2025
The DIFC Courts' governing Dubai law
Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025 concerning the DIFC Courts.
995
Small Claims Tribunal claims in 2025
DIFC Courts 2025 service statistics, reported as 68 percent year-on-year growth.
341
Enforcement claims in 2025
DIFC Courts 2025 service statistics. Aggregate court figures, not a measure of outcomes.
Version 5
DIFC Employment Law in force
Consolidated version 5, July 2025.
Court statistics are the DIFC Courts' own published aggregates, checked on 28 September 2026. They describe caseload, not the prospects of any claim.
Practice areas
What we handle in Dubai and the DIFC
Each page sets out the forum, the governing instrument, what has to be established and the practical steps, with the decisions it relies on named in the text.
The first question
DIFC Courts or the Dubai Courts
| DIFC Courts | Dubai Courts (mainland) | |
|---|---|---|
| Body of law | DIFC laws and regulations, with DIFC contract and common-law style reasoning. | UAE federal law and Dubai law. |
| Language of proceedings | English. | Arabic, with translation of documents filed. |
| Procedure | Rules of the DIFC Courts, a published code covering claims, service, disclosure, interim relief and appeals. | UAE civil procedure, including the role of court-appointed experts. |
| How jurisdiction usually arises | A DIFC-registered party, a DIFC-performed obligation, a DIFC-related transaction, or an express written choice of the DIFC Courts. | The general jurisdiction of the Dubai Courts over matters not within the DIFC framework. |
| Small claims | Small Claims Tribunal under Part 53 of the Rules, subject to the value and consent conditions in those Rules. | Handled within the mainland court structure. |
| Precedent | Published judgments are reasoned at length and cited in later cases. | Cassation judgments guide, within a civil-law approach. |
A working comparison to orient a reader, not a jurisdiction opinion. Jurisdiction is decided on the specific agreement, parties and facts, and it is contested often enough that it is frequently the first issue argued.
Where you might be right now
Situations these pages address
A customer has stopped paying and blames the quality of the work.
The contract terms on payment, acceptance and suspension usually decide this before any argument about quality does. Establish what the agreement actually required, and what the records show was delivered.
You have been sued in the DIFC although your contract has an arbitration clause.
There is a specific application for this, and it is time-sensitive. Taking a step in the proceedings can affect the position, so the response is decided before anything is filed.
A judgment or an order has arrived and you believed you had already replied.
Default judgments have a defined route to set aside, with its own test and its own urgency. What was served, when and on whom is the starting point.
You hold an award or a judgment and the debtor's assets are in Dubai.
Recognition and enforcement are separate stages with separate requirements, and an arbitral award is not treated the same way as a court judgment.
The framework
Core DIFC instruments
Dubai Law No. 2 of 2025 concerning the DIFC Courts
- Constitution
- Jurisdiction
The Dubai law under which the DIFC Courts are constituted and their jurisdiction is framed.
Rules of the DIFC Courts
- Part 4
- Part 6
- Part 12
- Part 13
- Part 24
- Part 25
- Part 31
- Part 43
- Part 44
- Part 53
Starting a claim, service, default judgment and setting aside, immediate judgment, interim remedies, disclosure, arbitration claims, appeals and the Small Claims Tribunal.
DIFC Arbitration Law, DIFC Law No. 1 of 2008
- Consolidated
The arbitration statute for DIFC-seated arbitration and for DIFC Court applications concerning awards.
DIFC Employment Law, DIFC Law No. 2 of 2019
- Consolidated v5, July 2025
Applies to employment within the DIFC. It is not the mainland regime.
DIFC Leasing Law and Leasing Regulations
- Leasing Law
- Regulations 2023
Leases of DIFC premises, with the Registrar of Real Property's published guidance alongside.
Longer reading
Detailed guides on specific situations
The topic pages above are the overview. The guides go through a single situation in full, with the decision or the provision that governs it identified in the text.
Browse the Dubai and DIFC guidesMatters before the DIFC Courts are conducted by the firm, with counsel from its panel of DIFC-registered advocates engaged for the hearing. The firm acts as counsel in arbitrations seated in the DIFC and the wider UAE, and conducts the Indian proceedings that follow, including enforcement of UAE awards and judgments in India. This section is legal information, not legal advice.
Work out which forum and which law apply before anything else
The jurisdiction question decides the procedure, the language, the evidence and the cost. It is worth settling at the start rather than after a claim is filed.
Enquiries are handled in confidence. The firm conducts the matter and engages counsel from its panel of DIFC-registered advocates for any hearing.