Recent Amendments in the Civil Law Procedure

Awatif Mohammad Shoqi Advocates & Legal Consultancy | View firm profile

UAE Legislators on 9 December 2018 issued a Decision of Council of Ministers Number 57 of 2018 (the Decision) regarding the recent amendments in Federal Law Number 11 of 1992 concerning the UAE Civil Procedure Code (the Civil Law). 

UAE Legislators on 9 December 2018 issued a Decision of Council of Ministers Number 57 of 2018 (the Decision) regarding the recent amendments in Federal Law Number 11 of 1992 concerning the UAE Civil Procedure Code (the Civil Law).
The decision issued by the Cabinet is major regarding the advertising
and notification procedures. The present article by Legal Consultants of
Dubai shed lights on the notification procedures in Execution cases.
Following are the notable amendments made under the Decision regarding
execution orders:

Article 62

1. Without prejudice to the generality of the rules mentioned in this
law, the law of this provision will be applicable if the creditor's
right is proved or confirmed through a written proof electronically or
through a hard copy and all that has been claimed was a fixed amount of
money or a movable asset of any kind. The conduct of the performance
order shall not prevent the application of interest or take any
precautionary measures.

2. The provisions of the foregoing paragraph shall be followed if the
claim is based on an enforceable contract, agreement or a commercial
paper.
The new law authorizes courts to accept electronic evidence, and their
consideration is based on the performance. It further states that within
those conditions if the demand was based on a transferrable delivery
for instance goods, car, documents or any other type of movable.
In case of an agreement between the parties, the contract included
payment on delivery and not on the account. Accordingly, the performance
behaviour should be justified.

Article 63

1. The creditor must first instruct the debtor to fulfil his debt
within 5 days at least and then he can issue an execution order from a
civil judge within the jurisdiction of the debtor's place of living and
the right or the claim shall not be less than execution order. The
notification of the execution order shall be through various means of
advertisement specified in this regulation.

2. The execution order shall be issued on the basis of a petition,
electronic or paper, as the case may be, provided by the creditor,
accompanied by a deed or a bond or whatever proofs he can submit in the
execution order, and the case management officer shall hold execution
application until the time limit for appeal is completed.

3. The petition for execution shall include all the facts or
statements of the case as provided under Article 6 of the Federal Law
Number 11 of 1992.

4. The order shall be issued within 3 days at most from the
submission of the petition, indicating the amount to be paid or the
movable asset which needs to be provided as the case may be.

5. The concerned petition in this article shall have the same effects
as that of a filling a case from date of filing the suit even if the
court is not competent.

The means of notification stipulated in this regulation in Article 6 includes the procedure for notification as below:

1. The debtor can be contacted by the following means:

  • Audio, video or text messages on a mobile phone, e-mail, fax or
    whatever electronic means of modern technology which shall be determined
    by the decision of the Minister of Council or by any other method
    agreed between the parties;
  • Where he or she resides or have a place of residence, and if he
    refuses to receive the advertisement, it would be considered as he has
    received it or if the person notifying could not locate the person, he
    must deliver it to the tenants or his relatives.
  • Deliver it to the employees or service personnel, and if any of the
    above persons refused to receive the notification, or could not find the
    debtor, the notification shall be stuck on the outside door of his
    residence.

2. Give this to chosen home;

3. In his place of work, and if the person does not find the required
declaration, he must deliver it to the boss at work or any manager.

4. Through companies or private offices;

5. The person giving notification shall verify the age of the person
to whom the notification is delivered as he/she should be above 18 years
of the age, and does not represent any conflict of interest. and in
the case of advertising by means of communication with modern
technologies mentioned in paragraph (a) of item (1) of this Article, the
addressee shall, in addition to the above, ensure that such means
regardless of whether the subscriber is an advertiser, and also in the
case of advertisement of voice or video calls recorded by a valid report
the contents of the call, the time, the date and the person of the
recipient, and the holder shall have the right to prove, and shall be
accompanied by the file of the suit.

6. If the declaration required under Article (1) of this Article may
not be made public, the order shall be submitted to the Office of the
Department, the competent judge or the President, the Department, as the
case may be, to investigate at least one of the relevant authorities
and then announce it in a local daily newspaper in Arabic and a foreign
language.

Article 64

The judge has the discretion to accept or reject the application
completely or in part and if he makes his decision to refuse the
decision shall be justified.
The new law states that the refusal or denial can be because there is no
obligation to fulfil or there is no debt deed. A clear statement of the
performance of an obligation or a guarantee to deliver property and not
movable asset and request should contain compensation amount.
The previous cases can be controlled at the beginning of the
registration, which requires the issuance of an arrest order from the
council of judges of the execution division in follow up with case
management and there should be a contradiction between two authorities,
and it will be in accordance with execution order.

Article 65

The debtor shall be notified about the order issued against him in
accordance with the provisions and methods set forth in these
regulations;
The order for performance of an obligation for the debtor shall be
considered null and void if he has not been notified within 3 months
from the date of issuing the order.
There shall be dedicated authority for ensuring the performance of the
notification along with a secretary and must carry out the procedure to
follow up the notification process with the creditor from the date of
issuance of an order as stipulated in Article 6of the new regulation.
If the notification process is not executed within 3 months, the case
file shall be presented before the judge who can request the legal
authority according to this Article and charge all expenses from the
creditor.

Article 66

1. The debtor may appeal the execution order within 15 days in accordance with the procedure prescribed for appeal;

2. The court shall decide on the appeal within 1 week from the date
of appeal and may decide a hearing if it considers necessary.
The judgment passed by the court of appeal post the request raised by
the debtor shall be binding and final.

Article 67

The rules for immediate execution shall apply to the execution order
in accordance with the provisions of the law or these regulations.

Article 68

If the creditor in the provision of Article (63) of this Regulation
wishes to sign a reservation for the debtor with third parties, it shall
follow the normal procedures in the contract to be signed.

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