Dubai Court Of First Instance Judgment: Do The UAE Courts Apply Foreign Law?

There is a common misconception that the UAE Courts will only apply UAE law when determining disputes between parties, notwithstanding an agreement to apply foreign law.

In theory, it has always been possible for the UAE Courts to recognise an express choice of foreign governing law in contracts following Article 257 of the UAE Civil Code, which provides that "the basic principle in contracts is the consent of the contracting parties and that which they have undertaken to do in the contract." 

However, in practice, the UAE Courts do not always apply foreign law. This is mainly because the requirements for its application are not met due to various practical difficulties. These hurdles include, but are not limited to, the requirement that the party requesting the application of foreign law must prove the foreign law's existence and content to the court as an issue of fact. This requirement is coupled with the tendency of the UAE Courts not to readily accept