Abu Dhabi

  New court On 10 November 2020, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department issued Resolution No. 35 of 2020 (the “Resolution”). Article 1 of the Resolution states that: “A Court is to be established in the city […]

Case facts, arguments, and Federal Supreme Court ruling In late 2018, a complaint was filed before the public prosecution alleging the editing and alteration of an advert video on Snapchat by the accused for purposes of mocking and defaming the advertiser (the complainant/victim). The complaint was filed pursuant to Article 21 of the Cybercrime Law

Client Alert Recently, the Federal Appeals Court (UAE) reversed late payment penalties applied by the Federal Tax Authority on voluntary disclosures in two separate tax disputes for two separate taxpayers assisted by Wasel & Wasel. The Federal Appeals Court has ruled on nearly six tax disputes between 2019 and June 2020, almost three of which

  An announcement took place on 23 November 2020 that foreign investors can have complete ownership of Emirati companies that are governed by the Federal Commercial Companies Law (“CCL”) otherwise known as “on-shore” companies. The concession is limited to limited liability companies and private joint stock companies, including those owned by a single shareholder. The

Background The Executive Regulations to the UAE Civil Procedures Law that came into effect in early 2019 amended the right of persons to appeal to seizure orders limiting the right to only the distrainee (the debtor whom the order is issued against). Prior to this amendment, the distrainee, the judgment creditor, and any concerned person

Amongst the flurry of expectations and predictions on the application of force majeure arguments in light of the employment terminations currently occurring globally, whether related or unrelated to COVID-19, a panel of judges in the Primary Circuit of the Rental Disputes Center of Dubai ruled that termination of employment fulfills the requirements of a force

  During the Summer of 2020, the Supreme Court ruled on the validity and priority of ‘hidden’ agreements over fictitious (sham) contracts. A similar case was brought to the Supreme Court earlier in 2015 but was not addressed on merits and was rejected procedurally. The Dubai Cassation Court looked at similar cases in relation to

In January 2019, the Federal Supreme Court (FSC) ruled on whether a double-exequatur requirement was necessary for the enforcement of an arbitral award issued under the Rules of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), seated in London. The declaration sought from the FSC was whether an arbitral award issued under LCIA rules and seated

Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) compliance obligations for multinational entity groups (MNCs or multinational companies) were introduced in the UAE in mid-2019 via Cabinet Resolution No. 32 of 2019, where the first notification and reporting deadline was set for 31 December 2019. There is no shortage of industry experts in the UAE to have assisted MNCs with

In comparison with general dispute practices, tax disputes are subject to a limited number of judges; three judges at the tax dispute resolution committees (TDRCs), one judge at the Tax Disputes Circuit of the Federal Primary Court, one judge at the Tax Disputes Circuit of the Federal Appeals Court, and the Chief Justice at the