Parties Cannot Agree To Give Jurisdiction To Dubai Court If the Defendant Has a Place of Domicile in Another Emirate of the Uae

Abstract In a judgment delivered by the Dubai Court of Cassation, where the Court of Cassation upheld the judgment delivered by the lower courts, the court held that as per Article 104 of the UAE Provisional Constitution, the judicial authority in Dubai was independent from the federal judicial authorities application in the other emirates. Therefore it was not admissible for the parties to contract to agree to give jurisdiction to the Dubai Court unless the Dubai Court already has jurisdiction to hear the matter. Therefore, the parties cannot give jurisdiction to the Dubai Court by contract if the jurisdiction falls originally within the jurisdiction of another emirate, as this will be contrary to the public policy and the UAE Constitution. If the jurisdiction falls in the federal court, the matter should be brought before the federal court and not the Dubai Court as Dubai has an independent judicial system. On the other hand, if the matter falls within the jurisdiction of the Dubai Court, the matter may not be litigated in another federal court. The parties therefore may not contract to give jurisdiction either to the federal or the local court, unless that court has jurisdiction, by virtue of a contractual arrangement between the parties.