Judicial legislation updates

The UAE issued an integrated package of laws and legislative amendments in the justice and judiciary sector, reflecting its forward-looking vision for developing the justice system, through which it re-engineered judicial procedures, raised the efficiency of litigation, and enhanced confidence in the legal system, as it is a basic pillar of development, stability, and investment attractiveness.

The year 2025 witnessed the issuance of the Civil Transactions Law, which is the largest federal law in the country, and the basic reference for most federal laws, as it sets the general framework and foundations for regulating actions and contracts between members of society. The comprehensive modernization of the law came to keep pace with legislative development and enhance the efficiency of application, while adopting more precise and clear legal concepts with the reality of transactions, and deleting provisions that were organized in recent special laws, in harmony with legislative developments and to avoid duplication.

The most important provisions of the Civil Code included expanding the scope of judicial jurisprudence to allow the judge to choose the most appropriate solutions when resorting to the principles of Sharia without adhering to a single school of thought, and permitting the combination of blood money or damages and additional compensation, in order to achieve full reparation for the damage if the death or injury resulted in material or moral damages not covered by the blood money or damages, in order to address the legal challenges raised before the judiciary. The law also stipulated reducing the age of majority from (21) lunar years to (18) Gregorian years, and amending the age of a minor who may request permission to manage his money from (18) Hijri years to (15) Gregorian years in support of entrepreneurship and empowering youth, and introducing new provisions to enhance eligibility and protect will, in addition to updating the rules regulating actions and contracts, in a way that establishes legal certainty and reduces disputes. The law includes provisions for pre-contractual negotiations, obligating parties to disclose the information necessary to make an informed and informed decision and enhance confidence. Reducing judicial disputes, creating a legal framework for non-profit companies, and a new organization for professional companies, in line with recent legislative updates, to consolidate their model and activate their role in sustainable development, updating the rules of the sales contract in a way that balances the interests of the parties while protecting those with incomplete capacity from fraud in the sale of real estate, clearer regulation of hidden defects, setting clear rules for the sale of disputed rights in a way that makes transactions clearer and safer, and reduces the risks of conflict, developing and regulating insurance provisions in a clearer formulation with an integrated framework for takaful insurance, and updating the rules of Contracting contract to clarify responsibilities and achieve a better balance between the parties while regulating the termination of contracts and taking into account practical developments in contracting activity to achieve contractual balance. The law also strengthened the powers of local authorities with regard to regulating some issues, issuing licenses, and supervising activities related to the provisions of the Civil Code.

The modernization of the Civil Procedure Code was a pivotal step in shortening the time periods for litigation, and expanding the use of the English language in chambers designated for hearing specialized disputes, in a way that reflects the openness of the judicial system to the nature of cross-border business. The 2025 amendments came to support this trend by organizing the work of specialized chambers, regulating the establishment of estates chambers, resetting the procedural requirements in appeals, and expanding the scope of cassation appeal, to include decisions in addition to rulings, and other amendments that enhance procedural effectiveness and support Speed of separation and quality of judgements.

The Code of Criminal Procedure established a modern framework for criminal justice that combines the preservation of rights and freedoms and accelerating the adjudication of cases, through the creation of new courts according to the penalty prescribed for the crime, such as a major criminal court that considers crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment, and a minor criminal court that considers crimes punishable by temporary imprisonment, in addition to regulating the use of remote communication technologies in criminal procedures, and organizing trial alternatives, such as criminal reconciliation and penal settlement, in a way that reflects a more flexible model. And efficiently without prejudice to fair trial guarantees.

The Law on Mediation and Conciliation in Civil and Commercial Disputes established an alternative path to litigation that enhances the culture of consensual solutions, supports the business environment, and improves the efficiency of dispute management while giving judicial authority to settlement agreements. The Law of Evidence in Civil and Commercial Transactions also came to keep pace with technical and economic developments, expanding the scope of electronic proof and enhancing the court’s powers to manage evidence, in a way that achieves a precise balance between freedom of proof and procedural discipline, and raises the quality and stability of rulings. This system is combined with legislation that supports justice, including the Witness Protection Law, the Law establishing and organizing the Federal Judicial Control Office, and the Judicial Fees Law before the Federal Courts, all of which form a cohesive legislative structure that establishes an advanced justice model.

The law regulating the legal professions and legal consultations was an important milestone in modernizing the professional structure of the legal sector and enhancing its role in achieving the mission of justice and the rule of law, as it established a comprehensive legislative framework that balances the independence of the profession with the rigor of governance, through professional professional standards, classification and evaluation according to the highest standards, and allowed for the first time the licensing of lawyers who are not citizens of the state, and the licensing of foreign law firms and legal consulting offices under specific conditions, and authorized the appearance of lawyers who are non-citizens of the state before local courts in specific cases and before specialized chambers, in a step The country’s position as a competitive legal center, regionally and globally, is enhanced, and this is complemented by modernizing the laws regulating the professions of notary public, expertise, and translation, to ensure the quality of these professions that support the judiciary.

State legislation also strengthened the humanitarian and correctional dimension through the Law Regulating Punitive and Correctional Institutions, which moved the punitive concept from deterrence to rehabilitation and reintegration, enhancing the benefit of smart technologies, care programs and modern policies in an advanced model of corrective justice.

The Federal Judicial Authority Law and its amendments have consolidated the independence of the judiciary, clarity of competencies, and modernized appointment and accountability mechanisms, in parallel with the Federal Supreme Court Law, which strengthens its constitutional role as a guarantor of the unity of legal interpretation and the protection of constitutional legitimacy.