F. INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIVITY AND ENFORCEMENT 1. The DIFC Courts proactively connect with other court systems to support the needs of business and have put in place one of the world’s strongest enforcement regimes. 2. When there is a relevant treaty in place between the UAE and the overseas jurisdiction, enforcement is governed by the terms of that treaty. Where there is not, enforcement depends on the laws of the State in which the judgment creditor is seeking enforcement. The UAE has entered into a number of treaties with other countries which govern the reciprocal enforcement of judgments. These include the GCC Convention (1996); the Riyadh Arab Agreement for Judicial Cooperation (“the Riyadh Convention 1983”) the “Paris Convention” (1992) with France and agreements with Tunisia (1975), India (2000) and the Republic of China (2004). 3. Under the Protocol on Enforcement signed in 2009, the DIFC Courts and Dubai Courts are dedicated to providing an efficient mutual enforcement mechanism. Since 2008, the DIFC Courts and Dubai Courts have seen more than a hundred of each other’s decisions successfully enforced with disputes involving breach of contract, employment, and investments. All enforcement actions between the Courts have been successful and we will continue to work with the Dubai legislator to provide even smoother enforcement. 4. We have established strong ties with other jurisdictions and court systems across the UAE and wider Middle East, including Memoranda of Understanding with the UAE Ministry of Justice, Ras Al Khaimah Courts’ Department, Dubai Judicial Institute, and the Jordanian Ministry of Justice. 5. Outside of the region, formal arrangements covering the mutual enforcement of money judgments are in place with key Common Law jurisdictions including the Commercial Court of England and Wales, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Supreme Court of Singapore, the Federal Court of Australia, the New South Wales Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the High Court of Kenya (Commercial and Admiralty Division) and the Supreme Court of Korea.
7. A dedicated Enforcement Department was established in 2014 to ensure the simple and speedy enforcement of orders made by both the DIFC Courts and other jurisdictions. Its two areas of responsibility are to enforce judgments made by the DIFC Courts’ both locally and internationally, and as appropriate to enforce the orders of other courts. 8. During the period 2016 to 2021, we will seek to complete the work of formalising connections with court systems in the UAE’s key trading markets, including a significant focus on countries within Asia. Specifically, we aim to build on our existing enforcement regime by putting in place memoranda with each court in the GCC, as well as with courts in the UAE’s top 10 trading partner countries.
G. OUR PEOPLE 1. The DIFC Courts strive to enrich and advance the UAE legal sector by creating an empowering environment for Emiratis seeking a career in the highest echelons of the judicial sector. As at the date of publication, 50% of our Dubai-based team members are UAE nationals and, of our Dubai-based judges, judicial officers and registrars, 75% are UAE nationals.
4. The DIFC Courts provide technical training for individual members of staff, as appropriate. We also believe in motivating our employees and host an internal annual ‘Chief Justice’s Award’. We survey employee satisfaction annually; based on the feedback received we work on improving HR standards.
2. The Courts take UAE national interns for training each year, as part of their degree studies, as well as accepting occasional international interns at a more advanced study level.
5. To assess levels of employee engagement, the Courts’ first staff survey was issued in December 2011. Subsequent surveys have shown constant improvement in court administration competencies and customer service.
3. We strive to fully reflect the diversity of the society that we serve and we value the contributions which employees from all sections of society make to our work.
9. We will work with UAE Federal Government to explore the possibility of the UAE signing the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, specifically as it might apply to the DIFC Courts. This will further enhance the ease and speed of enforcement of DIFC Court decisions. 10. Outside of formal memoranda, we continue to build international links through our participation in delegations and via the many speaking engagements that our judges and Registry team make at legal and business conferences throughout the year. 11. In the UAE, we will work closely with DIFC Wills & Probate Registry in relation to probate matters regarding assets held in the emirate of Dubai. 12. W e will compile and publish enforcement-related data so parties can see where and how quickly judgments have been enforced. We will also develop the Enforcement Department further to provide additional support to parties requiring the enforcement of our decisions, which will be funded from fees payable by parties which do not honour our court orders.
6. In 2015, a first of its kind mechanism was introduced allowing parties opting into the jurisdiction of the DIFC Courts to also refer their final judgments for enforcement through the DIFCLCIA Arbitration Centre. This allows the DIFC-LCIA Arbitration Centre to “convert” a judgment of the DIFC Courts into an arbitral award, providing greater enforcement internationally under the provisions of the New York Convention of 1958.
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