UAE Civil Transactions Law

Article 1

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part One: The Law and its Application

1. The legislative provisions shall apply to all matters they address expressly or implicitly. No room shall be left for Ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) where the text is definitive in its indication. 2. Should the court find no provision in the applicable legislations, it shall rule in accordance with the Islamic Shari'ah, selecting the most appropriate solutions as required by the interest (Maslaha). 3. Should the court find no ruling in the Islamic Shari'ah for the matter before it, it shall rule in accordance with custom (Urf), provided it does not conflict with public order or public morals. If the custom is specific to a particular Emirate, its ruling shall apply to that Emirate. 4. Should the court find no ruling in custom for the matter before it, it shall rule in accordance with the principles of natural law and the rules of justice.

Article 2

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part One: The Law and its Application

Reference shall be made to the rules and principles of Islamic jurisprudence (Usul Al-Fiqh) for the understanding, interpretation, and construction of legislative texts.

Article 3

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part One: The Law and its Application

The following shall be deemed matters of the public order: 1. The definitive rulings of the Islamic Shari'a. 2. The provisions related to the systems of governance. 3. The provisions related to the personal status of Muslims, such as marriage, inheritance, and lineage. 4. The mandatory legal rules from which derogation by agreement is not permitted and are stipulated in the laws promulgated in the United Arab Emirates.

Article 4

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Two: Temporal Application of the Law

1. The law shall be effective from its date of entry into force and shall not apply retroactively to preceding facts and acts, unless the law provides otherwise. 2. A legislative provision may not be repealed or suspended except by an explicit legislative provision that expressly so provides, or that includes a provision conflicting therewith, or that re-regulates the subject matter previously governed by the earlier legislation. 3. A special provision shall not be repealed or amended by a subsequent general provision, unless the legislation expressly so provides. The special provision shall apply in matters it addresses that conflict with the general provision. 4. If a legislative provision repeals another legislative provision and is then subsequently repealed, such repeal shall not result in the reinstatement of the former provision.

Article 5

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Two: Temporal Application of the Law

1. Provisions related to legal capacity shall apply to all persons who meet the conditions stipulated in those provisions. 2. If a person has full legal capacity under former provisions and then becomes of limited legal capacity under new provisions, this shall have no effect on their prior acts.

Article 6

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Two: Temporal Application of the Law

1. New provisions related to the barring of a claim by the lapse of time shall apply from the date of their entry into force to every period that has not yet been completed. 2. Former provisions shall apply to matters concerning the commencement, suspension, and interruption of the period for barring a claim by the lapse of time, for the period preceding the entry into force of the new provisions.

Article 7

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Two: Temporal Application of the Law

1. If a new provision prescribes a period for barring a claim by the lapse of time that is shorter than that prescribed by the former provision, the new period shall run from the time the new provision enters into force, even if the former period had commenced before that. 2. If the remainder of the period prescribed by the former law is shorter than the period prescribed by the new provision, the period for barring a claim by the lapse of time shall be completed upon the expiry of this remainder.

Article 8

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Two: Temporal Application of the Law

The provisions in force at the time of preparing the means of evidence, or at the time it ought to have been prepared, shall apply thereto.

Article 9

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Two: Temporal Application of the Law

Time limits shall be calculated according to the Gregorian calendar, unless the law provides otherwise.

Article 10

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

The law of the United Arab Emirates shall be the reference for the characterization of relationships when it is required to determine the type of these relationships in a case involving a conflict of laws, to ascertain the applicable law.

Article 11

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

1. The civil status and legal capacity of natural persons shall be governed by the law of the country whose nationality they hold. However, in financial transactions concluded in the United Arab Emirates that produce their effects therein, if one of the parties is a foreigner of limited legal capacity and the limited capacity is due to a reason that is not readily apparent to the other party, this reason shall not affect their legal capacity. 2. Foreign legal persons shall be governed by the law of the country where such persons have established their actual principal management center. If such persons conduct an activity in the United Arab Emirates, the law of the United Arab Emirates shall apply.

Article 12

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

The substantive conditions for the validity of a marriage shall be governed by the law of the country in which the marriage was concluded. As for the form, a marriage between two foreigners or between a foreigner and a national shall be considered valid if it is concluded in accordance with the formalities of the country where it was concluded, or if the formalities prescribed by the law of each of the spouses are observed.

Article 13

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

The law of the country in which the marriage was concluded shall apply to the following: 1. The personal effects and property-related effects arising from the contract of marriage. 2. Divorce, judicial divorce, and separation.

Article 14

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

In the cases stipulated in Articles (12) and (13) of this Law, if one of the spouses is a national of the United Arab Emirates at the time of the conclusion of the marriage contract, or subsequently becomes a national and retains their nationality until the time the lawsuit is instituted, the law of the United Arab Emirates alone shall apply, except for the condition of legal capacity for marriage.

Article 15

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

The maintenance obligation among relatives shall be governed by the law of the person liable therefor.

Article 16

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

The substantive matters related to guardianship, tutorship, curatorship, and other systems established for the protection of persons lacking or of limited legal capacity and absentees, shall be governed by the law of the person to be protected.

Article 17

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Paragraphs (3) and (4) of this Article, succession shall be governed by the law of the country to which the decedent belonged at the time of their death. 2. The financial rights existing within the territory of the State belonging to a foreigner who has no heir shall be a charitable endowment (Waqf), and their oversight and supervision shall be by the competent authority. 3. The substantive provisions of a will and other dispositions taking effect upon death shall be governed by the law of the country designated by the will or disposition, or the law of the country to which the person who made the disposition belonged by nationality at the time of their death if the will or disposition does not designate a law. 4. The form of a will and other dispositions mortis causa shall be governed by the law of the country designated by the will or disposition, or the law of the country whose nationality the person making the disposition held at the time the disposition was made, or the law of the country in which the disposition was made. 5. The law of the United Arab Emirates shall apply to a will made by a foreigner concerning their immovable property located in the State.

Article 18

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

1. The possession and ownership of immovable property and other related real rights (jus in rem) shall be governed by the law of the location of the immovable property. 2. Movable property shall be governed by the law of the country where it is located at the time the cause giving rise to the acquisition or loss of its possession, ownership, or other related real rights (jus in rem) occurs. 3. The law of the country where property is located shall determine whether such property is immovable or movable.

Article 19

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

1. Contractual obligations, as to both form and substance, shall be governed by the law of the country expressly agreed upon by the parties. If they do not agree, the law of the country in which the contracting parties have their common domicile shall apply. If their domiciles differ, the law of the country where the main obligation of the contract is to be performed shall apply, unless it is clear from the circumstances that another law is intended to be applied. 2. Contracts concluded concerning immovable property shall be governed by the law of its location.

Article 20

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

1. Non-contractual obligations shall be governed by the law of the country in which the event giving rise to the obligation occurred. 2. The provision of Paragraph (1) of this Article shall not apply to obligations arising from an unlawful act with respect to events that occur abroad and are lawful in the United Arab Emirates, even if they are deemed unlawful in the country where they occurred.

Article 21

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

The rules of judicial jurisdiction, and all procedural matters, shall be governed by the law of the country in which the action is instituted or in which the procedures are undertaken.

Article 22

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

The provisions of the preceding Articles shall not apply where there exists a provision to the contrary in a special law or in an international treaty in force in the State.

Article 23

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

The principles of private international law shall be the reference for any matter concerning conflict of laws for which no provision is stipulated in the preceding Articles.

Article 24

Chapter One: Provisions on the Application and Temporal and Spatial Scope of the Law · Part Three: Spatial Application of the Law

The law of the United Arab Emirates shall apply in the case of stateless persons.