Clifford Chance

Further development of the Judicial Tribunal jurisprudence

4 September 2019

The Judicial Tribunal established pursuant to Dubai Decree No. 19 of 2016 (the Tribunal) to determine conflicts of jurisdiction between the DIFC Courts and the onshore Dubai Courts (the Dubai Courts) is now in its third year and continues to develop its jurisprudence.

In July 2017 (The Decline of the conduit jurisdiction of the DIFC Courts) and December 2018 (The Judicial Tribunal Decisions - Emerging Trends), we considered the remit of the Tribunal, its impact on the conduit jurisdiction of the DIFC Courts and a number of trends emerging from the Tribunal's jurisprudence. Our analysis concluded that, although the possibility of using the DIFC Courts as a conduit to enforce arbitral awards and judgments onshore in Dubai had been significantly limited by the Tribunal's decisions, such decisions had confirmed the DIFC Courts' jurisdiction over DIFC Licenced Establishments and the application of the principle of res judicata in respect of referrals to the Tribunal.

The Tribunal has issued four further decisions to date in 2019, all of which serve to build upon its existing jurisprudence.

This briefing looks at the recent decisions issued by the Tribunal, noting key considerations for each.

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