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🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates · specialised court

DIFC Courts

Dubai International Financial Centre Courts

Reviewed· 2026-08-03Dubai

An English-language common-law court inside a civil-law country, with its own statutes, its own rules modelled on the English CPR, and a bench of senior Commonwealth judges. Its judgments are enforceable through the Dubai courts. Opt-in jurisdiction means parties with no DIFC connection can choose it by contract, and a Judicial Tribunal was created in 2016 to resolve conflicts of jurisdiction with the onshore Dubai courts.

How the court is constituted

Tier
specialised
Court type
Common-law commercial court within a financial centre
Jurisdiction
Civil and commercial disputes connected to the Dubai International Financial Centre, and any dispute the parties agree in writing to submit, applying DIFC law based on the common law of England, in English.
Seat
Dubai
Established
2004

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