How enforcement of foreign judgments has changed

The new Code

Since 2 January 2023 the UAE has had a new Civil Procedure Code — Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 — replacing the 1992 law. Articles 222–225 deal with the enforcement of foreign judgments.

The Code sets out a procedure in which the creditor applies to the execution judge for an order enforcing the foreign judgment, rather than bringing fresh proceedings. The court does not re-examine the merits; it checks the statutory conditions.

What has changed in substance

• UAE court jurisdiction. Courts used to refuse enforcement if the UAE courts had any jurisdiction over the dispute — for example, because the defendant was based in the UAE. Now only the exclusive jurisdiction of the UAE courts is a bar. The Dubai Court of Cassation applied this approach in 2024.
• Reciprocity proven by practice. In September 2022 the UAE Ministry of Justice wrote to the Dubai Courts confirming that reciprocity was satisfied for English judgments, because an English court had enforced a Dubai judgment. In January 2024 the Dubai Court of Cassation enforced an English judgment. Reciprocity can therefore be established by evidence, even without a treaty.
• Treaties take priority. Where the UAE has a treaty with the country of the judgment, its rules apply.

What it means for Russian and CIS judgments

Russia and the UAE have no bilateral treaty on the mutual recognition of civil judgments, so Russian judgments are enforced under the Code's general rules, with reciprocity as the key condition. The narrower jurisdiction test matters in the typical case where the debtor is a UAE-registered company: that fact alone no longer stands in the way of enforcement.

All the other conditions remain: the judgment must be final, the debtor properly notified, there must be no conflict with UAE public order, and the documents must be legalised and translated into Arabic. See our case study, where a Moscow Arbitrazh Court judgment was recognised in the UAE and the debtor's accounts frozen within 9 months.

Practical takeaways

1. Collect evidence of service on the debtor while the Russian proceedings are still under way.
2. Treat the reciprocity argument as a substantive part of the application, not a formality.
3. Allow time for consular legalisation and translation.
4. Check the debtor's assets before filing — otherwise a recognised judgment may be worthless.

For a step-by-step guide, see Enforcing a Russian court judgment in the UAE, step by step; for our service, see Enforcing Russian and CIS judgments in the UAE.