DIFC 002/2020
The Dubai International Financial Centre Authority
This case represented the first time where the Chief Legal Officer of the DIFCA submitted a request to the Chief Justice for the DIFC Court of Appeal to provide legal interpretations of 13 specific questions on the DIFC trust law and the foundations law in areas where up till now there has been limited litigation. Seven of the questions the Court of Appeal declined to answer either because they were beyond their jurisdiction or because any interpretation would cover too great a variety of unimagined cases which might give rise to different interpretive perspectives.
Background
On 2 January 2020, the Chief Legal Officer of the DIFCA submitted to the Chief Justice an application asking the Court of Appeal of the DIFC Courts to provide interpretations of provisions of two laws of the DIFC. They were the DIFC Trust Law, DIFC Law No 4/2018, and the DIFC Foundations Law, DIFC Law No. 3/2018. The request was made pursuant to Article 5 of Dubai Law No. 12/2004.
The DIFCA sought answers from the Court of Appeal to 13 questions.