DIFC 011/2021 issued on 20/12/2021
Musaab Tag Elsir Abdelsalam v Expresso Telecom Group
The initial dispute involved various claims by an employee for outstanding dues on termination of employment. The case had been filed before the coming into force of the DIFC 2019 Employment Law. This law had a retrospective clause in it and a limitation period which would mean the case was time barred, when it would not have been time barred under the previous law. In addition, the Appellant had cited the wrong law in their particulars of claim. Whether they should be allowed to correct this and the impact these mistakes had on costs were also considered.
Background
This appeal raised a question of statutory construction. It concerned a repealing statute which preserved rights and obligations under the repealed law and introduced a shorter limitation period for the commencement of proceedings under the new law. The question was whether the new shorter limitation period applied retrospectively to proceedings already commenced within time under the repealed law. The Primary Judge held that it did and dismissed the Appellant’s claim. .