A recent ruling of the Dubai Court of First Instance (see Case No 489/2012, ruling of the Dubai Court of First Instance of 18 December 2012) questions de novo the UAE courts' compliance with their obligations under international enforcement instruments in the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Following the recent trend of consolidation of the UAE courts' practice to abide by the terms of international enforcement instruments - foremost amongst them the New York Convention (see Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, done in New York on 10 June 1958, as ratified and hence implemented in UAE law by UAE Federal Decree No 43/2006), this ruling marks a sudden and unwelcome setback in what commentators had believed had become a turning-point in the UAE enforcement practice of foreign arbitral awards.