The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is a freezone financial centre in Dubai, established in 2004 to promote business and trade in the UAE.

The DIFC has its own courts and its own set of laws, and is a common law judicial system within the Emirate of Dubai, as opposed to the local Dubai Courts, which is a civil law system.

The DIFC Court hierarchy consists of the Court of First Instance (CFI), and a Court of Appeal, which is the apex court in the DIFC judicial system. The DIFC Courts have a Small Courts Tribunal (SCT) where disputes below AED 500,000 are adjudicated. Typically, the nature of disputes decided by the SCT is employer-employee disputes.

All proceedings before the DIFC Courts are conducted in the English language and the DIFC Courts are authorised to adjudicate upon matters of civil nature only.

This Practice Note provides a broad overview of commencing litigation before the DIFC Courts, in light of the Rules of the DIFC Courts 2014.

AoS : Acknowledgement of service.

CFI : Court of First Instance of the DIFC Courts.

CMC : Case Management Conference.