How to Enforce an Arbitration Award in UAE Courts?

Enforcing the arbitration awards is not just a simple legal formality, but is an essential practice that implements the resolution or judgment relating to your dispute problems. Most individuals or businesses often think that winning an arbitration award is the last win! However, enforcing the arbitration awards is where most people or dispute resolutions fail!

For instance, when you enforce an arbitration award in the UAE, there is a possibility that the opponent will deny payment, deliberately stall the judgment adherence deliberately, or waste time by using procedural tactics. In such cases, you will need the help of legal professionals to strategically and lawfully enforce the arbitration awards. 

In this article, you will get an insight into the process of arbitration award enforcement in Dubai and how legal consultants can help you in the process. 

Importance of Enforcing Arbitration Awards in UAE!

Every time a party wins an arbitration case, the selected tribunal will then issue a judgment or order, which is referred to as an arbitration award. However, this award won’t execute all by itself, and will need external implementation or enforcement. 

For orders like freezing bank accounts, forcing payment, or seizing assets, there is a need for legal recognition of an arbitration award in UAE, either by an UAE court or by the free zone courts such as ADGM or DIFC. 

In simple words, enforcing an arbitration award in the UAE implies converting that issued order into a legally binding judgment for UAE courts to execute. The arbitration awards can be of different types, such as:

• Payment orders
• Bank account freezes
• Asset seizure orders
• Liquidation orders
• Property attachment, and more. 

Without enforcing your arbitration award, your victory in the case will be null & void. Therefore, you must hire an arbitration lawyer in Dubai to not just help you with appointing arbitrators or supervising the dispute resolution case, but also to ensure the awards are enforced by the UAE courts. 

Step-by-Step Process of How to Enforce an Arbitration Award in the UAE

Just like the complete arbitration process, the clauses and legal obligations associated with the enforcement of awards are also governed by the UAE arbitration law. To help you ensure you are legally complying with every step and process of enforcing awards, here is a step-by-step guide for you to count on:

Step 1: Confirm if Your Award is Enforceable at the UAE Courts

Before filing enforcement of your awards, your arbitration lawyer in Dubai must ensure that:

• The award is final and legally binding. 
• The clause of arbitration is valid. 
• The parties are notified about the awards. 
• The tribunal was constituted properly.
• The arbitration award is authenticated properly. 

It is the basic due diligence to determine if your award is enforceable in the first place! Without it, even with the best of your legal team, the opponent will have an upper hand to defeat you by procedure. 

At RH and HALE, we have the right team of lawyers in Dubai to prioritize pre-enforcement due diligence services, ensuring your case is backed by a strong legal assessment. 

Step 2: Filing the Arbitration Award Enforcement Application

Your arbitration lawyer must then submit a few documents to apply for award enforcement, which include:

• Original enforcement award
• Arbitration agreement
• Case hearing records
• Evidence of tribunal appointment
• Notarized and translated documents for foreign arbitration awards

The enforcement application will be filed in either the UAE civil courts or DIFC and ADGM courts. Picking one of the latter options will guarantee faster enforcement of the arbitration awards. 

Step 3: UAE Court Review Process and Issuance of Enforcement Order

Once the application is filed, the UAE court will then check the due process, public order compliance, and jurisdiction. Upon satisfaction, the court will then issue an enforcement order, which gets you ready for that final execution. 

Step 4: Execution of the Issued Enforcement Order

Now, the decision will be brought to action, and execution actions will be taken accordingly. Some of the common arbitration award executions inthe  UAE include:

• Freezing the bank accounts
• Requesting the release of salary
• Seizure of the company asset
• Attached property auctions
• Suspension of the trade license
• Initiation of bankruptcy

You can’t simply wait for the arbitration award to be executed through court bureaucracy and all by yourself! It will take more than a year for you to finally get what you wanted, even after winning the arbitration case. Instead, you must adopt aggressive execution by hiring professional lawyers in Dubai, and cut down the overall timeline. 

Hire the Best Arbitration Lawyer in Dubai for Streamlining Award Enforcement!

RH and HALE, being the best law firm in UAE, has a team of skilled legal consultants to help you address the complex arbitration award execution process, and get you your winning outcomes faster! 

We help you plan your award execution strategy, right before the arbitration ends! This gives you an upper hand at streamlining the order execution by the UAE courts in a shorter span of time! Our lawyers will impose strategic filing through ADGM and DIFC institutions for achieving the same! 

Feel free to reach out if you need more information on how RH and HALE can assist you with arbitration award enforcement in Dubai.