Excellence initiative at The Hague features first presentation by UAE woman
Original contribution to 5th International Association for Court Administration (IACA) in the Netherlands
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, June 14 2012: The DIFC Courts, the UAE’s English-language common law judicial system based in the Dubai International Financial Centre, played a leading role at this week’s global conference on court excellence at The Hague, in the Netherlands.
The three-day event in the international city of justice focussed on: ‘The challenge of developing and maintaining strong and just courts in an era of uncertainty.” It was organised by the International Association for Court Administration (IACA) and it featured the first presentation by a UAE female.
The DIFC Courts delegation consisted of HE Justice Ali Al Madhani, Registrar Mark Beer and Reem Al Shihhe, the Courts’ Head of Human Resources and Business Excellence.
Justice Ali Al Madhani and Reem Al Shihhe were panellists for the session on ‘The International Framework for Court Excellence’. Here, Reem presented concepts for improved customer engagement and higher service standards worldwide – the first female UAE courts professional to be invited to do so. Mark Beer moderated a separate panel on innovative court automation.
Jeffrey A Apperson, President of IACA, said: “We were delighted that Reem was able to present to the 350 delegates from 45 countries and we welcome her original and pro-active ideas for better customer engagement. We shall hope to hear from her again in the future.”
Reem Al Shihhe commented: “I am extremely proud to be the first UAE woman to speak at this prestigious event, alongside high level delegates from all corners of the world. One of our recent enhancements is to collect court users’ feedback, so as to improve our quality of service in a transparent fashion. We are always looking to refine and improve our offering – and I was happy to share our methods with fellow delegates.”
HE Ali Shamis Al Madhani, DIFC Courts’ Judge added: “We are honoured to be representing the UAE: we relish our role as standard bearers for regional justice and interaction of this nature with other international bodies. This can only serve to benefit us all. Personally, I chair the Middle East regional board of IACA, which is a position that greatly interests me.”
Mark Beer, DIFC Courts’ Registrar and IACA Vice President for the Middle East concluded: “The DIFC Courts are recognised as among the leading commercial courts in the world, thanks in part to our track record of providing exemplary service to court users. We continually assess these mechanisms and are always prepared to share our expertise with other judiciaries: it is of great benefit to discuss international best practice with our peers.”
Mr Beer stressed: “We developed this system based on His Highness the Ruler of Dubai’s focus on excellence in customer service in the UAE Government sector. We are pleased that the world’s leading courts will be adopting our framework for customer engagement and service, as we strive to maintain our world class standards.”
IACA is a global non-profit organisation that promotes improved court management and administration in all countries. It seeks to improve the administration of justice and promote collaboration between international court systems.
The DIFC Courts were established in 2004, to create an independent and world-class courts system in English, based on common law. The Courts offer the advantages of a commercial court while providing access to efficient and transparent justice working closely in collaboration with other Courts in Dubai and the UAE. The DIFC Courts, winners of the UAE Star Customer Award for their e-registry system in 2011, pride themselves on their exemplary customer service and provide Court users with swift, transparent and independent justice to resolve financial, commercial and civil disputes in the UAE and beyond.