Dubai, United Arab Emirates; xx January 2015: Sir Richard Alan Field was today sworn in as a judge of the DIFC Courts, bringing the total size of the judicial bench of Dubai’s established English-language, commercial common law judicial system to ten.
A British national, Justice Field most recently served as Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court in London, which deals with complex cases arising from business disputes, with a particular emphasis on international trade, banking, commodities, and arbitration disputes. He was called to the Bar in 1977 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1987. He served as a Deputy Judge of the High Court of Justice from 1997 to 2002 and as Justice of the High Court of England & Wales from 2002 to 2014, including as Presiding Judge on the Western Circuit between 2008 and 2012.
Michael Hwang, Chief Justice of the DIFC Courts, said: “With the work of the DIFC Courts becoming ever more international and intricate, Justice Field’s appointment brings an additional layer of expertise to our judicial bench. He joins an established team of Emirati and expatriate judges who have earned the trust and confidence of the international legal community.”
Justice Field joins the DIFC Courts at a time of significant growth. Over the past year, total claims and counterclaims filed with the Court exceeded one billion dirhams for the first time, reaching AED 1.76 billion, while the number of cases heard increased by 44%. The average claim amount in the Court of First Instance increased by 25% in 2014 to reach AED 42 million.
Justice Sir Richard Alan Field said: “I would like to thank His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for appointing me to serve as a judge of the DIFC Courts. In recent years, the international standing of the DIFC Courts has grown tremendously and I am delighted to join the bench at a time when it widely recognised as one of the world’s leading commercial courts.”
