March 11, 2018 court of first instance - Orders
Claim No: CFI-047-2017
THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE COURTS
IN THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
BETWEEN
COMMERCIAL BANK OF DUBAI PSC
and
(1) M/S TOTORA RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE LLC
(2) ALI ABDULLAH AL SIDANI
(3) SHAIKHA RANEYA HAMAD MUBARAK HAMAD AL KHALIFA
(4) AHMAD MOHAMED RAMADHAN AL RAFEI
Defendants
ORDER WITH REASONS OF H.E. JUSTICE ALI AL MADHANI
UPON reviewing the Third Defendant’s Application No. CFI-047-2017/4 dated 4 February 2018 (the “Application”) seeking an order that the witness statement of Rebecca Copley, Counsel on record for Claimant, dated 21 January 2018 and filed as part of Claimant’s evidence in answer to the Third Defendant’s application contesting jurisdiction dated 7 December 2017 (the “Jurisdictional Application”), be struck out from the record under the Court’s discretion as per Rules of the DIFC Courts (the “RDC”) 29.15 or RDC 29.10, or in the alternative that its evidentiary weight be discounted for lack of first-hand knowledge; that as per RDC 4.2(14) the timetable for giving evidence in reply with respect to the Jurisdictional Application be stayed pending resolution of this Application; and that the Claimant bear the costs of this application
AND UPON reviewing the Claimant’s response to the Application
AND PURSUANT TO RDC 29.9, 29.10, 29.15 and 29.18
AND PURSUANT TO paragraph 2.1 of Practice Direction No. 1 of 2016, I find that paragraphs 11,15, 24 and 25 of the witness statement of Rebecca Copley, Counsel on record for Claimant, is characterized by legal arguments and by controversial factual statements that are unsupported by documentary evidence, about which Ms. Copley does not have first-hand knowledge
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1.The Application is granted.
2. The Claimant is ordered to amend its evidence by removing the controversial statements and unsupported facts in the said paragraphs or elsewhere in its evidence within 7 days from the date of this Order.
3. The Claimant shall pay the Defendant’s costs of the Application, to be assessed by the Registrar if not agreed.
Issued by:
Ayesha Bin Kalban
Assistant Registrar
Date of issue: 11 March 2018
At: 1pm
