March 19, 2020 COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE - ORDERS
On 2 January 2020 and under Article 5(B)(1)(b) of Dubai Law No. 12 of 2004 (as amended), being the Judicial Authority Law, the DIFC Authority (the “DIFCA”) made an application to the Chief Justice of the DIFC Courts, asking him to request the DIFC Court of Appeal to determine questions of interpretation of certain DIFC Laws (the “Request for Interpretation”). The interpretations in question pertain to two DIFC Laws, namely Law No. 4 of 2018, being the Trust Law, and Law No. 3 of 2018, being the Foundations Law.
The Chief Justice acceded to the Request for Interpretation, and on 27 January 2020, and pursuant to the aforementioned provision of the Judicial Authority Law, he referred the matter to the Court of Appeal, requesting from it the interpretations in question (the “Referral Letter”). The matter was subsequently registered under the case name CA-002-2020 and the hearing was listed for 22 March 2020.
On 12 February 2020, the Deputy Registrar issued (amended) directions for the proceedings (the “Directions Order”). Under paragraph 9 of the Directions Order, information about the Application, the Request for Interpretation, the Referral Letter and the Hearing is required to be advertised on the DIFC Courts’ website. Paragraph 9 of the Directions Order has hereby been complied with by reason of this notice.
In early March 2020, the hearing listed for 22 March 2020 was adjourned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A hearing is expected to be relisted for a date in July of this year.
A copy of the DIFCA’s Request for Interpretation, the Referral Letter, the DIFC Courts claim form, the Directions Order of the Deputy Registrar, the DIFCA’s witness statement in support of its application with exhibits and the written submissions of each of the parties to the matter are available at this link.
