One Year of Civil Family Law in the United Arab Emirates: A Preliminary Assessment

Abstract

This article provides a preliminary commentary on the new civil family law regime introduced in the emirate of Abu Dhabi in November 2021 and which, since February 2023, applies nationwide through the adoption of a federal statute on civil personal status. Abu Dhabi’s Law No. 14 of 2021, its accompanying Procedural Regulations, and the more recent Federal Law No. 41 of 2022 have introduced legal concepts, such as civil marriage, no-fault divorce, and joint custody, as well as potentially adoption, which have previously been non-existent for both the local and the large foreign population in the United Arab Emirates. The new statutes thereby stand in sharp contrast to the family law system to which the local Muslim population is still subject. This article assesses the new provisions against the background of the federal Muslim family law regime, established patterns of family law jurisprudence in the country, and early case law in the newly established Civil Family Court in Abu Dhabi.