The One-Day Court: Settling Small Civil Cases in the UAE

It is a general principle that the minor circuit — as with every civil court in the United Arab Emirates — does not settle cases within its jurisdiction until completion of pleadings by the parties, which usually takes several sessions. However, an exception to this principle has been created under Article 30/1 of the Federal Civil Procedures Law and Articles 22 and 54 of the Regulation of this law. These articles allow the minor circuit to rule upon some cases in a single session. The pleading, adjudication and judgement all take place in this one session, known as a one-day court, launched in the courts of the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah in January 2017. This article aims to answer the questions raised about the justification for creating this court, the scope of its jurisdiction, the system for preparing cases before it, and the sufficiency of legal rules regulating challenges to its judgements.