Federal Decree-Law No. (22) of 2025, which amends key provisions of the UAE Civil Procedures Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022), came into force on 1 January 2026. Now that the reform has been operating for almost five months, its impact is increasingly visible across UAE courtrooms — from inheritance disputes and appellate practice to the expanded role of the Public Prosecutor and the formalization of electronic service. The amendments are part of a broader legislative drive to elevate the efficiency of the civil justice system, while striking a careful balance between speed of adjudication and the procedural guarantees of due process.
Specialized Inheritance Chambers by Judicial Decision
One of the most consequential reforms introduced by Decree-Law No. 22 of 2025 empowers the President of the Federal Judicial Council, or the head of the relevant local judicial authority, to constitute specialized inheritance chambers by direct decision — without requiring the consent of the litigants, which had been a practical bottleneck under the previous regime. The jurisdiction of these new chambers extends to every civil, real-estate, or commercial claim arising from or connected with the estate, whether the dispute relates to ownership, liquidation, or any other estate-linked matter, and whether it arises between the heirs themselves, between heirs and guardians (or those acting in a similar capacity), or between heirs and third parties. The reform also captures incidental applications concerning the inclusion or exclusion of heirs, wills, endowments (waqf), and settlements among heirs in respect of gifts, where these matters are inseparably connected to the estate. By concentrating these often fragmented and multi-party disputes in dedicated chambers, the reform should meaningfully shorten the lifecycle of inheritance litigation.
Re-Engineering the Appeal: Article 164 and Front-Loaded Litigation
The amendments to Article 164 represent perhaps the most significant shift in the drafting culture of UAE appeals. The legislator now requires that every notice of appeal, at the moment of filing, clearly identify the judgment under appeal, its date, the grounds of appeal, and the relief sought. This expressly displaces the prior practice that allowed appellants to develop or supplement their grounds at the first hearing. The new requirement operates as an admissibility threshold: appeals that lack clearly defined and substantive grounds at the time of filing risk being dismissed at the outset, on the court’s own motion. The practical takeaway for litigants and their counsel is unmistakable — appellate strategy must now be built from the moment the operative part of the first-instance judgment is received, not from the date of the first appellate hearing.
Cassation Thresholds and the Public Prosecutor’s Expanded Powers
Decree-Law No. 22 of 2025 recalibrates the threshold for cassation review. Appeals in cassation against judgments of the Courts of Appeal are now available where the value of the claim exceeds AED 500,000, or where the claim is of indeterminate value. The grounds remain anchored in classic supervisory functions of the cassation court — violation of the law, errors in its application or interpretation, procedural invalidity affecting the judgment, lack of jurisdiction, conflict with a prior judgment having the force of res judicata, absence of reasons, deficient or ambiguous reasoning, or rulings granting more than what was sought (ultra petita). Running in parallel, Article 176 broadens the powers of the Public Prosecutor, who is now empowered to file appeals on his own initiative, or at the request of the Minister of Justice or the head of a local judicial authority, and even in circumstances where the parties have allowed their own appeal deadlines to lapse — an extension consistent with the protection of public policy and the uniform application of the law.
Electronic Service and the Digital Litigation Track
The reform also entrenches the digital transformation of court procedure by formally recognizing electronic service as a valid means of notifying litigants. This change is expected to materially reduce the delays historically associated with traditional service and re-service, and to integrate seamlessly with the smart applications and judicial platforms already deployed by the federal courts and by the Dubai and Abu Dhabi judiciaries. The cumulative direction of the amendments reflects a coherent philosophy of “front-loaded litigation” — concentrating the bulk of legal preparation in the early stages of the dispute, while sharply narrowing the opportunities for procedural delay in its later phases.
Practical Implications for Litigants and Counsel
In practice, Decree-Law No. 22 of 2025 obliges lawyers and legal advisors to revisit how they draft pleadings and assemble case files. Investment in the quality of legal drafting from the moment of the statement of claim or notice of appeal is more decisive than ever, given that the room for correction and supplementation at later stages has narrowed considerably. The expanded jurisdiction of the specialized chambers — particularly in inheritance matters — also requires counsel to map the real-estate and commercial dimensions of an estate before initiating proceedings. At the same time, corporates should reassess the dispute-resolution clauses in their commercial contracts and decide, in light of the reformed procedural landscape, whether their disputes are best resolved before the national courts, in arbitration, or through the new federal mediation framework. Taken together, the reform reflects a deliberate strategic balance — making civil justice in the UAE faster, more specialized, and more disciplined, without compromising the fundamental guarantees of the right to a defence.
Mohamed Alazazi Advocates & Legal Consultants advises on civil and commercial litigation across the UAE and tracks every significant legislative development affecting our clients — individuals, family offices, and corporates alike.