‘World’s first’ digital courtroom in Abu Dhabi commercial free zone to offer convenience
Abu Dhabi Global Market, which operates the free zone on Al Maryah Island, has launched a digital courtroom to deal with business cases and commercial disputes.
The island, which is home to some of the capital’s top commercial outlets including the Galleria Mall and soon Al Maryah Central shopping centre, has its own court which has processed 20 cases including employment, commercial disputes and urgent interim applications since it was launched in May 2016.
But the new digital courtroom enables judges, witnesses, lawyers or plaintiffs from anywhere in the world to take part in a hearing through video conference technology.
The system saves money and time, and makes the process more convenient for companies with offices overseas.
There are screens behind the judges’ bench and in the witness box, allowing legal representatives and those involved in the case to appear from locations around the world.
Believed to be the first of its kind worldwide, the digital courtroom follows an e-platform launched at the beginning of this year.
It provides case files in digital form that can be accessed by mobile from anywhere in the world.
“No matter where you are, no matter the time of day, you can enter your case page and see every single document filed for your case,” said Lynda Fitz-Alan, registrar and chief executive of ADGM Courts.
If anything changes with a case file, it is simultaneously communicated to the parties involved through the platform, which also provides links to view case hearings.
“We can finish a trial session digitally without boundaries and listen to witnesses if needed,” Ms Fitz-Alan said.
A “tremendous amount of time and money” is spent on delivering documents and serving parties, but Ms Fitz-Alan said the new system would streamline the process.
So far two cases have been heard in the digital courtroom.
The most recent was an employment case on Saturday night with a judge in London.
The other was an “urgent application case” last week about a disputed commercial contract.
Anybody can file a case if it is within the jurisdiction of the court. This includes all organisations on Al Maryah Island and organisations in jurisdictions with which ADGM Courts and the Ministry of Justice have agreements.
Any party is also able to add into a contract that the courts are the judicial authority to litigate if a dispute were to occur, regardless of where they are based.
The court operates in English to make things simpler for international businesses, and follows British common law.
It has agreements with the Ministry of Justice, Abu Dhabi Judicial Department and Ras Al Khaimah Court. It also has agreements with judicial systems in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the commercial court in London.
The court operates in English to make things simpler for international businesses, and follows British common law