Abu Dhabi courts allow use of Hindi
LANDMARK DECISION SET TO BENEFIT A LARGE NUMBER OF INDIAN WORKERS
Indian expats can now file claims and raise grievances in Hindi as it has been recognised by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) as the third official language alongside Arabic and English.
The move is aimed at improving access to justice as Hindi is the most widely spoken language among the nearly three million strong Indian community here.
Workers who come largely from central and northern Indian states are likely to benefit from the decision as they can lodge complaints in Hindi in labour cases, especially those related to delayed wages, end of service entitlements, compensation for arbitrary layoffs, notice periods and annual leaves, as well as claims for air tickets and the return of passports.
The decision will allow foreigners to learn about litigation procedures and their rights and duties without a language barrier.
Indian expatriate workers living here can now file their claims and complaints with the Abu Dhabi labour courts in their mother tongue after the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) recognised Hindi as its third official language after Arabic and English last week.
Workers can now file complaints in Hindi about delayed wages, end of service entitlements, bonuses, compensation for arbitrary layoffs, notice periods and annual leaves, as well as claims for air tickets and the return of their passports.
Indians are the largest expatriate community in the UAE at more than three million. This landmark decision will benefit a large number of Indian workers as most come from Hindi speaking central and north Indian states.
The department has extended the adoption of interactive forms of statement of claims filed before the courts by including Hindi alongside Arabic and English in labour cases.
The decision will allow foreigners to learn about litigation procedures, their rights and duties without a language barrier, in addition to facilitating registration procedures via unified forms available through the ADJD website.
Procedure simplified
Yousuf Saeed Al Abri, Undersecretary of the ADJD, said that the extension of the adoption of interactive forms in several languages was to ensure the development of a judicial system that plays a pivotal role in attracting foreign investments and enhancing the emirate’s status as an attractive business environment as well as a destination for skilled labour.
The inclusion of Hindi by the court will enhance access to justice for expatriates and foreign investors by simplifying litigation procedures, he said.
New labour court
Last year, the department also announced the opening of a new labour court in the capital where all cases pertaining to workers and contracting parties will be heard.
The decision is part of the bilingual litigation system, the first phase of which
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was launched last November, through the adoption of procedures requiring the plaintiffs to translate the case documents in civil and commercial lawsuits into English, if the defendant is a foreigner.
Al Abri said, “The adoption of multilingual interactive forms for claim sheets, grievances and requests aims to promote judicial services in line with the Plan Tomorrow 2021, and increase the transparency of litigation procedures through the provision of bilingual forms which allow foreigners to know the litigation procedures, their rights and duties without a language barrier.”
This is in addition to facilitating registration procedures for the public through simplified and easy forms and raising litigants’ legal awareness via interactive forms of the statements of claims, to ensure access to the legal materials related to the subject of the dispute, he added.