I helped the court find my husband, what next?

QThe court asked me to assist in the notification by guidance process by informing my husband that a case has been raised against him. I have explained to the court where my husband lives, but he has still not been notified. What are my options now?

AIf the guidance does not help for any reason, such as the address does not exist, then the court shall postpone the case for an investigation. This means that the official letter will be sent by the court to immigration and CID to find out information about the opposing party.

At this stage, there are two likely scenarios:

If government authorities report back saying they do not have any information about the respondent, the matter shall proceed to the publication stage (see below). It is rare that government authorities cannot provide information on an individual.

If they do provide useful information about the location of the individual, the notification process will be repeated, with or without guidance.

If the respondent could not be notified, the judge will adjourn the hearing to allow a publication to be made in the newspaper. An advertisement will be made in a UAE-based newspaper asking the respondent to make contact with the court within a certain period. The publication can be made twice in Arabic and/or English, or in Arabic only if the respondent is an Arabic speaker. The cost of the publication must be borne by the claimant.

If the respondent does not contact the court within the time period, the judge may order that a further advertisement be published.

After both publications, if the respondent does not attend the next hearing listed, the case will be postponed for judgment.

In some circumstances, the respondent is correctly served by the notifier but fails to attend the initial hearing. In such circumstances, the court decides to notify the respondent for the second time and in the event that the respondent fails to appear the judgment is made by the court.