Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, Counselor Yousef Saeed Al-Abri, inaugurated a specialized court to hear personal status cases for non-Muslim foreigners, as part of the executive procedures for implementing the law regulating personal status issues for non-Muslims in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, issued by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President The state, "may God protect him", in its capacity as ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, with the aim of providing a flexible and advanced judicial mechanism for settling family disputes related to non-Muslims, thus enhancing the emirate's position and its global competitiveness as it is one of the most attractive destinations for expertise and competencies.
In his opening speech, Counselor Youssef Al-Abri explained that the establishment of the first specialized court to look into family issues for non-Muslims supports the continuous development efforts of the judicial system in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in implementation of the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs. Head of the Judicial Department in Abu Dhabi, with continuous work to keep pace with all changes and developments to enhance leadership in the judicial field.
Counselor Youssef Al-Abri indicated that the new specialized court will be competent to hear cases related to personal status issues for non-Muslims, and all its case forms and procedures will be bilingual to include both Arabic and English, in order to facilitate foreigners' understanding of court procedures and to enhance judicial transparency.
He stated that the Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims, applied by the Court, is the first of its kind in the world to apply civil principles in organizing family cases, as it is exposed to the smallest details regarding family issues for non-Muslims, and provides a modern judicial umbrella for foreigners to resolve disputes in a flexible manner in line with international best practices.
It is noteworthy that the law includes 20 articles divided into main topics, including civil marriage, divorce, joint custody of children and inheritance, with the regulation of marriage procedures for foreigners before the court by introducing the concept of civil marriage based on the will of the husband and wife, divorce procedures, the rights of the spouses after its signature and the discretion The judge has the right to calculate the financial rights of the wife based on several criteria.
The law also introduced a new concept in the custody of children after divorce, which is the participation of the father and mother in the custody equally between them, or what is known in Western laws as joint custody, in order to preserve the cohesion of the family after the divorce and the psychological health of the children, as well as addressing the issue of inheritance, the registration of wills and the foreigner’s right to Leaving a will with all his possessions for whoever he wants, while regulating the proof of the lineage of non-Muslim foreigners, by providing for the proof of the lineage of the newborn through marriage or confession.