Alternatively, the DIFC Court’s enforcement regime may open up a wider route to enforce foreign court judgements within the UAE. According to Article 7(6) of the Judicial Authority Law (the “JAL”) and Article 24(1)(a) of the DIFC Court Law (DIFC Law No. 10 of 2004), the DIFC Courts have jurisdiction to ratify any judgment of a recognized foreign court for the purposes of enforcement in the courts of Dubai.

Several recent judgments by the DIFC Court of Appeal have confirmed that it has jurisdiction to recognize and enforce foreign court judgements. In DNB Bank ASA v Gulf Eyadah Corporation and Gulf Navigation Holdings PJSC, the DIFC Court of Appeal found that: “a foreign judgment when granted recognition in the DIFC Courts, becomes a local judgment of the DIFC Courts and should, therefore, be treated as such by the Dubai Courts”.
The most important issue to be addressed then would be whether the courts of Dubai are willing to enforce “conduit” DIFC Court judgments. Recent developments in the UAE legal system and in particular the increasing level of cooperation between the Dubai Courts and the DIFC Courts systems suggest a new channel of enforcing foreign court judgments through the DIFC Courts system, even though in practice it yet remains to be seen how the courts of Dubai would react.

In light of DNB Bank ASA v Gulf Eyadah Corporation and Gulf Navigation Holdings PJSC, it would have been certainly advisable for the Claimant to have sought recognition and execution of the California judgment before the DIFC Courts.