Dubai International Financial Centre Courts increased its caseload by 64 per cent year-on-year in the first half of the year, signalling rising confidence in the judicial system of the emirate’s financial free zone.
The value of claims in the first six months of 2018 represents a 181 per cent rise from the year-earlier period, DIFC Courts said in a statement on Monday, without providing a total figure.
“Our performance so far this year is testament to the maturity of DIFC Courts which, after over a decade of operations, continues to offer businesses access to a robust and efficient suite of dispute resolution services,” said Amna Al Owais, chief executive and registrar of DIFC Courts.
The first half of 2018 saw increases in both the volume and value of cases of almost every type, including enforcement claims, the main Court of First Instance claims, and Small Claims Tribunal cases – “a reflection of DIFC Courts being a jurisdiction of choice in the Middle East region and beyond”, she added.
The number of enforcement cases increased by 123 per cent to 87 cases from the year-earlier period, “indicating the confidence businesses have in the DIFC Courts to collect on money judgments", it said.
The volume of CFI cases, including arbitration cases, rose by 29 per cent compared to the same period of 2017, and their value stood at Dh2.2bn in the period, DIFC Courts said, without providing a comparative figure for the first half of last year.
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Meanwhile, the Small Claims Tribunal, which was established in 2007 to handle cases under Dh1 million, also recorded a strong performance in the first six months of the year.
Its caseload rose by 60 per cent year-on-year to 240 claims, driven by greater awareness of the system and innovative use of technology, including the region’s first “Smart SCT” virtual court.
The total value of SCT claims increased by 120 per cent in the first half of 2018 to Dh30.6m.
DIFC Courts is expanding its services as part of efforts to cement the zone's legal leadership in the region. Last month, it announced plans to launch a taskforce with the Smart Dubai government subsidiary to explore potential uses of blockchain in cross-border disputes and create the world’s first “Court of the Blockchain”.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.
The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.
The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.
The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.
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Range: Up to 610km
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England's lowest Test innings
- 45 v Australia in Sydney, January 28, 1887
- 46 v West Indies in Port of Spain, March 25, 1994
- 51 v West Indies in Kingston, February 4, 2009
- 52 v Australia at The Oval, August 14, 1948
- 53 v Australia at Lord's, July 16, 1888
- 58 v New Zealand in Auckland, March 22, 2018
End of free parking
- paid-for parking will be rolled across Abu Dhabi island on August 18
- drivers will have three working weeks leeway before fines are issued
- areas that are currently free to park - around Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Maqta Bridge, Mussaffah Bridge and the Corniche - will now require a ticket
- villa residents will need a permit to park outside their home. One vehicle is Dh800 and a second is Dh1,200.
- The penalty for failing to pay for a ticket after 10 minutes will be Dh200
- Parking on a patch of sand will incur a fine of Dh300
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
