The authority that runs Abu Dhabi’s court system will make French one of its official languages as of Sunday.
Court claim forms in the language will be available by Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, whose services were provided solely in Arabic two years ago.
“This move is a continuation for our efforts to remove language barriers for court users,” said Yousef Al Abri, the department’s undersecretary.
Last year, documents were made available in English, and it became compulsory for claimants to translate case files to English if the sued party did not speak Arabic.
Services were later made available in Hindi and Mandarin as well.
“We chose to launch claim forms in French today as our French friends celebrate their national day, Bastille Day, which falls on July 14,” Mr Al Abri said.
He said 30,000 French nationals lived in the UAE.
“There are a number of joint cultural projects between the UAE and France, such as Louvre Abu Dhabi and Sorbonne University,” he said.
French is an official language of the United Nations.
The multilingual Judicial Department forms can be found and downloaded from the department’s website, www.adjd.gov.ae.