ABU DHABI // A new law that removed a Dh20,000 cap on judicial fees was created to reduce the number of spurious lawsuits and motivate people to file reasonable claims or reconcile their differences.
Judicial officials explained the advantages of the new law, which came into effect at the start of this year, during the monthly media forum held by the judicial department on Wednesday.
Previously, those who filed compensation lawsuits had to pay 4 per cent of their claim up front, but the maximum amount was Dh20,000 regardless of the amount they were seeking.
This resulted in unreasonably high amounts being claimed by plaintiffs, and increased the number of people who made it their business to file one lawsuit after another, judicial officials said.
The fee has been cut to 3 per cent, but with no limit on the amount.
“The main goal of this law is to stop the abuse of the judicial right by some,” said Ali Al Thaheri, head of the judicial inspection department. “And to give a better chance for those seeking their lost rights without wasting the court’s time and effort with spurious cases.”
Although the law might appear to be a moneymaker for the department, several fees have been reduced. For example, a request to confiscate an aircraft costs Dh5,000 in fees, down from Dh10,000.
The law has also set basic fees for certain categories, and some filers will be exempt from fees.
In line with article 30, personal-affairs cases have a fixed fee of Dh50, which can increase based on the number of requests but cannot exceed Dh500.
People filing for humanitarian or social allowances are exempt from fees.
“How can we ask someone looking for an allowance to pay,” said Abdulhafeth Zaidan, the deputy chief justice of the Court of First Instance.
Also exempt from fees are the disabled, general benefit organisations, ministries and government departments, domestic workers and labourers.
“If we were to compare the fees paid with the amount of money spent by the department on each case, and the efforts of the judges, clerics ... it is nothing,” Mr Zaidan said.
Not imposing any fees at all would tempt some people to go to court for no valid reason, Mr Al Thaheri said.
“Moreover, when the accused realises that if he lost the case he would be ordered to pay the fees, that would push him to try to solve the problem in a friendly way and to pay the accuser his owed money,” he said.
The number of lawsuits filed has dropped since the law was created, but not to a major extent.
“Even if the difference is not major in the figure, claims became more reasonable,” Mr Al Thaheri said.
Article 26 of the law is designed to motivate one or both of the parties to drop the lawsuit, because provided they do so during the first hearing, they will receive a 75 per cent refund on fees paid.
“This is to keep the door open for reconciliation,” he said.
Dr Ahmad Abdulthaher, head of the international cooperation department, said that compared with other countries that have similar judicial services, fees in the UAE were lower.
“We are not looking at countries where it takes 10 years to give people their owed rights, because by then it could be meaningless,” he said.
In Singapore, for example, fees are based on the number of hearings a lawsuit requires. The fees start after the fourth hearing with the equivalent of Dh6,000. The fee increases with each session, so by the end of the eighth session they could reach nearly Dh50,000.
hdajani@thenational.ae
