All About the New Non-Muslim Personal Status Court in UAE

(WAM) UAE inaugurated a court specialising in personal status cases for non-Muslim foreigners, as part of the executive procedures introduced to implement the law governing non-Muslim personal status matters in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The new specialised court will be competent to hear cases related to non-Muslim personal status matters and all related forms and procedures will be bilingual (Arabic and English).

The Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims

The Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims, which is applied by the Court, is the first of its kind in the world to apply civil principles in the regulation of family matters, as it addresses the smallest details regarding non-Muslim family issues.

The law consists of 20 articles divided into several chapters covering 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 and the rights of divorced spouses after divorce and the discretionary power of the judge to assess the financial rights of the wife based on several criteria.

The law also introduces the concept of joint custody of children following divorce custody, which is the equal participation of both the father and mother in the custody, in order to safeguard the cohesion of the family after divorce and to preserve the psychological health of the children.

In addition, the new law deals with other issues such as inheritance, will registration, the right of the foreigner to bequest, by will, all his possessions to the beneficiary of his/her choice, as well regulating the child paternity for non-Muslim foreigners, by providing that paternity is proved by marriage or by declaration.