Middle East’s first online court case registration launched in Dubai

Dubai Courts officially launched three innovative online service programmes. The three programmes provide facility for online case registration, access to archive of case files, and pro bono legal advice. The launch took place in the context of Dubai Courts’ strategic vision towards ‘leadership in court performance’, which aims to save time and effort, and to aid the facilitation work of litigants.

The official launch of these unique services took place during a ceremony held in the presence of H.E. Dr. Ahmed Saeed Bin Hazeem, General Director of Dubai Courts, heads of courts, heads of departments, Chairman of the UAE Jurists Association, and a number of key lawyers.

The ceremony began with a speech by H.E. Dr. Ahmed Saeed Bin Hazeem, in which he stressed the importance of the strategic partnership between Dubai Courts and law firms in Dubai, which aims to achieve justice and assist in the task of litigants to access their rights.

Bin Hazeem said, “Dubai Courts is always keen on excellence and leadership, and aims to provide innovative and modern procedures, along with meeting the needs of litigants. Hence, an online service programme has been launched under the name ‘Al-Salfaʹ, allowing online case registration without the need to be physically present at the Courts’ premises.”

He continued, “The first-of-its-kind in the Middle East, this service allows law firms and all litigants to register cases electronically, record every detail, upload identification papers, and send them to Dubai Courts online.”

“Launching the online programme under the name ‘Al-Salfa’ resulted from the keenness of the Dubai Courts to link all of its services to the Emirates ID. ‘Al-Salfa’ is a well-known term in the Emirati heritage, which refers to a person who acted as the judge in the past,” said the Director General of Dubai Courts.

He noted that the testing of this service programme began on February 1st, 2013, and was made available to law firms on an optional basis. Owing to its successful testing, the programme will be mandatory from June 1st, so that all cases presented to the Dubai Courts can be registered online from anywhere in the world.

H.E. Dr. Ahmed Saeed Bin Hazeem also revealed the second programme launched by the Dubai Courts. Regarding this, he stated “[The programme] allows plaintiffs to access the file archive online and print their cases, judgments, decisions and other information, without the need to visit the Courts to acquire these papers.”

The Director General of Dubai Courts said the Courts, in collaboration with its strategic partners the law firms based in Dubai, has launched a pro bono legal advice programme titled ‘Sure’, where volunteering lawyers can offer free legal consultations to litigants. This policy is aimed at boosting confidence in the judiciary and facilitating litigation for the public.

Mohammed Al-Obaidli, Director of Cases Service Department, Dubai Courts, stressed the strategic importance of these e-services, especially ‘Al-Salfa’ programme. He emphasised that the service will particularly save time for litigants, consequently increasing the efficiency of work and quality of service provided. The exploitation of advanced systems, procedures and technologies to achieve speed and accuracy in case registration will help to directly fulfil the general requirements of the Dubai Courts.

Before the end of the ceremony, Dubai Courts honoured several parties, among which were the Chairman of the UAE Jurists Association, the law firms co-operating with the Dubai Courts, 46 lawyers who volunteered to provide advice and offered nearly 670 hours of free consultations, and ‘Al-Salfa’ programme users.

It is notable that the number of applications submitted by customers within the online registration service programme ‘Al-Salfa’ has reached nearly 2,130 since its launch in February 2013. Meanwhile, the number of online cases registered by customers within the ‘Al-Salfa’ programme has reached nearly 1,833 for the same period.