Certified Legal Consultant (CLC) 1

 Legal consultants and lawyers have very

similar roles. It is even argued that they cross
into each other’s roles.

 A legal consultant can advise people,

businesses or organizations with their legal
obligations or problems.

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 They draft up legal documents that are
necessary for the person or organization.

 A legal consultant offers any relevant legal

advice to their clients and ensures that their
clients are in right standing with the law.

 They are responsible for creating and

analysing legal documents for their clients.
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 A legal consultant may have expertise in a
particular field, such as Labour, AML ,
Contract Law, Company Law, Corporate
Governance etc…

 They can ensure that no legal actions are

placed against the company or organization.

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 They ensure that the business or organization
is in line with all of the current laws and
regulations.

 The ultimate difference between a legal

consultant and lawyer is that the legal
consultant acts as an advisor, while the
lawyer can also offer representation before a
judge.
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Legal Systems

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 The three major legal systems in the world
today are:

 Civil Law.
 Common Law.
 Religious Law.

 Some countries adopt a variation on some

of the 3 systems.
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 Sharia Law
 As a legal system, Sharia law is exceptionally
broad. While other legal codes regulate public
behaviour, Sharia law regulates public
behaviour, private behaviour, and even
private beliefs.

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 Compared to other legal codes, Sharia law
also prioritizes punishment over
rehabilitation, and the penalties under
Sharia law favour corporal and capital
punishments over incarceration.

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UAE System

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 The United Arab Emirates is essentially a civil
law jurisdiction heavily influenced by French,
Roman, Egyptian and Islamic law.

 Common law principles, such as adopting

previous court judgments as legal
precedents, are generally not recognized
(although judgments delivered by higher
courts are usually applied by lower courts).
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There are three main branches within the
court structure: civil, criminal and Sharia, or
Islamic, law.

The court structure in Dubai is comprised of

the following courts:

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 The Court of First Instance.
 The Court of Appeal.
 The Court of Cassation-( local level)
Supreme court- Federal level

 The Court of First Instance includes the Civil

Court, the Criminal Court and the Sharia
Court.

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 The Civil Court (or Court of First Instance)
hears all claims ranging from commercial
matters (including debt recovery cases) to
maritime disputes.

 After judgment has been delivered, the

parties have the right to appeal to the Civil
Court of Appeal on factual and/or legal
grounds within 30 days of the date of
judgment.
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 It is possible to introduce additional evidence
to the Court of Appeal and/or request that
additional witnesses be called to testify.

 Thereafter, parties may appeal on points of

law alone to the Court of Cassation (the
highest court in Dubai), which is usually
composed of five judges.

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 The appeal must be filed within 30 days of
the date the parties were notified of the
judgment of the Court of Appeal.

 All decisions of the Court of Cassation are

final and are not subject to appeal.

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 Sharia or Islamic courts work alongside the
civil and criminal courts in the UAE.

 The Sharia court is the Islamic court in the

UAE and is primarily responsible for civil
matters between Muslims.

 Non-Muslims will not appear before a

Sharia court in any matter.
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 Sharia courts have the exclusive jurisdiction
to hear family disputes, including matters
involving divorce, inheritances, child custody,
child abuse and guardianship of minors.

 In the absence of any particular provision in

the UAE codified law, the Islamic principles of
Sharia as found in the Islamic Sharia
textbooks are applied.
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 The Sharia court may, at the federal level
only (which, excludes Dubai and Ras Al
Khaimah), also hear appeals of certain
criminal cases including rape, robbery,
driving under the influence of alcohol and
related crimes, which were originally tried in
lower criminal courts.

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 Court of First Instance
First Instance Court is the first and one of the
three degrees of litigation (First Instance-
Appeal- and Cassation Court.) as per Judicial
system prevailed in Dubai and UAE.

First Instance Court : each one of them has a

separate Chief Judge and Judicial Circuits
which are as follows:
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 Civil Court
 Commercial Court
 Personal Status Court
 Criminal Court
 Labour court
 Real estate Court

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 Civil Court has jurisdiction over looking into
normal cases between people and ,it also
deals with financial and physical rights and
legal positions meant to protect by virtue of
it, it does not include commercial, realty,
labor, personal status or endowment or
inheritance cases.

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 The commercial court, This court has
jurisdiction over the cases and pays orders
whatever may be their subjects and rights as
well as financial, corporeal etc…

 This court has two circuits, the minor circuits

consist of a single judge to look into
commercial claims of value less Dhs 100,000
as well as counter cases regardless of their
value.
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 The second circuit is the major circuits consist
of three Judges presided by one of them,
look into commercial claims, the value of
which is estimated or more than Dhs 100,000
as well as the counter cases regardless of
their value.

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 Personal Status Court has jurisdiction over
authentication of Personal Affairs matters
such as marriage and divorce as well as cases
and matters besides personal status and
money matters of Muslims and Non Muslim.

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 These courts are constitutes of circuits
presided by a single Judge. Following are the
cases which are filed or brought before it.

 Muslim Estates.
 Non-Muslim Estates.
 Addition and exclusion of Muslim heir.
 Addition and exclusion of non Muslim heir.

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 Criminal court has jurisdiction over looking
into all the violations, misdemeanors and
crimes referred by Public prosecution.

 The circuits of misdemeanor cases consist of

single judge while circuits of criminal cases
consist of three judges presided by one of
them.

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 The Labor court has jurisdiction over the suits
filed by employees against their natural or
legal employers in sectors concerning their
rights resulting from labor ties by virtue of
their individual labor contracts approved by
concerned Ministry, as well as it views
counter suits filed by employers in these
cases.

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 This court has two circuits, the minor circuits,
which consist of a single judge to view the
labor cases of a value less than one hundred
thousand Dirham as well as counter cases
regardless of their value.

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 The second one is the major circuits which
consist of three Judges presided by one of
them who would look the labor claims of
more than one hundred thousand Dirham
as well as the counter cases regardless of
their value.

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 Real Estate Court has jurisdiction over
disputes and suits resulting from the
transactions and contracts relating to
property rights and the rights of any kind or
subsidiaries, and the rental disputes are
excluded from this.

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 Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal is the second degree of
litigation and competent in looking into
contest to verdicts and judgments of First
Instance Court, which are dissatisfied by
convicted people whether these verdicts are
Criminal or Civil or minor or major cases
issued by First Instance Courts of Personal
Status, Civil, Commercial, Real-estate or
Labor.
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 The minimum cash limit for the jurisdiction of
the court is AED. 20,000

 The verdicts of this Court may be challenged

at Cassation Court according to the
provisions of the court.

 The circuit of this Court is formed by three

Judges and presided by one of them.
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 Court Of Cassation
Cassation Court is the third and superior
degree of litigation in the Judicial System in
Emirate of Dubai.

The minimum cash limit for the jurisdiction of

the court is Dhs 200,000 (Two hundred
thousand Dirham only).

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 The circuit of Cassation Court is formed by
minimum one Superior and four judges, and
these circuits would look at the challenges on
criminal, personal and civil rights verdicts
and suits.

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 Primary Laws Governing Dubai

 Labour Law.
 Company Law.
 Real Estate legislation.
 Civil Code/Civil Transaction Law : which is a
collection of laws dealing in private law-
business, negligence, family law, contract
law.
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 Penal Code/Criminal Code.

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 TYPES OF CONTRACTS

 Bilateral contract -A contract where both

parties make a promise.

 Unilateral contract -A contract where one

party makes a promise that the other party
can accept only by doing something.

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 Elements to an Enforceable Contract

 For a contract to be enforceable, there must

be five essential elements that exist.

 They are as follows:

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 Offer
 Acceptance
 Consideration
 Capacity
 Lawful Purpose

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 Offer - this element is a promise and a
demand of some sort. In the real estate
realm, it could be an offer to purchase a
home or other piece of real estate.

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 Acceptance - this element is the acceptance
of the terms of the offer presented. In the real
estate realm, it could be the seller accepting a
buyer's offer to purchase a piece of real
estate.

 If the party that responds to an offer changes

the conditions of that offer, the party is not
actually accepting the offer. Instead, he is
presenting a counteroffer.
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 Consideration - this element of a contract is
what is actually presented in exchange for the
something in the contract.

 When considering real estate, consideration

could be the monetary compensation given in
exchange for a piece of real estate.

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 Capacity - this element of a contract requires
that a party that is entering into a contract
actually be able to enter into that contract.

 A party that does not have capacity could be

one that is intoxicated at the time or is
mentally incompetent.

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 Lawful Purpose - this is the final element of a
contract. It requires that the contract in
question be for a legal purpose and not for an
illegal purpose.

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 Express contract -An agreement with all
important terms explicitly stated.

 Implied contract- the words and conduct of

the parties indicate that they intended an
agreement.

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 Technical and Specialized Vocabulary

 ADR – this is short for alternative dispute

resolution, or ways to resolve disputes
outside of the courtroom. The term typically
encompasses negotiation, mediation and
arbitration.

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 Assignment - the transfer of rights or duties
by the assignor to the assignee.

 This may occur only by agreement or by

operation of law, for example, when
someone dies or when a company is
bankrupt.

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 Boilerplate – the clauses, generally
appearing at the end of a contract, which are
used to settle general matters such as choice
of law, notice procedures, amendment
procedures, interpretation issues, dispute
resolution mechanisms and the like. (small
print)

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 Choice of Law – often, the parties to a
contract will specify which rules of law should
be used to resolve any dispute between
them. Particularly in international
transactions, the choice of law can be a
significant point of negotiation among
lawyers.

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 Common Law – this term, when contrasted
with Civil Law, refers to legal systems which
have their origin in the British legal system.

 Condition Precedent – an event that must

happen before a contract or a contractual
obligation goes into effect.

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 Condition Subsequent - a happening which
terminates the duty of a party to perform or
do his/her part.

 Consideration – a common law concept

which requires (in essence) that a promise be
part of an exchange to be enforceable as a
contract.

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 Contracts of Adhesion – standardized
contracts, usually presented on a take-it- or-
leave-it basis, to parties of unequal
bargaining strength.

 Covenant – this term used in a contract

means a promise which, if not carried out, will
carry legal consequences.

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 Often, covenants are divided into Affirmative
Covenants (the things the promisor agrees to
do) and Negative Covenants (the things the
promisor agrees not to do).

 Cure Periods – often, when a Default occurs

under a contract, the obligor may have a
certain period of time to cure the Default
before the obligee is allowed to exercise
Remedies.
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 Default – the circumstances where an obligor
under a contract is considered to be in breach
of the contract.

 In formal written contracts, Defaults often

include failure of a Representation or
Warranty to be true when made, failure to
perform any Affirmative or Negative
Covenant etc…
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 Equity – this term, which is often used to
mean fairness, also has a more technical legal
meaning.

 It used to be that the Common Law system

was rather rigid, and in order to obtain relief,
a litigant had to fit into a limited class of
situations.

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 Estoppel – an equitable concept that
prevents a party from raising an argument
when the party has acted unfairly,
fraudulently, or otherwise inappropriately.
 Events of Default – When a Default remains
uncured under any applicable Notice or Cure
Period, contracts typically provide that an
Event of Default has occurred. They seek
remedies.
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 Excuse - something that forgives
performance and bars enforcement of the
contract. If performance of a contractual
obligation is excused, this relieves the
nonperforming party of liability.

 Execution - (1) signing; the parties execute

the contract by signing it

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 (2) performance; the parties may execute a
contract by carrying out their obligations and
duties.
 (3) enforcement of a judgment, order or writ
(execution of judgment)
 (4) in criminal law, carrying out a death
sentence.
 polysemy – words with multiple meanings –
in legal language.
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 Force Majeure – an “act of God” which
prevents one party from performing the
obligations owing under a contract.
Commonly such things as war, riots,
earthquakes, floods, strikes and the like are
included.

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 Indemnity – an agreement in which one
party agrees to reimburse another party if it is
held liable.

 An indemnity is in the nature of a guarantee,

but typically is used when the party offering
indemnity has some interest in, involvement
with, or control over the events leading to
liability.
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 Liquidated Damages – when parties to a
contract settle in advance the amount of
damages which will be available should one
party fail to perform.This is also sometimes
called a Penalty clause.

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 Recitals – in a formal written contract, the
clauses that explain who the parties are, and
their purposes for entering into the contract
(i.e., background). Sometimes called
“Preamble”.
 Remedies – the actions that can be taken
upon an Event of Default.

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 Representations and Warranties –
statements made by a party in a contract
which, if untrue, carry legal consequences.
Sometimes representations and warranties
need not be explicitly stated by the parties,
but instead are implied by law.
 Rescission - cancellation of a contract by
mutual agreement of the parties prior to its
performance.
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 Severability - the characteristic of a contract
that allows for removal of duties or portions
that are incorrectly or illegally drawn up.

 The parties may agree that incorrect,

impractical, or illegal portions be severed
from the agreement and replaced.

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 Void - is absolutely null, empty, having no
legal force, and incapable of being ratified. In
contracts it refers to an attempt at formation
of contract which is equivalent to no contract
at all.
 Voidable is capable of being voided, or later
annulled. If a contract is formed but voidable,
it may either be ratified (US) or confirmed
(UK) by conduct or else it may be voided by
one of the parties.
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