Litigation in the Dubai International Financial Centre

John is joined by Tom Montagu-Smith, KC, with 3 Verulam Buildings.  They discuss practicing in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Court, including the rationale for creating the unusual DIFC court system where the United Arab Emirates allow foreign lawyers and judges to decide disputes on its sovereign territory, Tom’s experience writing the rules for the Court which are modeled on the rules for the English Commercial Court, and the very recent growth of similar financial free zones and court systems in other jurisdictions.  They also discuss the backgrounds of the judges, the Court’s jurisdictional rules and the mix of cases that are generally brought before the Court. Finally, they discuss some of the interesting issues that have recently arisen in the DIFC Court including whether to allow malicious prosecution actions, the extent to which principles like Sovereign Immunity and the Act of State Doctrine will apply in the DIFC, where to draw jurisdictional lines between the DIFC Court and local courts, and the possible extension of the jurisdiction of the DIFC Court to other economic free zones in the UAE