Prologue In the last decade, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has witnessed some legislative developments signalling efforts to reduce barriers to foreign investment in most of its member countries. The move has come due to a sharp decline in crude oil prices since 2015 resulting in significantly lower state revenues and partly due to the…
The Indian Government has on 17 January 2020 issued a gazette notification that foreign civil judgments passed by courts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can now be executed in Indian courts since the UAE has been declared as a “reciprocating territory” as per Section 44A of the Indian Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) 1908.…
The new UAE Bankruptcy Law was widely discussed and debated upon its introduction in 2016. Brought in to encourage a ‘rescue culture’, the regulations were hailed as a significant move in the right direction for the UAE as an international business hub. The new law has now had several years to embed, and the legislature…
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (“MOCI”), has recently brought into force a new Foreign Capital Investment Law (“FCIL”) promogulated by Royal Decree No: 50/2019, effective as of 2 January 2020. The law has revitalized the regulations and administrative processes applicable to foreign investment in Oman. The new procedures improve the speed and efficiency of…
The Prime Minister of UAE His Royal Highness Shaikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum issued law number 4/2019 for Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) on November 21, 2019, “DIFC IP LAW”. With the help of this new law, we believe the UAE, and Dubai in particular, has advanced one step more in progressing its regional position…
It is a quarter past nine on a Tuesday morning and while motion in the lobby of the decades-old Dubai Land Department building is still slowly coming to life, two floors up, the offices of Dubai’s Real Estate and Regulatory Authority (RERA) is already a whirlwind of activity, the atmosphere abuzz with ringing phones and…
Dubai issued in September a new pertaining to the joint ownership of real estate in the emirate. Law No. (6) of 2019 outlines the procedures concerning the maintenance of buildings and common areas in addition to what share of costs each owner should pay. One of the key changes under the new law is the…
Developers will be responsible for fixing faults in individual units for a year, and for building structures for a decade A law governing jointly owned properties was passed in Dubai with the aim to “boost competitiveness and enhance investment in the real estate sector”. A Dubai government statement issued on Tuesday evening stated Law No…
The GCC’s top legal experts returned to Construction Week’s Dispute Resolution Questions Time 2019 conference in Abu Dhabi to demystify the root causes of construction claims, share insights on dispute avoidance and resolution mechanisms, and debate the benefits of alternative dispute resolution methods. Partner Antonios Dimitracopoulos shares his views during the panel discussion.
On the 1st of October 2017, the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) implemented an Excise Tax on certain products, including 100% on both tobacco-related products and energy drinks and 50% tax on carbonated drinks. Due to the success of these taxes in reducing the consumption of these products, the FTA, as per Cabinet Decision No (52)…
