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During the first half of 2024, the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court received over 8,000 marriage applications, at an average rate of 70 applications per day. Therefore, since Abu Dhabi Law No. 14 of 2021 came into effect, there have been 26,000 civil marriage applications filed for couples of various nationalities, religions and ethnicities.
This is a significant achievement, exemplifying that Abu Dhabi has been successful in offering a cutting-edge legislative environment that supports the Emirate's economy and strengthens its status as a global hub for tolerance and coexistence.
His Excellency Counselor Yousef Saeed Al Abri, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, stressed that the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court’s continued development of a global model for family courts comes in implementation of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the UAE, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of Presidential Court , Chairman of the Judicial Department, which aims to provide innovative judicial services that keep pace with the development witnessed by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in various fields, thus enhancing its competitive position globally. He added that the Abu Dhabi Courts are providing end-to-end electronic court services, including the registration of cases and conducting court hearings online. In addition, it is the only court in the region that provides many of its services and procedures in both Arabic and English, ensuring easy access to justice without any linguistic barriers through comprehensive and integrated services for foreigners, including civil marriage, no- fault divorce, joint custody of children and inheritance cases.
He made clear that the Court is continuously seeking to introduce advanced initiatives to best serve the needs of its users, an example of this was the launch of the express Civil Marriage service. This service allows couples to have their marriage ceremony on the same day their application was made. Such a service was introduced in response to the great demand from tourists coming from all over the world to hold civil marriages in Abu Dhabi.
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Another recent improvement was the establishment of the English-Notary Services Bureau, which is unique in the Arab region, as it provides notary public services in English without the need to translate documents into Arabic.
In addition to the above, during the first half of 2024, Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court has registered more than 2,500 civil wills remotely, an increase of 200% compared to last year. This brings the total number of civil wills for foreigners registered in Abu Dhabi to 5,700. The procedure to register a will is straightforward and entirely remote which means anyone in the world can register their will without the need to visit the Court in person.
There have also been 205 no-fault divorce cases registered since January 2024, meaning the Court has received 590 divorce requests since the law came into effect. The law now permits foreigners to obtain a divorce from the first session with the judge without needing to explain why the marriage has broken down. The divorce process is handled in English by a qualified team of foreign lawyers, and the ruling is given in both Arabic and English. With the divorce decree, the court immediately grants joint custody of the children.
During the first half of 2024, the court also heard 90 civil inheritance cases, bringing the total number of inheritance cases to 360. The law states that the estate should be distributed to foreigners without regard to gender, and that the spouse will receive half of the deceased's wealth, with the remaining portion being divided equally among the children, should the foreigner die intestate (without a registered Will).