The judicial system of the United Arab Emirates is divided into federal courts and local courts. The federal justice system is defined in the Constitution of the United Arab Emirates, with the Federal Supreme Court based at Abu Dhabi.[1] As of 2023, only the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah have local court systems, while all other emirates use the federal court system for all legal proceedings.[2]
The UAE is a civil law jurisdiction, hence unlike common law jurisdictions, legal proceedings in the UAE do not rely on precedents, although sometimes the judgments of higher courts can be applied by lower courts in cases with similar facts. The emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai also have common law courts that adjudicate commercial cases in financial free zones, with both emirates allowing local businesses to opt-in to the jurisdiction of the common law courts for business contracts.[2][3][4]
Both local and federal courts have Sharia courts, which have exclusive jurisdiction in matters of Muslim marriage, family law and inheritance matters. Non-Muslims family law, marriage and inheritance are governed by civil law.[5] Since 2020, Article 1 of the Federal Penal Code was amended to state that Islamic Law applies only to retribution and blood money punishments; previously the article stated that "provisions of the Islamic Law shall apply to the crimes of doctrinal punishment, punitive punishment and blood money."[6][7]