Thursday, November 11, 2021

Abu Dhabi Adopts Civil Personal Status Law For Non-Muslims

WAM News Agency reported this week that the President of the United Arab Emirates has issued a new law which will govern personal status matters for non-Muslims in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. According to the report:

The new law applies civil principles in the regulation of family matters, explained [the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department] Under-Secretary, who also announced the establishment by the Judicial Department of the first court dedicated to non-Muslim family matters.

All the procedures of the new court will be bilingual in Arabic and English to facilitate the understanding of judicial procedures by foreigners and to improve judicial transparency.

In detail, the law consists of 20 articles divided into several chapters covering civil marriage, divorce, joint custody of children and inheritance.

Indian Express has more details on the new law's provisions. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]