DUBAI, UAE – The Rental Disputes Center (RDC), the judicial arm of Dubai Land Department (DLD), was launched to achieve social and economic stability for those involved in the real estate rental sector and other relevant fields.
This helped in establishing a specialized judicial system as per a streamlined mechanism.
Judge Abdulqader Mousa, Director of the RDC, said, “The Rental Disputes Center in Dubai has taken it upon itself to strengthen and develop the judicial system in the real estate sector.”
He said, “It is based on the wise vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, who has always emphasized that justice is the basis of governance and the happiness of members of society.”
He added, “We are proud to have developed the world’s first smart judicial rental system and made it available to litigants.”
Mousa said, “It is based on a sustainable methodology, a pioneering real estate and rental model, an environment that incubates innovation and effective governance, and is part of Dubai Land Department’s strategic vision.”
Unparalleled success
The RDC achieved remarkable success in terms of addressing and settling rental disputes.
The number of lawsuits registered in RDC has reached 103,975 rental lawsuits, divided between 92,732 primary and 11,243 appeal lawsuits, of which 100,000 lawsuits have been settled, comprising 96 percent of the cases.
These lawsuits represent only 1.9 percent of the total number of lease contracts registered with the Dubai Land Department in the same period, amounting to more than 5.2 million lease contracts with a total value of AED654 billion.
Mousa said, “One can infer the speed and accuracy of litigation through the index of the average duration of first-instance lawsuits, which is 10 days, and the average duration of appeal lawsuits, which is 14 days.”
He said, “The average duration of execution of rental judgments and decisions in 2013 was 10 days. After the implementation, services were transformed into smart services following the provision of a coherent and integrated system.”
He added, “The average duration of execution of rental judgments and decisions for 2022 is four days, while the rate of execution of rental Judgments and decisions reached 97 percent.”
RDC resolved cases by concluding reconciliation agreements amounting to 10,179 cases that were resolved amicably, with a value of AED282.8 million and an average period of five days for disputed cases to be conciliated.
RDC’s most prominent initiatives
Judge Mousa confirmed that the RDC’s achievements, initiatives, results and figures are a testament to its quality and professionalism, which contributed to enabling a streamlined system for resolving rental disputes with high accuracy and facilitation.
The RDC has been launching initiatives to achieve its vision of being the first international reference in resolving real estate disputes. These initiatives include:
The Rental Disputes System (2015): It is the world’s first smart judicial rental system specializing in managing rental cases, including their registration, resolution, issuance of judgments, and implementation. This system accelerated the accuracy of litigation and is available to litigants, whether inside or outside the country.
The Smart Judge application (2016): It is the world’s first smart application for judicial advice. It provides over 100 interactive scenarios for rental lawsuits in which a guiding judgment is issued for customers.
The Yad Al Khair [Hand of Giving] Committee (2017): It is considered the first committee to provide support and assistance to eligible groups in the UAE community affected by rental lawsuits while also alleviating the anguish of families struggling to pay rents, leading to court rulings issued by the RDC.
The remote litigation system (2018): This is the first judicial court to successfully facilitate the litigation process without needing personal attendance. It relies on the latest technologies to save time and effort for all parties.
The Rental Good Conduct Certificate (2018): This service enables parties involved in a rental contract to enquire about the rental record of either party in the RDC system. It also allows a certificate of the previous rental case sheet to be issued.
The first Court Probe, CP1, of its kind in the world: It was announced in 2018, and preparations are underway to launch the judicial probe soon. It constitutes a quantum leap in the remote litigation system, in which artificial intelligence will issue judicial rulings, enabling litigants to issue self-judgments without human involvement.
The RDC in Dubai was established on September 18, 2013, in accordance with Decree No. 26 of 2013 issued by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
Until 2022, the RDC witnessed a development in the litigation journey, starting from the implementation of the traditional mechanism, passing through the implementation of smart litigation without paper in 2015, and then the implementation of the remote litigation system in 2018, leading to the Court Probe.