The United Arab Emirates has announced plans to increase the number of registered companies in the country to two million by the end of the decade, underscoring the central role of legal and regulatory reform in shaping the nation’s economic growth strategy. The target was outlined by Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, during a...
The Dubai Land Department (DLD) has introduced a new public awareness campaign aimed at reducing rental disputes by strengthening understanding and compliance with the Ejari tenancy registration system. The initiative comes amid sustained activity in Dubai’s rental market and a growing volume of landlord tenant disagreements linked to procedural non-compliance and misinterpretation of tenancy laws. Ejari Compliance at the Core of...
The UAE’s recent Civil Transactions overhaul (Federal DecreeLaw No. 50 of 2022) makes a single, simple but significant change to one of the most fundamental civil law concepts: the age of majority. Where the old Civil Transactions Law tied majority to completion of 21 lunar years, the 2022 DecreeLaw fixes majority at 18 Gregorian years....
The India–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has significantly strengthened bilateral trade by allowing preferential customs duty treatment on qualifying goods originating in India and imported into the UAE. As businesses increasingly adopt commercially efficient and multi-layered trade models, questions frequently arise on whether such benefits remain available when non-traditional structures are used. This article...
The UAE continued its ambitious legislative overhaul in 2025, issuing a wide range of legal reforms that touched on public safety, financial regulation, digital governance, and criminal justice. These changes reflect the nation’s ongoing efforts to modernise its legal framework in line with social priorities, global standards, and economic diversification. Tougher Drug Control Laws: Greater Penalties and Enforcement In 2025,...
On 1 January 2026, the UAE ushered in one of the most significant legal reforms of the last decade: the promulgation of changes to the Civil Transactions Law, 2026. While the announcement from WAM reads like a formal legislative update, the implications of this law are far-reaching, practical, and deeply relevant to how people live, contract, invest, inherit, and resolve...
Abu Dhabi’s mainland real estate laws traditionally restrict property ownership to UAE nationals (and companies wholly owned by them) except in special cases. Abu Dhabi Law No. 19 of 2005 (Real Property Ownership) and its amendments set out who may acquire mainland property. As amended in 2019, Article 3 of Law 19/2005 limits ownership rights to: (a)...
The UAE has announced a significant labour market reform aimed at strengthening Emiratisation and improving income security for UAE nationals employed in the private sector. The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has confirmed that a minimum monthly wage of Dh6,000 will be mandatory for Emirati employees in private companies, effective 1 January 2026. The decision...
When monopoly ends, enforcement ends with it—except where past infringement leaves a financial trail. A decisive ruling on the limits of judicial relief after patent expiry, clarifying why exclusivity ends with the statutory term but monetary accountability for past infringement does not. In a significant intellectual property law ruling, the Delhi High Court has clarified how patent rights in...
Challenge The client approached ATB Legal with a dual-jurisdiction trademark matter involving parallel trademark filings in the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). While the UAE trademark proceeded smoothly, the KSA trademark encountered a critical procedural issue that required immediate legal intervention. In Saudi Arabia, trademark ownership requirements are strictly enforced. The client’s...
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