09 January 2026
The introduction of Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2025 brought significant changes to the UAE Civil Procedure Law, most notably to the requirements for filing appeals. A key amendment appears in Article 164, which fundamentally alters appellate practice.
Under the revised provision, an appeal must be submitted through a memorandum filed with the Case Management Office of the competent Court of Appeal. This memorandum must now set out the details of the challenged judgment, its date, the relief sought, and critically, the grounds of appeal. Failure to comply renders the appeal inadmissible.
The amended wording removes the procedural flexibility that previously allowed appellants to lodge an appeal in a purely formal manner and submit reasons at a later stage. The paragraph permitting such deferral has been deleted, signalling a clear shift toward a more structured and reasoned appellate process.
This interpretation has now been conclusively confirmed in Dubai. The General Authority of the Dubai Court of Cassation issued Resolution No. 1 of 2026, settling the question of whether appeals may still be filed without substantive grounds, to be supplemented later. The answer is unequivocal: they may not.
The Court confirmed that any appeal filed before the Dubai courts must include its substantive grounds at the time of filing. Appeals limited to formal particulars, without articulated reasons for challenging the judgment, are inadmissible and may be dismissed by the court on its own initiative. This position is reinforced not only by the wording of Article 164, but also by the express removal of the former provision that allowed grounds to be filed later.
Resolution No. 1 of 2026 further clarifies that the appeal document itself must, upon filing, contain sufficient detail of the appealed judgment, the appellant’s requests, and the grounds relied upon. Submitting a later memorandum solely to introduce grounds of appeal is no longer permissible, even if the statutory appeal period has not expired.
While appellants may still refine or supplement existing grounds in accordance with general procedural rules, this is limited to clarification rather than replacement. The original appeal must independently stand on its substantive content.
In practical terms, this development ends the practice of filing protective or placeholder appeals to meet deadlines. Appellate proceedings in Dubai are no longer a two-stage process where form precedes substance. Filing an appeal is now a substantive procedural step requiring legal analysis and preparedness from the outset. Practitioners must adjust timelines, workflows, and client expectations accordingly.
Although Resolution No. 1 of 2026 applies specifically to Dubai, it closely reflects the legislative intent behind the 2025 federal amendments and provides a strong indication of how similar issues may be addressed in practice more broadly.
