DIFC Courts to Launch Three AI Initiatives for Judges and Court Users by Year-End

Speaking on the fourth day of Dubai Future Finance Week, Al Owais said two of the initiatives are meant for judges and judicial staff. They will use AI to speed up how claims are heard and to improve internal procedures. The third is aimed at the public and court users and is meant to make it simpler to get at case files and case information.

The initiatives matter because the DIFC Courts sell themselves to companies and investors on speed and specialist handling of commercial disputes. Al Owais said complex cases at the courts can take nine months to a year once the defendant has been served, and that some involve claims worth billions of dirhams. She called faster proceedings a main priority in commercial cases, because time matters to businesses and investors, but said the quality of judgments has to be kept.

She did not say which AI systems or suppliers the courts will use, or give dates for each launch.

Al Owais said the courts already run entirely electronically, with no paper transactions. They began investing in electronic systems in 2009 with a case management system, then added video links and remote hearings. That earlier spending meant the courts could move to fully virtual operations during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, she said.

The AI plans sit alongside the courts' work on disputes over digital assets. The DIFC Courts, with consultancy DECA4 and industry partners, have published a research paper proposing an open, multi-jurisdiction standard called the Dispute Resolution Oracle. It would let parties to a smart contract choose a qualified court or tribunal in advance, freeze a disputed asset temporarily once a claim is filed, and then carry out the final ruling on the blockchain. Judges, arbitrators and mediators would still hear the cases off-chain, with reasoned decisions and rights of appeal kept in place.

Al Owais said future courts will need to be ready for new kinds of disputes involving blockchain, 3D printing and self-driving vehicles. The DIFC Courts were set up in 2004 and already have specialist courts for the digital economy.