Justice with Courage The UAE’s Path to Legal Leadership

Alam alaikum. Good morning everyone. Your excellency, distinguished guest, esteemed participant. It is a great honor to join you today at the fourth edition of resolve under uh held under the patronage of his highness sheh Khalid bin Muhammad bin zed al- hayan crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the chairman of Abu Dhabi executive council and appreciation and thanks goes to his excellency Ahmed Jasim al- Zahhabi for his leadership and unwavering commitment to advancing the UAE global commitment in competitiveness and to Miss Linda whose effort have been a vital in establishing this forum as a premium a global platform for dialogue on the future of dispute resolution. This gathering reflects our shared belief that sustainable economies are built on innovation, a trust and above all justice.

A tree affirms the UA roles as a global hub for a legal innovation where the rule of law is not only a pillar of governance but a driver of prosperity, resilience and confidence. As we explore the UAE evolving legal landscape, it becomes clear that the UAE is building a justice system that is forwardlooking, resilient, and globally adaptable through purposeful innovation and unwavering commitment uh to the fairness. The UAE continues to set the international benchmarks for how modern legal system respond to the complex of dispute of tomorrow. In a time of a rapid change, courage is not a merely the ability to act. It is the resolve to act boldly and shape the future.

The UAE has chosen to stand at the forefront of the global transformation by designing a judicial system that adapts swiftly, anticipate emerging risk and safeguard the timeless values of justice and equity. Since its founding, the UAE has developed a legal system defined by a reliability, a transparency, and a vision rooted in the foresight of our founding father. The system has evolved into a global model of justice, effectiveness. Today the UAE proudly ranks first in the MINA region in the world justice project rule of law for the year 2025. The Ministry of Justice has been the central in this transformation.

In 2023, the UAE government launched the zero bureaucracy program, a pioneering national initiative amid at a fundamentally reshaping government services. By 2024, through full judicial automation and crossgovernment integration, the ministry achieved a radical procedural simplification, a dramatically accelerated case processing, a vastly enhanced user experience, and operational efficiency reaching as close as to 99%. These outcomes now stand as a global benchmark for judicial agility and excellence through more than 150 bilateral and multilateral agreement with over 50 countries and international organization. The UAE firmly established itself as a trusted global partner in a mutual legal assistant in a civil and commercial matters, a mutual judicial and legal assistant in a criminal matters, extradition as well as the transfer of sentence person. In 2025, this cooperation entered a new digital era with the launch of the international case assistant system which is called IICAS.

A centralized platform for crossborder judicial collaboration. What once required 7 to 20 days of coordination and cooperation. Today it is done in just a few minutes. We are now advancing into a phase two which will enable a direct digital interaction between central authority worldwide and the UAE Ministry of Justice ensuring an instant fully automated and transparent international cooperation. This progress will be further demonstrated when Abu Dhabi hosts the 15th United Nation Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in April 2026, a milestone that reflects the UAE's growing leadership in a global criminal justice policy.

The nature of dispute is evolving rapidly and so must justice itself. The UAE has responded response response responded by impeding technology at a very heart of judicial operations. Today over 95% of federal litigation is done remotely from filing to a hearing. The ministry operates services through a unified digital legal platform, a blockchain secured system enhanced data protection, confidentiality and integrity. The legal professions platform enable lawyers, notaries and consultant to operate seamlessly.

Moreover, the federal law on mediation and consiliation has established a firm legal foundation for online dispute resolution, de delivering a faster, coste effective and confidential outcome while significantly reducing courts world loads. Under the national agenda, we the UAE 2031 Rwise leadership has set a very clear ambitions to double the size of the national economy to reach a 3 trillion dirham of GDP and to cement the UAE as a premium global hub for trade investment and dispute resolution. These ambitions are already becoming reality. According to the green field performance index, the UAE now ranks first globally for green field investment relative to GTP, securing over 14 times the expected project volume. This reflect, this success reflects a liberalized foreign ownership policies, an expanding network of comprehensive economic partnership agreement, strong investor protection, and a globally trusted dispute resolution framework.

The UAE fully recognized the sustainable economy growth is impossible without financial integrity under the national AML CFT strategy 2024 2027 and in line with the financial action task force the UAEA enacted a federal law number 10 of 2025 on anti-moneyry combating the financing of terrorism. And this modern framework is built on a riskbased supervision, advanced regulatory oversight, intelligencedriven enforcement. Our approach is very clear. a zero tolerance for a criminal for a financial crimes and full openness to the legitimate a global investor. Within this trusted framework, alternative dispute resolution has emerged as a powerful driver of investment confidence.

In 2024, the ICC ranked the UAE among the top five global seats of arbitration alongside the UK, France, Switzerland, and the US, placing the UAE ahead of its 2031 global target. A strong economy requires a specialized responsive judiciary. The UAE has established the bank Rabsy and tax courts, a specialized public prosecution offices for economic crimes and a dedicated judicial division for financial restructuring and tax dispute. These courts and unity offer over predictability, speed and investor protection, reinforcing the UA global competitiveness. Looking ahead, the UAE is advancing a justice system that is digitally advanced, institutionally independent, and globally competitive through the investment in AI, blockchains, and smart case management.

Alongside regulatory reforms, welcoming international law firms and global mediation centers, BAE is cultivating a worldclass legal services ecosystem. Our vision is a clear a legal system that honor heritage while embracing innovation, deliver fairness with the speed and protect stability in a rapidly changing world. Through partnership, technology and excellence, the UAE continues to shape the global future of justice and dispute resolution. As the year begins, I invite all Bertus participant to engage in a boldly in a bold dialogue, build a global partnership and co-create solution that will define the next era of justice, finance, and technology. Through innovation, cooperation, and unwavering commitment to fairness, the UAE will continue setting a global standard for justice in the 21st century.

I thank you so much and wishing you a fruitful seminar. Thank you.