World’s First Court Based on Blockchain Will Operate in Dubai

Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) Courts, with the support of the government-backed Smart Dubai initiative, will explore blockchain as an enabler for court judgments’ verification. To put it simply, Dubai will launch the-first-in-the-world court on the blockchain.

It’s no wonder, the court blockchain solution came as the DIFC product. Established in 2004 in Dubai, it is a 110-hectare district and major global financial hub for the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) markets.

Based in DIFC, DIFC Courts were originally operating within the geographical area of the hub but now are allowed to hear any local or international cases and resolve commercial disputes with the consent of all parties. DIFC Courts dealing with civil and commercial disputes in the financial industry can become an excellent blockchain facilitator on the cross-border level.

How will it work?

Amna Al Owais, chief executive and registrar of DIFC Courts said that the team working on the project “is in line with our guiding principle to deliver courts as a service, powered by technology and extended through cooperation agreements and alliances.” She added, “by harnessing blockchain technology, Dubai will be firmly positioned at the forefront of legaltech and judicial innovation, setting the standards or countries and judiciaries to follow.”

As the first step, the R&D team will try to put court judgement data on a blockchain. It will help institutions verify and share information in real-time for better cross-border law enforcement. Later on, the task force will focus on how to handle disputes arising from private and public blockchains, with regulation and contractual terms encoded within “smart” contracts, Amna Al Owais claimed.

The UAE welcomes blockchain

This wave of blockchain warm welcome in UAE goes hand-in-hand with the Sheikh’s Mohammed Bin Rashid approach to economic and technological challenges – the approach framed as Smart Dubai.

The Smart Dubai initiative has been built on a legacy of innovative programs which were meant to drive competitiveness across the globe in the 90s.Although the officials claim, the technology “is simply the enabler, not the goal itself,” during the following years, they will introduce technology-oriented initiatives, including city’s Smart Economy, Smart Living, Smart Governance, Smart Environment, Smart People and Smart Mobility dimensions. This coincides with the Sheikh’s vision of the city as “the happiest city on Earth.”

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