Filing anything with Dubai Courts in a language other than Arabic means it needs a certified translation first, carrying the stamp of a translation office licensed by the UAE Ministry of Justice. Court staff cannot accept a document in a foreign language on its own, and a translation without the correct stamp is treated the same as no translation at all.
Documents court and litigation matters commonly involve
- Statements of claim and defence
- Court judgments from another jurisdiction, for recognition or enforcement
- Expert reports and rental disputes centre filings
- Witness statements and affidavits
- Contracts and correspondence submitted as evidence
- Powers of attorney authorising a lawyer to act on your behalf
Why accuracy matters more here than anywhere else
A contract translated slightly loosely for internal reference is a minor inconvenience. A contract translated slightly loosely and submitted as court evidence can change the outcome of a case, because the Arabic version is what the judge reads and rules on. Legal translation for litigation has to preserve exact obligations, dates, amounts and defined terms, not just the general sense of the passage.
Foreign judgments and documents from outside the UAE
A judgment or affidavit issued in another country usually needs to be attested before Dubai Courts will accept it, through that country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UAE embassy there, and then the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The certified Arabic translation is prepared once the attestation chain is complete, so it can reproduce the stamps that are now on the page.
Turnaround for urgent filings
Court deadlines do not move, so we prioritise litigation documents. Filings under ten pages are usually ready the same day, and for urgent matters we can handle 20 to 30 pages within a single day. Scanned, photographed or handwritten originals are routine for us and do not slow this down.
Send the document on WhatsApp to +971 54 588 5472 and tell us the filing deadline, and we will confirm turnaround and cost within 15 minutes. Related: Document attestation · Certified translation services