The current coronavirus pandemic has propelled the world into a new, digitally reliant era as people move en masse towards remote working and distance learning. As a part of the UAE government’s commitment to effectively employ technology to continue services to the public, entities have implemented various digital mediums to stay connected with clients and customers. The ultimate goal is to ensure that the government and business stakeholders are all working towards strengthening the economy.
At the DIFC Courts we have been very fortunate to be able to continue all core services during this period of physical closure through our comprehensive and advanced digital platforms. By increasing utilisation of our existing videoconferencing and teleconferencing facilities for applications and hearings, we are enabling court users and the public to access extensive eServices remotely from any smartphone, tablet or desktop devices.
Technology has been central to the DIFC Courts’ operating model since starting operations over a decade ago and we have been leading the way when it comes to innovation, which has enabled us to transition mindsets from ‘courts-as-a-place’ to courts-as-a service’.
For us, this service excellence comes hand-in-hand with innovation. Among the many technologies the courts have pioneered to increase access to justice, is the state-of-the-art e-filing system, as well as the region’s first ‘paperless’ e-bundling solution in 2018.
In an era of significant disruption, we have invested massively in emerging technologies to stay ahead of the curve. Instant access to information has perhaps had the biggest influence on the way we run our operations, particularly vital within the legal sector, where hordes of data needs to be easily available.
With all this technological implementation, we haven’t stopped there. But where next? What should we as courts be focussing on for the future? We continue to look forward, seeking out new technology to further increase access to our services for the public.
Expectations from the private sector increasingly require the bold engagement of public service. The DIFC Courts’ ambition, through continued outreach to global judicial systems, is to contribute in creating a level-playing field between businesses, by re-engineering the way commercial justice is designed and delivered.
The future of commercial courts may be one of supporting supply chains operating virtually, with dispute resolution encoded into the blockchain, with virtual currency and with the most likely dispute being one of coding. Those supply chains will develop and advance to the point that smart contracts will replace traditional contracts, and we’ll see them become universal even for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating on a public blockchain.
The Courts of the Future was launched by the DIFC Courts and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) in 2017 with a mandate to explore diverse legal tech. topic areas and to provide research and thought leadership on promoting and encouraging contemporary methods of greater accessibility and efficiency to court users across the globe.
This think tank has enabled the DIFC Courts to streamline its major legal tech. projects under the Court of the Future, pooling talent and resources from global partners and experts across the fields of law, technology, IT and business, assembled to help legal systems accommodate the accelerating growth of technology.
In 2018, launched as an initiative under the Courts of the Future, the DIFC Courts partnered with Smart Dubai to create the world’s first Court of the Blockchain. Building on existing dispute resolution services, the alliance is exploring how to aid verification of court judgments for cross-border enforcement. The partnership is the first step in creating a blockchain-powered future for the judiciary which will have far-reaching benefits, including streamlining the judicial process, removing document duplications, and driving greater efficiencies across the entire legal ecosystem.
We also pushed the boundaries again in 2019, establishing the world’s first Court Tech Lab in partnership with DFF. In exploring how judicial systems can be strengthened through technology, the Court Tech Lab will unite individuals and companies helping to prototype and launch the advancement of legal technology, such as Blockchain-powered initiatives, AI-enabled programmes and cloud-based solutions.
Perhaps because of their relative youth, judiciaries in this region have proven themselves to be early adopters of the latest technology. The UAE, and in particular Dubai, with its Smart Dubai initiative to become the technologically smartest city in the world, is fast becoming a global leader in the adoption of new technologies to meet the demands of business.
This new era of legal technological disruption, working to replace outdated processes with digital technology is the key to creating real legal efficiency and certainty for businesses, even during these uncertain times.
Aligning with the UAE Vision 2021 and the Dubai Smart Government initiative that work towards developing a knowledge-based economy through the adoption of technology in all services, we continue to drive the economy and work towards the government’s initiatives despite challenges that come our way.
Being a world class commercial court is not an end in itself. For the DIFC Courts, that means helping to make the UAE one of the best places in the world to live and work. The transformation in commercial dispute resolution in the Arab world over the last decade has been nothing short of remarkable. But I also believe we are just at the beginning of the story.
Reem Al Sihhe is chief operating officer at DIFC Courts