Ajman Labour Court: The Federal Court Route for Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah

Direct answer. If your employer is in Ajman, Umm Al Quwain or Fujairah, a labour claim that MoHRE (the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation) does not settle goes to the federal courts, not to an emirate court. Those three emirates use the federal judicial system, run under the UAE Ministry of Justice. You still start with a MoHRE complaint. MoHRE can decide small claims itself, with the line drawn at AED 50,000 (see the Article 54 note below for the exact wording), and larger unsettled claims are referred to the federal court of first instance in your emirate. Workers' claims of up to AED 100,000 pay no court fees. An appeal goes to the federal Court of Appeal, and a cassation challenge, where the law allows one, goes to the Federal Supreme Court. This guide covers that federal route and how it differs from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

The federal route at a glance

Which court hears labour cases in Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah?

The UAE government portal's federal judiciary page (last updated 20 October 2026) says "The emirates of Sharjah, Ajman Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain follow the federal judicial system". The same page says the Ministry of Justice "oversees courts and prosecution departments across the UAE" at the federal level and "licenses lawyers, experts and legal translators".

The legal root is older. Federal Law No. 6 of 1978 made the first-instance and appeal courts in the capitals of Ajman and Fujairah federal courts (Article 1), and a later article combined the courts of Umm Al Quwain with the federal courts (Article 1 bis). The Federal Judicial Authority law, Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2022, lists the federal courts in order: the Federal Supreme Court, the Federal Courts of Appeal and the Federal Courts of First Instance (Article 12).

Is there a separate "Ajman labour court"?

The official sources we read do not describe a stand-alone labour court building for Ajman, Umm Al Quwain or Fujairah, like the one the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department runs in Musaffah. When people search for the Ajman labour court, they mean the federal court that hears labour cases in Ajman. The same applies in Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah. For the address and opening hours of the court in your emirate, call the Ministry of Justice on its toll-free number 800 333 333, which its website lists.

Ras Al Khaimah is not on this route

Ras Al Khaimah is often grouped with the northern emirates, but its courts are not federal. The government portal says "RAK Courts in Ras Al Khaimah" maintain their own independent judicial department, as do the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department and Dubai Courts. A worker in Ras Al Khaimah follows the same MoHRE first step but goes to the RAK Courts afterwards. That court is outside the scope of this page.

What about Sharjah?

The 1978 law also named Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Abu Dhabi now runs its own Judicial Department. Sharjah also has its own Judicial Department, and its Court of Cassation held its first session in July 2025, although some official pages, including the portal page quoted above, still list Sharjah among the federal-court emirates. So check which court is named on your papers. For the Sharjah route, read our Sharjah labour court guide; for how jurisdiction is split across the emirates, see which UAE court handles your case.

Before any court: the MoHRE stage

No federal court takes a labour claim that skipped MoHRE. Article 54(1) of the labour law, Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, as amended, requires a disputing party to "apply to the Ministry" first. The government portal's labour dispute page (updated 12 August 2026) lists the website, app and phone channels, including MoHRE's toll-free claims line 80084. The filing steps and the evidence to gather are in our guide on how to file a labour complaint with MoHRE. For the federal route, three outcomes matter.

• MoHRE decides the claim. The portal's English page, citing Ministerial Resolution No. 782 of 2023, says MoHRE issues a final decision where "the amount claimed is less than AED 50,000", or where the parties settle, whatever the amount. Under Article 54(3), in the wording introduced by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024, that decision is enforceable as an executive instrument. A party who disagrees has 15 working days to bring a case before the "Competent Court of First Instance", which under that text means the federal court of first instance in these three emirates, and filing suspends the decision.
• MoHRE refers the claim. Where no settlement is reached within 14 days of the application (the portal, and Article 31 of the executive regulations of the labour law), MoHRE sends the dispute to the competent court with a memo setting out the dispute, each side's arguments and its own recommendation.
• You register the case. The portal, citing Ministerial Resolution No. 47 of 2022, gives the worker 14 days from the approval of the referral to register the complaint in court. The same page says not to work for another employer without a temporary MoHRE permit, that the work permit is cancelled six months after the referral where the complaint stopped the work, and that the worker asks for the original permit to be cancelled within 14 days of the final judgment once employment has ended.

Article 54 note (checked 25 October 2026). The Article 54 points on this page match the wording introduced by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024, captured from the UAE Legislation Portal on 15 October 2026. The Gazette publication date and exact commencement date of that amendment were not confirmed in this review. The earlier wording, from Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2023 (in force from 1 January 2024), differed in several ways, including:

• a challenge to a MoHRE decision went to the Court of Appeal, not the Court of First Instance;
• the court had 15 working days, not 30, to decide that challenge;
• claims were not heard one year after the right fell due, rather than two years after the employment ended.

Both wordings allow MoHRE to decide claims that do "not exceed" AED 50,000 and disputes over non-compliance with an earlier amicable-settlement decision issued by the Ministry, regardless of claim value. The portal's English page says "less than" AED 50,000 for the monetary threshold.

Before relying on any of these, check the notice attached to your MoHRE decision, or ask MoHRE or the Ministry of Justice.

The court stage

How to register

The Ministry of Justice runs an e-Filing system, reached through its unified login portal. The page itself does not say which case types it accepts, so if you are unsure whether to file online or at the court counter, ask the Ministry of Justice call centre on 800 333 333 before your 14 days run out.

Arabic and translations

Proceedings are in Arabic. Article 5 of the Civil Procedure Code, Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 makes it the language of the courts and has the court hear anyone who does not speak it through an interpreter who has taken an oath. The government portal says the Ministry of Justice licenses legal translators, so budget for Arabic versions of the documents you rely on.

Your court file

Bring the MoHRE referral and its memo, an itemised claim with dates (wages, notice pay, leave pay, end-of-service gratuity), and Arabic translations of anything written in another language. Your contract, Wage Protection System (WPS) salary records and termination letter stay at the centre of the case.

Timing

On a referred claim, the portal's English page describes Article 54 as requiring the court to set a hearing "within three days from the date of receiving the request"; Article 54 says three working days. Where a party is challenging a MoHRE decision, the 2024 wording also gives the court 30 working days from filing to decide (see the Article 54 note). For referred claims, we found no official figure for the time from filing to judgment, and a court-appointed expert on the amounts can make the case longer.

Court fees in the federal courts

Article 55 of the labour law says: "Labor lawsuits shall be exempted from judicial fees at all stages of litigation and execution, as well as the requests submitted by Workers or their heirs of which value does not exceed one hundred thousand (100,000) AED." A Cabinet decision can change the AED 100,000 figure.

The fees schedule for the federal courts is Federal Law No. 13 of 2016, which applies "to all actions, appeals and motions filed before the federal courts" (Article 1). Its Article 30(3), in the text we hold, also lists among the exemptions by operation of law actions "filed by workers, supporting service workers and the like, or their heirs, petitioning their entitlements arising from labor relations, at all levels of the action and execution". That text names no value limit, while Article 55 of the later labour law sets AED 100,000. If your claim is above AED 100,000, ask the court which rule it applies before you file. Whether an employer's own claim is also exempt is not clear from the texts we hold, so an employer should ask the court too.

At cassation, the Civil Procedure Code sets a fixed fee of AED 2,000 and a security deposit of AED 3,000, refunded only if the challenge is admitted. A party exempt from legal costs is also exempt from the deposit (Article 181).

Appeals: from the federal Court of Appeal to the Federal Supreme Court

Appeal

Article 159 of the Civil Procedure Code lets parties appeal first-instance judgments "before the competent court of appeal", except where a law excludes it. Article 161 sets the time limit: "thirty [30] days unless otherwise provided for in the law, and for summary proceedings, the time limit shall be ten [10] days." If your case started as a challenge to a MoHRE decision on a small claim, first check whether an appeal is open at all, because the 2024 wording of Article 54(3) makes that first-instance judgment final (see the Article 54 note).

Cassation at the Federal Supreme Court

This is the step that sets the federal emirates apart. Article 191(2) of the Civil Procedure Code says judgments of the federal courts "shall be challenged by way of cassation before the Federal Supreme Court", following that chapter's rules unless the Federal Supreme Court law explicitly provides otherwise. We have not read the Federal Supreme Court law, so treat the limits below as the procedure code's general rules. In Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah, and since July 2025 in Sharjah, cassation stays inside that emirate's own judiciary instead.

Most labour claims stop at the Court of Appeal: under Article 159(2), its judgment is "final and unchallengeable by way of cassation" where the case is worth AED 500,000 or less. Article 175 allows cassation where the claim exceeds AED 500,000 or has no fixed value, and only on grounds of law, such as a wrong application of the law or a defect in the judgment. The deadline is 30 days (Article 178), and the challenge must be signed by a lawyer admitted before the court that hears it (Article 179).

Time limits for bringing a claim

Three official texts give different periods, so plan around the shortest:

• the 2024 wording of Article 54(9): no claim is heard "after the lapse of two years as of the date of work relation termination";
• the earlier 2023 wording of Article 54(9): no claim is heard one year after the date the claimed right fell due;
• the portal's English labour dispute page (updated 12 August 2026), citing an "Article 10": no claim is heard "after one year from the date of violation";
• the portal's Arabic labour dispute page (last updated 19 August 2025), describing Article 54 and its amendments: one year from the date the right claimed fell due.

We could not match the English page's "Article 10" to the current labour law. The portal's Arabic page matches the earlier 2023 wording of Article 54(9); the 2024 wording counts two years from the end of employment, and the commencement date of the 2024 amendment was not confirmed (see the Article 54 note). Until that is resolved, act on the one-year period and file with MoHRE early.

How the federal route differs from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah

The labour law, the MoHRE stage and the procedure code are federal, so most of the journey looks the same everywhere. The difference is which court system takes over after MoHRE, where cassation ends, and which fee rules apply above AED 100,000. Our guide to the UAE civil lawsuit process explains the general procedure that all these courts share.

After judgment: enforcement or settlement

Winning the case does not put money in your account. If the employer does not pay, you open an execution case; the Ministry of Justice website lists its execution services, among them an objection to execution of a judgment. A MoHRE decision that carries executive force goes through the same execution channel, and the Article 55 exemption up to AED 100,000 covers the execution stage as well.

If the employer settles after you have filed, end the case formally in court; simply not turning up is not the way to do it. Our short answer on withdrawing a labour case after a private settlement sets out the two usual routes and what to watch for when only part of the money has arrived.

Mistakes that cost workers in the federal emirates time

• Skipping MoHRE. Under Article 54 (see the note), a court case is not accepted without the MoHRE application first.
• Treating Ras Al Khaimah as federal. Its courts are independent.
• Letting the 14 days lapse. The registration clock starts on the date MoHRE approves the referral.
• Sitting on a MoHRE decision. It is enforceable like a judgment unless a party files a court case within the deadline shown on the decision, which suspends it (see the note).
• Expecting cassation in a mid-sized case. At AED 500,000 or less, the appeal judgment ends the case.
• Filing one lump sum. Itemise wages, notice, leave and gratuity, with dates. If the dispute is about how the job ended, read our guide on termination, notice and just cause.

When to get legal help

The MoHRE stage is often handled without a lawyer. Representation matters more once the case is in court: an Arabic statement of claim, the expert's report, the decision whether to appeal, and any cassation at the Federal Supreme Court, which needs a lawyer admitted before that court to sign it. Each lawyer sets their own fee, and you pay the lawyer directly. Our guide to finding a lawyer in Ajman lists questions to ask first. You can browse employment lawyers on LEXAI and contact one directly, put a first question to the LEXAI AI assistant, or read the labour court dictionary entry.

General legal information only, not legal advice. Check the current procedure with MoHRE, the Ministry of Justice or a UAE-licensed lawyer before you act.