Court of First Instance

The Court of First Instance is the entry level of the UAE onshore court system, where civil, commercial, labour, real estate and personal status cases are filed and heard for the first time. Each emirate's judicial authority (or the federal judiciary in some emirates) runs its own first instance courts, divided into specialised circuits. Cases are decided by a single judge or a three-judge panel depending on the claim value and type. It matters because this is where the factual record is built: documents, expert reports and witness evidence are weighed here, and higher courts largely review rather than rehear. You meet it as the address on your statement of claim, the venue of your hearings, and the source of the first judgment — which either side can usually challenge before the Court of Appeal within the statutory deadline.