Family Guidance Committee
لجنة التوجيه الأسري
The Family Guidance Committee is the mandatory conciliation stage that precedes most personal status litigation in UAE courts. Before a divorce, custody or family maintenance case can proceed to a judge, the dispute is referred to family guidance, where trained counsellors meet the spouses — together or separately — and attempt reconciliation or an agreed settlement. If settlement fails, the committee issues a referral allowing the case to move to court; if the parties agree, the settlement can be recorded with binding effect. The process is confidential and typically spans one or more sessions over several weeks. Anyone filing for divorce in an onshore UAE court meets the committee first. Family lawyers prepare clients for these sessions carefully, because positions taken there often shape the litigation that follows.
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لجنة التوجيه الأسري هي مرحلة الصلح الإلزامية التي تسبق معظم دعاوى الأحوال الشخصية في محاكم الدولة. فقبل أن تُعرض دعوى الطلاق أو الحضانة أو النفقة على القاضي، يُحال النزاع إلى التوجيه الأسري حيث يلتقي موجهون مختصون بالزوجين سعياً للإصلاح أو التوصل إلى تسوية ودية. فإذا تعذر الصلح أصدرت اللجنة إحالة تتيح السير في الدعوى، وإذا اتفق الطرفان جاز إثبات التسوية بمحضر ملزم. والجلسات سرية وتمتد عادةً لأسابيع، ويهيئ محامو الأسرة موكليهم لها بعناية لأن مواقف الأطراف فيها كثيراً ما ترسم ملامح التقاضي اللاحق.
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Related legislation
Federal Law No. 21 of 1997 Determining the Dowry in the Marriage Contract and the Expenses thereof
Cabinet Resolution No. (122) of 2023 Concerning the Executive Regulation of Federal Decree-Law No. (41) of 2022 on the Civil Personal Status
Regulation No. (9) of 2008 Concerning the Change of Names of Natural Persons in the Emirate of Dubai
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