Dubai Plans To Streamline Its Legal System Using Blockchain Technology

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts have collaborated with the Smart Dubai initiative to streamline all the legal operations in the country by launching the "Court of the Blockchain”. The DFIC is a Dubai-based International Court dealing that takes care of all the civil and commercial disputes in the financial industry.

On Monday, in a press release, the DFIC noted that under the new project, they will work towards improving the verification procedures of the court judgements for cross-border improvements. The two will work towards developing a blockchain-powered legal platform along with smart contracts that will allow different courts to share information in a decentralized manner.

The blockchain-based legal system will also eliminate the hustle of carrying out manual tasks like document duplication while getting a higher level of efficiency to the existing system. Initially, the task force prepared by the two partners will focus on deploying the court judgement data on the blockchain network such that institutions will be able to verify and share the information in real-time for easy cross-border law enforcement.

The press release also notes: "Future research will combine expertise and resources to investigate handling disputes arising out of private and public blockchains, with regulation and contractual terms encoded within the smart contract.”

Dubai has been recently flexing its muscles to adopt new emerging technologies like the blockchain to the government operations. For this very purpose, UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has launched the Smart Dubai initiative.

 Dr Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, the director general at Smart Dubai said that Dubai’s blockchain strategy "seeks to run 100 percent of applicable government transactions on blockchain by 2020.”

He further added: "An invention of this caliber and potential requires an equally disruptive set of rules and an empowered institution to uphold them. This is where our partnership with DIFC Courts comes in, allowing us to work together and create the world's first disruptive court, helping to truly unlock the power of blockchain technology.”

Amna Al Owais, head of DIFC Courts, commented: This taskforce is in line with our guiding principle to deliver courts as a service, powered by technology and extended through cooperation agreements and alliances. By harnessing blockchain technology, Dubai will be firmly positioned at the forefront of legal tech and judicial innovation, setting the standards for countries and judiciaries to follow.”