
This paper serves as a one-stop
consolidation of the year’s key developments across the DIFC judicial
landscape. It brings together the insights explored in our earlier papers while
extending the discussion to the Courts’ new laws and institutional reforms,
jurisprudential developments, approach to enforcement, remedies, and digital
transformation. The New JAL, the launch of the Mediation Centre, and the CJT’s
early decisions have redefined both infrastructure and practice. Among the
year’s leading judgments, Korek Telecom stands out for adopting the Act
of State doctrine into DIFC law. In the remedies space, Trafigura and Techteryx
confirmed the DIFC Courts’ freestanding jurisdiction to grant
asset-preservation measures under the New JAL, though a later unpublished
Nashrah decision restricted freestanding jurisdiction against the grant of
anti-suit injunctions. Standard Chartered Bank simplified enforcement by
allowing direct recognition of foreign judgments under Part 45, while 7Ci
Technologies saw the rare award of additional damages
under Article 17(3). The Digital Assets Law 2024 and cases such as Huobi
v Tabarak and Techteryx extend traditional remedies to
blockchain-based assets, reflecting a court system that treats innovation as
part of its institutional DNA.
To find out more, please register for the panel discussion on The Litigation Framework in the DIFC- The Last 365 Days on 10 November 2025, the opening day of the Dubai Arbitration Week 2025.