Exclusion of the applicability of foreign law in disputing its constitutionality before the UAE judiciary

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Abstract

This paper focuses on the judicial review of the constitutionality of foreign law, specifically whether this occurs before the judiciary or in arbitration tribunals. When defining categories of reference, establishing rules for resolving conflicts among laws, and codifying these in the Civil Transactions Law, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) legislator does not address the unconstitutionality of the law in relation to disputes involving foreign elements, whether this was related to international contracts or legal matters involving multiple legal systems. While most domestic legislation addresses the unconstitutionality of laws in domestic disputes, this matter is generally not closely considered in international contexts (Sourani, 2013). The paper adopts the analytical and inductive methods. The paper concludes that domestic legislative text is not adequate to address the issue of unconstitutionality, as the UAE legislator has not provided explicit provisions that judges can use in assessing claims of unconstitutionality of foreign law that arise in disputes involving a foreign element. This study recommends amending Article 31 of the UAE Federal Supreme Court (FSC) Law, adding the phrase “arbitration tribunals” following “courts” in all four sections of this article.

Keywords: Foreign Law, Plea of Unconstitutionality, UAE Judiciary, Arbitration Tribunals

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — N.A.M., A.F., and K.S.A.; Methodology — N.A.M., A.F., and K.S.A.; Writing — Original Draft — N.A.M., A.F., and K.S.A.; Writing — Review & Editing — N.A.M., A.F., and K.S.A.; Supervision — N.A.M., A.F., and K.S.A.; Project Administration — N.A.M., A.F., and K.S.A.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: F13, F18, F53

Received: 27.06.2025
Revised: 09.09.2025; 11.09.2025; 04.12.2025
Accepted: 31.12.2025
Published online: 02.01.2026

How to cite this paper: Mohamed, N. A., Fadli, A., & Aboelazm, K. S. (2026). Exclusion of the applicability of foreign law in disputing its constitutionality before the UAE judiciary. Corporate Law & Governance Review, 8(1), 24–33. https://doi.org/10.22495/clgrv8i1p2