Abu Dhabi Launches First Digital Courtroom of the World

Abu Dhabi has launched the world’s first digital courtroom on Sunday. Launched by the Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts (ADGM Courts), these courts will revolutionize the way in which court proceedings are carried out. The courts will let the plaintiffs and respondents upload their documents using the online portal of ADGM Courts.

The digital courts shall have the power and authority to handle disputes of civil and commercial nature between parties. Since it is a digital platform, the courtroom will be paperless and use the digital screen to display the relevant documents during the court hearing. The parties shall have access to all the information as both plaintiff and respondent shall upload the necessary document using the online portal of ADGM Courts before the court hearing. Any update or change shall be notified to the party in real time.

Ahmad Al Sayegh, Minister of State and Chairman of the ADGM Courts said “Technology and innovation have been disrupting every aspect of our lives and the judiciary sector is no exception. The best innovations to come out of this sector are those that allow us to creatively manage the growing demand for transparency, information, speed and effectiveness,”

Linda Fitz Alan, registrar and chief executive of ADGM Courts said “We can do the court hearing by video conferencing, not every party has to be present in the courtroom. In fact, everybody can be on a screen if that’s the most efficient way. The judge overseeing the case will be the only person who has to be present inside the digital courtroom during the hearing because we are a public court. For anyone else — the lawyer, plaintiff and respondent — if there’s no particular need for it, they can all be on screen in different places,”

She further added, “We have some rules that determine the steps that need to be taken before coming to court, but essentially once a case is registered it will be brought to the court within 14 days to a month after which the judge will begin managing the case.”