Background
The defendant, our client, was defended by Senior Emirati Advocate Mrs. Awatif Al Khouri of Awatif Mohammed Shoqi Advocates and Legal Consultancy, who led the defence in a commercial dispute. The plaintiffs are two companies that have brought new proceedings to re-argue a financial claim already considered and decided by earlier judicial decisions. They alleged improper conduct by our client in relation to a prior commercial arrangement and sought to challenge the authenticity of a clearance document signed by the client. The lawsuit was an attempt to re-litigate matters that had been definitively settled.
Court of First Instance
The Court of First Instance considered two issues: firstly, the allegation of forgery with regard to the clearance document and, secondly, the broader issue as to whether the suit was admissible in the light of the history of prior final judgments between the same parties.
In the case of the forgery, the court ordered a forensic expert to examine the contested document, and the expert’s findings directly contradicted the plaintiffs’ claim. The court further observed that challenges of forgery must be particular and substantiated to attract a judicial examination, and having found the allegation lacking in substance, the court rejected the same.
The court then turned to the question of the claim’s admissibility. The position of our client, as put forward by Mrs. Awatif Al Khouri, was that the points raised had already been finally decided in earlier proceedings and were accordingly barred from re-litigation. The court considered the litigation history at length and held that the financial claim disputed, along with the associated instruments and arrangements, had been examined and decided by final judgments.
The court reaffirmed that once a matter between the same parties has been finally decided, it cannot be litigated afresh, even if new arguments or evidence are brought forward. On this ground, the court held the suit to be inadmissible and ordered the plaintiffs to pay costs.
Conclusion
This case exemplifies the importance of finality in procedural issues in commercial litigation, and that issues already determined between the same parties are unlikely to be litigated again through new procedures. Mrs. Awatif Al Khouri of Awatif Mohammed Shoqi Advocates and Legal Consultancy obtained a complete dismissal for the client.
