Before you instruct a lawyer, work out what the court itself will charge. In Dubai it is a percentage of your claim with a hard ceiling, in the federal courts it is a different percentage with a higher ceiling, and in the DIFC there is effectively no ceiling until your claim passes USD 50 million.
Filing a civil case in the UAE is not priced the way most expats expect. There is no single national court fee: Dubai, the federal courts serving Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain, the Dubai Rental Disputes Centre, and the DIFC Courts each run their own tariff, and the same AED 400,000 dispute can cost AED 20,000 to file in one and USD 20,000 in another.
The number matters before you decide whether to sue at all, because on most claims the court fee is payable in full at registration, by you, in advance. This guide sets out the actual tariffs from the fee laws themselves: the 6% Dubai rule and the three caps that bracket it, the 4% and 6% federal bands, the DIFC’s percentage scale, and the Rental Disputes Centre’s separate 3.5% charge.
It also covers the fees nobody budgets for, including court-appointed experts and translation, what you get refunded if you settle early, and the exemption and deferral route for litigants who genuinely cannot pay. For the separate question of what a lawyer will charge on top, see our guide to licensing and fee structures when hiring a lawyer in the UAE.
The Short Answer: Four Fee Regimes, Four Different Bills
Which tariff applies is decided by where the case is filed, not by who you are or where you live. That is why the first practical question in any UAE dispute is jurisdiction, and why a contract’s jurisdiction clause has a direct price attached to it.
How much does it cost to file a civil case in the UAE?
In Dubai Courts, a civil or commercial claim of known value costs 6% of the claim, with a minimum of AED 500 and a maximum of AED 20,000, AED 30,000 or AED 40,000 depending on the claim size. In the federal courts the same claim costs 4% on the first AED 500,000 and 6% above that, capped at AED 45,000. In the DIFC Courts the Court of First Instance charges 5% with a minimum of USD 5,000.
| Forum | Filing fee on a claim of known value | Ceiling | Fee on an AED 400,000 claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai Courts | 6% of claim value | AED 20,000 / 30,000 / 40,000 by band | AED 20,000 (capped) |
| Federal courts | 4% on the first AED 500,000, 6% above | AED 45,000 | AED 16,000 |
| DIFC Court of First Instance | 5% of claim value | USD 130,000, reached above USD 50m | About USD 5,450 on the dollar equivalent |
| DIFC Small Claims Tribunal | 5%, or 2% for employment claims | No cap; minimum USD 100 | Above the SCT threshold |
| Dubai Rental Disputes Centre | 3.5% of annual rent or of the amount claimed | AED 20,000 rent cases, AED 15,000 money claims | AED 14,000 on a money claim |
The AED 400,000 comparison shows the practical point. Dubai’s percentage is higher but its ceiling bites earlier, so on mid-size claims Dubai is often cheaper than the federal courts even though its headline rate is 50% higher.
Dubai Courts: The 6% Rule and Where It Stops
Dubai’s tariff sits in Law No. (21) of 2015 Concerning Judicial Fees of the Dubai Courts, which has been amended three times since it was issued. The version you need is Article 14 as replaced by Law No. (2) of 2019, which came into force on 15 April 2019 and set the current 6% rate and the three-tier ceiling.
What Are the Dubai Court Fee Caps?
The fee is 6% of the claim value but can never be less than AED 500, and it is capped at AED 20,000 for claims up to AED 500,000, AED 30,000 for claims between AED 500,001 and AED 1 million, and AED 40,000 for claims above AED 1 million. Family lawsuits are excluded from the 6% rule entirely and are priced by a separate schedule.
| Claim value | Rate | Fee cap | Claim size at which the cap takes over |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to AED 500,000 | 6% | AED 20,000 | AED 333,334 |
| AED 500,001 to AED 1,000,000 | 6% | AED 30,000 | AED 500,000 |
| Above AED 1,000,000 | 6% | AED 40,000 | AED 666,667 |
| Labour claim above AED 100,000 | 5% | AED 20,000 | AED 400,000 |
| Claim of no specific value | Deemed worth AED 200,001 | Fee follows from that deemed value | Fixed by Article 15 |
The last row is the one people get wrong. If your claim has no monetary value, Article 15 deems it worth AED 200,001, so you pay the proportionate rate on that figure rather than a small flat filing fee.
If the value later becomes specific during the case, you pay the difference, and Article 15(c) blocks enforcement of the judgment until you do. Amending a vague claim into a quantified one mid-case therefore has a price.
The Commercial Split-Payment Rule Nobody Expects
For claims arising from commercial activities where the value does not exceed AED 500,000, Dubai splits the fee across the case. You pay 6% at registration, capped at AED 5,000, and the balance is then charged to the losing party after judgment at 6% of the amount awarded, capped at AED 15,000.
This is a genuine cash-flow advantage for a small business chasing an invoice. A claimant suing for AED 300,000 under a supply contract pays AED 5,000 to file rather than AED 18,000, and the rest lands on the debtor.
It applies only to commercial claims within that band, so a personal loan dispute of the same size does not qualify. If that is your situation, read it alongside our guide to recovering unpaid invoices from a legal notice to small claims.
The CASD Stage: Half Now, and All of It Back If You Settle
Many Dubai disputes must first be registered with the Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes. Law No. (7) of 2020 replaced Article 7 to make the split explicit: you pay 50% of the applicable court fee when you register the dispute with the Centre.
If no settlement is reached and the dispute moves to court, you pay the registration fee less what you already gave the Centre, so you are not charged twice. If a settlement is concluded at the Centre, the entire 50% is refunded in full to the paying party, and that refund does not depend on who conceded what.
What You Pay After Filing: Appeals, Cassation and Execution
The registration fee is the first bill, not the only one. Each subsequent stage of a Dubai case carries its own charge, and appeals and cassation also require a cash deposit that is separate from the fee and can be confiscated.
| Stage in Dubai Courts | Fee | Deposit | Deposit refundable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appeal, non-family judgment | 50% of the first instance fee | AED 1,000 | Yes, on a favorable outcome |
| Cassation appeal | Flat AED 2,000 | AED 3,000 | Confiscated if refused or dismissed |
| Application to stay execution | Flat AED 1,000 | None | Not applicable |
| Petition for review | 25% of the fee collected by the deciding court | None | Not applicable |
| Execution of a money judgment | 2% of the sum due, minimum AED 200, maximum AED 5,000 | None | Not applicable |
| Execution of a non-monetary judgment | 20% of the first instance fee, capped at AED 5,000 | None | Not applicable |
| Recusal of a court expert | AED 2,000 | None | Fee refunded if the application succeeds |
Two features of this table are worth pausing on. The cassation deposit is confiscated outright if the Court of Cassation refuses to admit the appeal or dismisses it, which makes a weak cassation attempt a AED 5,000 decision rather than a AED 2,000 one. The full mechanics of that stage are in our guide to appealing a UAE court judgment through to cassation.
The other is the execution minimum. Article 35(c) sets a floor of AED 200 on the enforcement fee but expressly disapplies that minimum to enforcement in labour lawsuits, so a worker enforcing a small award is not stopped by a fixed charge.
For small commercial judgments up to AED 500,000, enforcement is instead a flat AED 2,000, split as AED 1,000 from the applicant at registration and AED 1,000 from the debtor once enforcement concludes. Our guide to how the execution case works after judgment covers the procedure itself, and prejudgment attachment covers the step some claimants take before judgment.
The Federal Courts: A Different Percentage and a Higher Cap
If your case is heard in Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah or Umm Al Quwain, the federal tariff applies rather than Dubai’s. Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah run their own local judicial departments under their own fee legislation and are outside both regimes described here.
Which Law Sets Federal Court Fees in the UAE?
Federal Law No. (13) of 2016 Concerning Judicial Fees Before Federal Courts. This is a common source of stale advice: many published guides still cite Federal Law No. (32) of 2005, which the 2016 law superseded. The 2016 schedule charges 4% on the first AED 500,000 of a known-value claim and 6% on the balance, with a AED 45,000 ceiling.
| Federal court item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Claim of known value | 4% on the first AED 500,000, 6% above, maximum AED 45,000 |
| Claim of unspecified value | AED 4,500 flat |
| Dispute before the Summary Court | AED 750 flat |
| Order for payment | 4% of the claim, minimum AED 500, maximum AED 45,000 |
| Labour claim above AED 100,000 | 2% of the amount claimed, maximum AED 45,000 |
| Recognition or annulment of an arbitral award | AED 4,500 flat |
| Bankruptcy, restructuring or preventive settlement application | AED 750 flat, covering procedures to the end of the process |
| Claim to dissolve a company or appoint a liquidator | 4% of company capital, minimum AED 150, maximum AED 45,000 |
| Personal status claim | AED 75 flat, with several categories exempt |
| Referral to the Mediation and Conciliation Centre | Nil |
| Appeal security in a civil case | AED 1,000, confiscated if the appeal is dismissed |
Two contrasts with Dubai stand out. A federal labour claim above AED 100,000 costs 2% rather than Dubai’s 5%, so the same AED 300,000 employment claim costs AED 6,000 in Sharjah and AED 15,000 in Dubai.
And a federal arbitration enforcement application is a flat AED 4,500 regardless of the award size, where Dubai charges the proportionate rate on the awarded amount under Article 25. On a large award that difference runs into tens of thousands of dirhams.
Rental Disputes in Dubai Are Priced Separately
A Dubai landlord and tenant dispute does not go to the Dubai Courts civil tariff. It goes to the Rental Disputes Centre, which sits under the Dubai Land Department and publishes its own fee list.
How Much Does It Cost to File a Rental Case in Dubai?
The Rental Disputes Centre charges 3.5% of the annual rent for eviction, renewal, rent-claim and termination cases, subject to a minimum of AED 500 and a maximum of AED 20,000. For pure monetary claims the same 3.5% applies but the ceiling drops to AED 15,000. Process service adds AED 100, with AED 10 knowledge and AED 10 innovation fees on each application.
- Registration of a power of attorney, where one is used, is a further AED 25.
- Filing through a Real Estate Services Trustees Center adds a partner service fee of AED 130 plus VAT on that fee.
- Each electronic request submitted during execution proceedings costs AED 20, and an online application is AED 20.
- Eviction at the enforcement stage costs 1% of the annual lease amount, capped at AED 5,000.
- Adding a party to a lawsuit, proving a lease relationship, or confirming a precautionary attachment is AED 500 each.
- If you seek conciliation and reach a settlement, half of the court fee paid on the basic claim is refunded.
The genuinely expensive part of an RDC appeal is not the fee. The appellant must deposit security equal to half of the amount awarded against the appellee in the first instance judgment where the case includes a financial claim, and that deposit is refundable.
On top of that, a purely financial rental claim can only be appealed if the amount is AED 100,000 or more, though a defendant in an eviction case can appeal regardless of value. Tenants and landlords weighing this should read it with our guides to landlord rights when a tenant stops paying and the RERA complaint process for landlord and tenant disputes.
DIFC Courts: No Cap Until You Reach USD 50 Million
The DIFC Courts price in US dollars and, unlike the onshore courts, do not apply a low absolute ceiling. That makes them cheap for very small claims and expensive for mid-size ones, which is the opposite of the onshore pattern.
| DIFC Courts item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Small Claims Tribunal, employment claim | 2% of the claim, minimum USD 100 |
| Small Claims Tribunal, all other claims | 5% of the claim, minimum USD 100 |
| Small Claims Tribunal, any application | USD 50 flat |
| Court of First Instance, money claim up to USD 500,000 | 5% of the claim, minimum USD 5,000 |
| Court of First Instance, USD 500,000 to USD 1 million | USD 25,000 plus 1% of the excess over USD 500,000 |
| Court of First Instance, USD 1 million to USD 5 million | USD 30,000 plus 0.5% of the excess over USD 1 million |
| Court of First Instance, USD 10 million to USD 50 million | USD 70,000 plus 0.15% of the excess over USD 10 million |
| Court of First Instance, above USD 50 million | USD 130,000 |
| Claim seeking no monetary relief | USD 5,000 flat |
| Appeal from the SCT to the CFI, employment | 1% of the claim, minimum USD 100 |
| Arbitration award recognition, enforcement or set aside | Same percentage scale as a money claim |
The USD 5,000 minimum on a Court of First Instance money claim is the number that catches people out. A USD 40,000 contract dispute that falls outside the Small Claims Tribunal costs USD 5,000 to file, which is 12.5% of what you are suing for.
DIFC Courts fees are exempt from VAT. Which forum your contract points to is the decision that sets all of this, and our comparison of DIFC Courts against Dubai Courts in a contract covers the non-cost factors. For consumers and individuals with small disputes, our guide to where a small claim in Dubai actually goes is the better starting point.
The Costs That Are Not Court Fees
Court fees are the predictable part of a litigation budget. The unpredictable part is everything the court orders during the case, and in most onshore disputes the single largest item is the court-appointed expert.
Court-Appointed Experts
Onshore UAE judges routinely refer technical, accounting and construction issues to a court-appointed expert, and the party that requested the referral usually funds the deposit. Dubai Courts has moved to standardize this, with the Expertise and Disputes Settlement Department coordinating with judicial entities to set minimum and maximum expert fees, and a Dubai Courts guideline on the rules for assessing experts’ fees adopted in 2025.
Because the amount is set case by case rather than by a published tariff, this is the item you cannot fully price before filing. We could not obtain a published band-by-band expert fee schedule from Dubai Courts, so treat any figure you are quoted as an estimate until the court fixes it. If the expert is the problem rather than the cost, recusing one is a AED 2,000 application, refundable if it succeeds.
Translation, Service and Documents
Onshore proceedings run in Arabic. Every document you rely on that is in another language must be translated by a translator licensed by the Ministry of Justice, at your cost, and that bill scales with the size of your bundle rather than the size of your claim.
Our guide to legal translation requirements in the UAE sets out who is permitted to do it. Article 39 of the Dubai fee law separately puts the cost of service of process on the applicant where service is carried out by a process serving company, and if you are instructing someone to act for you, add the cost of a power of attorney and its attestation.
Recovering Your Costs From the Other Side
Under Article 13 of the Dubai fee law, the party ordered to pay the legal costs of a lawsuit is bound to pay the judicial fees, and appealing the judgment does not suspend their collection. That covers court fees, and it does not mean your lawyer’s bill comes back to you.
Onshore UAE courts have historically awarded only a nominal contribution toward legal representation, often a few thousand dirhams regardless of what was actually spent. Treat recovery of your own legal fees as unlikely rather than probable when you build a budget.
If the amount of costs assessed against you looks wrong, Article 13(b) gives you eight days from service of the executory copy of the judgment to challenge it before the president of the competent court, whose decision on that point is final.
When You Do Not Pay: Exemptions, Deferrals and Refunds
Three separate mechanisms reduce or remove the fee, and they work differently. Some categories never attract a fee at all, some litigants are exempted from paying, and some can apply to defer payment to a later stage.
Categories That Carry No Fee
Article 8 of the Dubai law, as replaced in 2020, lists ten categories where fees simply do not apply. These include claims filed by federal or local government entities, charitable endowment and bequest claims brought by the relevant entities, and appeals of alimony judgments.
The list also covers amounts deposited by a bankruptcy trustee toward the estate, amounts deposited by auction bidders toward the price of real property, minority shareholder claims against a company’s board or executive management, and applications for death and succession certificates.
Who Is Exempt From Court Fees in Dubai?
Article 9 exempts labour claims of up to AED 100,000 filed by workers or their beneficiaries, so an employee suing for unpaid wages within that limit files free. It also exempts women and children who are victims of domestic violence, on a decision of the fees committee at the request of the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children, plus cases the committee exempts in coordination with the Department of Finance.
Where a judgment then orders the worker’s opponent to pay legal fees and costs, the judicial fees are collected from that opponent instead. Note a drafting quirk worth knowing about: Article 9 still cross-references Federal Law No. (8) of 1980 on labour relations, which was replaced by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, and the AED 100,000 threshold is applied in practice regardless.
For an employment claim that has not yet reached a court, the cheaper first step is usually the MOHRE complaint route for unpaid salary, which costs nothing to initiate.
Applying for a Deferral or Exemption
Dubai runs a standing Committee for Deferral of and Exemption from the Payment of Judicial Fees, whose decisions are final and not subject to any form of appeal. Resolution No. (3) of 2023 sets out exactly who qualifies and what the application must contain.
For a full exemption you must be a person with no income, insolvent and incapable of paying the fees, or someone whose only income is government social aid; or a victim of domestic violence as verified by the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children; or an heir of a martyr, in claims relating to those entitlements. For a deferral you must be insolvent and incapable of paying at the time of registration and, if you are not a UAE national, hold a valid UAE residence permit when you apply.
The application goes to the Chief Justices’ Office Affairs Section at the Case Preparation Department and must be accompanied by:
- Copies of the statement of claim and supporting documents, plus a copy of the definitive judgment if the application relates to penal proceedings.
- A signed personal undertaking to pay judicial fees, on the committee’s prescribed form.
- A salary certificate from your employer if you are employed by any public or private entity in the UAE.
- Copies of your valid passport and, for non-nationals, your valid residence permit.
- A summary report on your financial position and your bank statements for the six months preceding the application.
- A copy of the power of attorney if someone applies on your behalf, and a decree of distribution where heirs apply.
The consequences of the two outcomes differ sharply. Once granted, the decision covers all fees at all stages of litigation with no further application needed, and the committee may require guarantees from you.
If an exempted claimant loses, no fees or deposits are collected from them at all; if they win, the fees and deposits are collected from the judgment debtor. A deferred claimant who loses still has to pay. Where genuine insolvency is the underlying problem rather than a one-off cash shortage, our guide to personal insolvency and debt settlement in the UAE covers the statutory route.
Getting Fees Back
Article 12 refunds the registration fee in full where the court rules in your favor on an application to interpret a judgment, to recuse a judge, expert or arbitrator, to correct a clerical mistake, or to consider claims it failed to address. It refunds 50% of the fee if you abandon the litigation or settle at the first hearing before pleadings open, but only where the dispute was not previously referred to the Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes.
The federal law is more generous. It returns half the fee where a dispute is settled by conciliation before a date is set for adjudication, and the full fee in a wider list of situations including a granted application to disqualify an expert and a stay of execution requested before enforcement steps begin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I pay UAE court fees before or after the case?
Before, in almost every situation. Article 3 of the federal fee law states that no action or appeal is registered and no motion accepted without full payment of the due fee, unless an exempting or postponing decision has been issued. Dubai works the same way, with one significant exception: small commercial claims up to AED 500,000, where the AED 5,000 registration slice is paid upfront and the balance is charged to the losing party after judgment.
Are labour cases free in the UAE?
In Dubai, a claim of up to AED 100,000 brought by a worker or their beneficiaries is exempt from judicial fees. Above that threshold the fee is 5% of the claim capped at AED 20,000. In the federal courts, the fee table only charges labour claims above AED 100,000, at 2% capped at AED 45,000. Where the judgment orders the employer to pay costs, the judicial fees are collected from the employer.
What happens to the court fee if I settle?
It depends on when and where you settle. Settle at the Dubai Centre for Amicable Settlement of Disputes and the whole 50% you deposited is refunded in full. Settle in court at the first hearing before pleadings open and you get 50% back, but only if the case never went through the Centre. Settle later than that in Dubai and you get nothing back, while the federal courts return half the fee for a conciliation settlement reached before an adjudication date is set.
Is the DIFC cheaper than Dubai Courts?
Only at the extremes. The DIFC Small Claims Tribunal starts at USD 100 and charges 2% on employment claims, which undercuts an onshore claim of the same size. But a Court of First Instance money claim carries a USD 5,000 minimum, so a mid-size dispute costs several times more than the onshore equivalent, and the DIFC has no low absolute ceiling to protect you on a large claim the way Dubai’s AED 40,000 cap does.
Can I get my lawyer’s fees back if I win?
Rarely in full. Onshore UAE courts typically award a nominal amount toward legal representation rather than actual costs incurred, so a successful claimant usually recovers the court fees but absorbs most of their own legal spend. Budget on that basis rather than assuming the other side will fund your case, and treat any promise of full cost recovery onshore with caution.
How much does it cost to appeal a judgment in Dubai?
An appeal against a non-family judgment costs 50% of the fee collected at first instance, plus a AED 1,000 cash deposit that is refunded if the judgment goes your way. A cassation appeal is a flat AED 2,000 plus a AED 3,000 deposit, and that deposit is confiscated if the appeal is not admitted or is dismissed. No fee is charged for re-appealing after a case is remanded back on your own earlier appeal.
What does it cost to enforce a judgment in Dubai?
Enforcement of a money judgment costs 2% of the amount due under the writ of execution, with a AED 200 minimum and a AED 5,000 maximum. Where the judgment awards non-monetary relief, the fee is 20% of the first instance fee, capped at the same AED 5,000. Commercial judgments up to AED 500,000 are enforced for a flat AED 2,000, split between the applicant and the debtor.
Does the Rental Disputes Centre charge the same as Dubai Courts?
No. The RDC charges 3.5% of the annual rent or of the amount claimed, against Dubai Courts’ 6%, and its ceilings are lower at AED 20,000 for rent and eviction cases and AED 15,000 for money claims. But an RDC appeal requires a refundable security deposit of half the amount awarded against the appellee, which has no equivalent in the civil courts and can dwarf the fee itself.
What if I genuinely cannot afford the court fee?
Apply to the Committee for Deferral of and Exemption from the Payment of Judicial Fees before you file, with the documents listed in Resolution No. (3) of 2023, including six months of bank statements and a summary report on your financial position. The committee can grant a full exemption or a deferral, may require guarantees, and its decisions are final. Deferral is not forgiveness: if you lose, you still pay.
Can I challenge the fee the court has assessed?
Yes, within a short window. In Dubai you have eight days from service of the executory copy of the judgment to challenge the amount of costs, decided by the president of the competent court, whose decision is final. The federal law also allows an objection within eight days of service of the fee estimation order, and the resulting judgment is final where the fees in dispute do not exceed AED 1,000.
Official Sources
This article references the following official sources:
- Dubai Legislation Portal – Law No. (21) of 2015 Concerning Judicial Fees of the Dubai Courts, Articles 8 to 15, 25 to 39, and Schedules 1 to 4
- Dubai Legislation Portal – Law No. (2) of 2019 replacing Articles 8, 14 and 35, in force 15 April 2019
- Dubai Legislation Portal – Law No. (7) of 2020 replacing Articles 7, 8 and 38, the CASD 50% rule and refund
- Dubai Legislation Portal – Resolution No. (3) of 2023 on the Committee for Deferral of and Exemption from Payment of Judicial Fees
- UAE Legislation Portal – Federal Law No. (13) of 2016 Concerning Judicial Fees Before Federal Courts and its annexed fee table
- Dubai Rental Disputes Centre – published registration, appeal, execution and eviction fees
- DIFC Courts – Schedule of Fees for the Small Claims Tribunal, Court of First Instance and Court of Appeal
This guide is for general information and is not legal advice. Information is current as of August 2026. Court fees in Dubai may be amended by resolution of the Chairman of the Executive Council under Article 40 of Law No. 21 of 2015, so a schedule can change without a new law being issued; confirm the current figure with the relevant court or registry before filing. Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah operate their own judicial departments under their own fee legislation and are not covered by the Dubai or federal tariffs set out here. Court-appointed expert fees are set case by case and no published band-by-band schedule was obtainable at the time of writing. Dirham equivalents of DIFC Courts fees are indicative only.
