DMCC and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts have expanded their strategic partnership, providing DMCC’s community of more than 26,000 companies with structured access to the full range of DIFC Courts’ commercial and personal legal services.
The enhanced Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) builds on a decade-long relationship between the two Dubai-based institutions and extends DIFC Courts’ legal offerings to DMCC member companies operating across global trade, commodities, finance and technology sectors.
The expanded partnership will enable DMCC member companies to incorporate DIFC Courts jurisdiction clauses into commercial contracts with counterparties worldwide, providing access to English common law dispute resolution, internationally recognized judges and enforceable judgments for trade agreements, shareholder arrangements and investment contracts.
Businesses will also be able to utilize the DIFC Courts Mediation Service Centre, launched in 2025, which offers an alternative to court proceedings. Mediated settlements approved by the DIFC Courts carry the same legal standing as court judgments, providing an enforceable route for resolving supplier disputes, partnership disagreements and commercial claims.
Beyond dispute resolution, the partnership extends to personal planning, asset protection and digital economy services. The DIFC Courts Wills Service allows non-Muslim residents and business owners to register wills covering personal assets, business interests and dependants in the UAE, supporting DMCC’s international business community representing more than 180 nationalities.
The collaboration also includes access to the Digital Assets Wills Service, launched in 2025, which enables holders of cryptocurrencies, digital tokens and other blockchain-based assets to protect and manage digital wealth.
Justice Omar Al Mheiri Director- DIFC Courts
“Legal certainty is not a luxury for businesses operating at the frontier of global trade. It is the foundation on which everything else is built. DIFC Courts exists precisely for the kind of commerce DMCC members conduct: cross-border, complex and high-stakes. Our partnership with DMCC, now in its second decade, reflects a shared belief that legal certainty and commercial dynamism advance hand in hand. Any DMCC member can write DIFC Courts into their next contract, with any partner, in any country, and access English common law dispute resolution at a world-class standard. This partnership ensures that capability is not just theoretically available, but practically understood, accessible and used.”
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DMCC, said that, “As global trade flows become increasingly interconnected, access to sophisticated legal infrastructure is critical to maintaining business confidence and supporting international growth. Now in its second decade, our expanded partnership with the DIFC Courts reinforces Dubai’s position as one of the world’s most competitive and business-friendly jurisdictions. This ensures DMCC member companies can access a range of DIFC Courts services, including the Digital Economy Court, Mediation Service Centre, Notary Service, and Wills Service, enabling them to operate with greater certainty, protection, and efficiency. With almost 27,000 companies operating from DMCC across global trade and next-generation industries, institutional collaboration of this nature plays a key role in enabling businesses to scale internationally from Dubai.”
Image credits: Dubai Media Office | Cropped by GBN
The service is expected to support members within DMCC’s FinX ecosystem across finance, fintech, cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence sectors, where businesses may face disputes involving AI-generated contracts, digital asset insolvency, blockchain evidence and other emerging digital economy matters. Such cases can be addressed through the DIFC Courts Digital Economy Court, a specialist forum for digital economy-related disputes.
Under the expanded MoU, DMCC and DIFC Courts will conduct joint briefings, workshops and webinars for member companies. The agreement also includes targeted awareness campaigns on wills, estate planning and digital legal services, guidance on opt-in jurisdiction clauses for commercial contracts, and the integration of DIFC Courts service information and referral pathways into the DMCC member portal.
