What you need to know about the UAE’s new E-Commerce Law

Nadim Bardawil Partner nadim.bardawil@bsabh.com

BSA TMT and FinTech partner Nadim Bardawil recently spoke with The National to clarify some legalities in relation to the UAE's new E-Commerce Law. 

One of provisions of the e-commerce law is that “It provides optional jurisdictions for dispute resolution including arbitration and introduces the optional insurance coverage principle regarding obligations arising from trade through modern technological means.” What does it mean by “optional” jurisdiction?

The e-commerce law is quite a modern legislation in the sense that it is attempting to resolve issues of cross-border e-commerce activity. The “optional” jurisdiction here refers to the fact that the law sets out several options for disputes involving an e-commerce transaction: 

1) Dispute Settlement Committee: this is a new development whereby the relevant ministry or authority may form a committee to settle disputes between parties, 

2) Arbitration: the law also allows for parties to an e-commerce transaction to agree to arbitration as a means of settling any dispute that may arise between them.

Secondly, as per the briefing, the law says, “Applicable to free zones in the country, in addition to financial free zones, regarding activities that are not related to financial activities. Does the law apply only to free zones in the UAE and not outside?

The law applies to any e-commerce activity occurring within the UAE as well as e-commerce activity received from abroad. This would suppose that all e-commerce platforms selling to users in the UAE will need to comply with this legislation which is quite a significant development. We believe that there will be further details issued on the applicability of the legislation in the near future.

The full article can be read here: What you need to know about the UAE's new e-commerce law. 

This article was written by TMT & FinTech lawyer Nadim Bardawil and focuses on the UAE's E-Commerce Law. 

BSA is a regional Law Firm in the Middle East with offices in the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia. As a full-service law firm our practice areas include litigation, arbitration and corporate services, including M&A, banking & finance, Intellectual Property, TMT, Fintech, employment and insurance.

Published on 19 December, 2023.