Hindi to become third official language of Abu Dhabi courts

The inclusion of the language – which is common among the UAE’s millions of Indian expatriates – will allow foreigners to lodge claims and conduct other legal procedures in their own tongue.

The move follows a decision last year that require plaintiffs to translate court documents into English in all civil and commercial cases lodged in Abu Dhabi courts if the defendant does not speak Arabic.

Additionally, the move will allow Hindi speakers to better familiarise themselves with litigation procedures and their rights without the need for translation, and will see Hindi-language forms be included on the website of the Abu Dhabi Justice Department.

Quoted by the Abu Dhabi-based The National, Justice Department undersecretary Yousef Saeed Al Abri said that the inclusion of Hindi is designed to provide “universal access to services.”

“The adoption of multilingual interactive forms for claim sheets, grievances and request aims to promote judicial services in line with the plan Tomorrow 2021 and increase the transparency of litigation procedures through the provision of bilingual forms with allow foreigners to know the litigation procedures, their fights and duties without a language barrier,” Al Abri said.

Abu Dhabi authorities have also created bilingual language guides to help explain complex legal terms and infographics in a bit to help people understand court processes.

“A bilingual court will assure clarity, transparency and certainty for non-Arabic parties to a litigation,” Al Abri added. “This is an essential step for improving non-Arabic speaking litigants’ access to justice and for enabling them to make better use of our court services.”