Abu Dhabi announces Hindi as third court language

ABU DHABI: Hindi is to become the third official language used in the Abu Dhabi court system as part of a move designed to improve access to justice, according to the UAE newspaper The National. Arabic and English are the other two languages used in Abu Dhabi Judicial Department.

The media report says that foreign nationals will be able to lodge claims and raise grievances in Hindi, which is widely spoken by many expat workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in labour cases. Last November, in a first for the region, Abu Dhabi introduced a rule that all documents in civil and commercial cases should be presented to non-Arabic defendants in English.

The Abu Dhabi Justice Department said the change would allow Hindi speakers to learn about litigation procedures and their rights and responsibilities without a language barrier.

This is aimed at helping foreigners to learn about litigation procedures, their rights and duties without a language barrier, in addition to facilitating registration procedures via unified forms available through The Abu Dhabi Justice Department (ADJD) website. Authorities have also created bi-lingual language guides to explain complex legal terms and used info-graphics in an effort to help people understand court processes.

Last month, the Indian missions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced to hire eight law firms to fight the cases of Indian expatriates in distress.