Awatif Mohammad Shoqi Advocates & Legal Consultancy | View firm profile
Where there is a right, there is a remedy but when can you receive this remedy as the tough question here.
Legal Consultants of Dubai often been asked this question regarding the length of personal injury claims before the competent court which is very unpredictable and depends on certain factors detailed in this article.
As I said, personal injury claims cannot be quantified in a number of years as it can be as straightforward as a road accident matter or can be as complex as medical negligence, thus, there is no prescribed timeline for such cases, although the timeline can be predicted depending on various circumstances. In general, civil claims in UAE may take a minimum of 8-12 months and may extend up to 3 years. However, there are situations leading to variation in such timeframe as follows:</p>
- The gravity of the injury or the loss incurred;
- The time duration for gathering evidence;
- Medical expert reports;
- Medical committee reports in medical negligence cases;
- Finding and establishing other party’s liability.
The aforementioned factors or circumstances often change the timeframe in court for personal injury cases. The first and most important is the type of injury sustained by the victim which may impact his immediate right to file a claim as he may be under critical medical supervision which can delay registering the case or post such trauma, he shall be medically assessed to ascertain the extent of bodily damage to estimate the compensation amount.
In addition, the circumstance of the case is a crucial factor in understanding the time limit as stated above, personal injury cases for road accident will take lesser time as compared to a medical misconduct or negligence matter. As in road accident cases a police report and medical evidence would be clear to ascertain the negligence of the driver.
However, in medical negligence cases, the victim shall prove beyond any reasonable doubt the concerned doctor was negligent in performing his/her duties due to which the claimant has suffered temporary or permanent damage. Medical claims, under the new UAE law primarily require a report from the Committee especially established in determining the negligence or a report from the health ministry in the relevant Emirate. This procedure is mandatory under the new law, thus increasing the time limit of any claim as the report prepared by the authority is substantive proof in determining the guilt. Whereas, upon receiving the report, the courts only have to comprehend the amount of compensation to be payable by the other party bearing in mind the authority’s report.
Another significant aspect will be the liability bearer, as in whether the other party accepts its liability or not and how long will the other party contest before the court until the court is satisfied. The early the liability is established, the shorter the time would be for the proceedings. Best Lawyers in Dubai have record-breaking achievements in winning personal injury claims without any undue delays.