Court Notice by Publication in Dubai
Inside a UAE court case, a party can only be treated as duly notified once service has been effected in one of the ways the law allows. When a defendant cannot be reached by the ordinary and electronic methods, the court may permit the notification to be made by publication. This page explains how court notice by publication works under the current Civil Procedure Law, when the court resorts to it, who authorises it, how it relates to the Dubai Courts electronic noticeboard, and where MANJAZ helps prepare and coordinate the paperwork — always according to the requirements of the competent court.
- A court-authorised fallback under Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 — not a first resort
- Used only when the ordinary and electronic methods of service cannot reach the party
- Authorised by the court — the Case Management Office, the judge, or the chief justice
- The Dubai Courts e-noticeboard is a supplementary mirror with no legal effect (Resolution 9/2024)
- Dubai-based, UAE-wide service
- Arabic & English
- Clear guidance on every document
- Direct request, no middlemen
What service by publication actually is
Service by publication is a court-authorised way of notifying a party of judicial proceedings by publishing the notice in a newspaper — and mirroring it on the court's own channels — used only when the ordinary and electronic methods of service cannot reach that party, under the UAE Civil Procedure Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022.
Every lawsuit begins with notification. Before a court can hear a claim properly, the other party must be told that a case has been filed and given the chance to attend and answer. UAE law calls this the service of judicial process, and it sets out an ordered list of ways it may be done. Publication — التبليغ بالنشر — sits at the end of that list. It is not the normal way a defendant is notified; it is what the court turns to when the normal ways have been tried and have failed.
The current instrument is Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 on the Civil Procedure Law, which came into force on 2 January 2023 and replaced the older Federal Law No. 11 of 1992. Under the reformed law, judicial papers are served first in person through a process server and by modern electronic means — a recorded video or voice call, a text message, smart applications, email, fax, and similar channels. Only where those methods cannot be effected does the notice move to publication. Reading the 1992 law as if it were still in force is a common and serious error; the 2022 decree-law is the one that governs.
Two ideas anchor everything on this page. First, publication is a fallback that the court permits, not something a party may switch on for itself. Second, publication in a newspaper as ordered by the court is what carries legal effect; the notice you may see mirrored on the Dubai Courts website is a supplementary channel that, on its own, has none. The rest of this page explains when the court resorts to publication, who authorises it, the roles involved, and how MANJAZ supports the process without ever standing in the shoes of the court.
The terms you need to keep apart
- Service of process (التبليغ)
- The act of formally notifying a party of a judicial step — the claim, a hearing, or an order — so that the party is treated as knowing about it and the proceedings can move forward.
- Service by publication (الإعلان القضائي بالنشر)
- A fallback mode of service, authorised by the court, in which the notice is published in a newspaper and mirrored on the court's channels because the party could not be reached by the ordinary and electronic methods.
- Case Management Office
- The judicial office that prepares a case for hearing and manages procedural steps, including service. It is one of the bodies that may permit a party to be served by publication.
- Electronic noticeboard
- The section of the Dubai Courts website that posts service-of-process notices. Under Dubai Resolution No. 9 of 2024 it is a supplementary channel whose posting has no legal effect of its own.
Where publication sits in the sequence of service
Ordinary service through a process server
The first route is in-person delivery of the papers by a process server or a licensed service company at the party's known address, in the manner the law prescribes.
Modern electronic methods
Where in-person service is not achieved, the law allows service by modern means: a recorded video or voice call, text message, smart applications, email, fax and similar technical channels.
The methods cannot be effected
Only when the ordinary and electronic methods cannot be effected — the party genuinely cannot be reached through them — does the question of publication arise. An unknown address alone is not an automatic trigger.
The court authorises publication
The Case Management Office, the competent judge, or the chief justice may then permit the party to be served by publication. This is a judicial decision, taken on the file, not a step a party performs alone.
Publication is carried out and evidenced
The authorised notice is published in a newspaper as directed, and the record of publication is placed on the case file so the court can confirm that notification was effected.
Applicant, court and MANJAZ: who does what
| Role | What they do | What they do NOT do |
|---|---|---|
| The applicant (claimant) | Requests the court to authorise publication and provides the details and documents needed | Does not decide eligibility or issue the notice; cannot declare the other side served |
| The competent court | Assesses that ordinary and electronic service failed and authorises service by publication | Is not a party to the dispute and does not act on either side's instructions |
| MANJAZ | Prepares and organises documents, coordinates wording and translation, arranges the newspaper placement where required, and follows up | Does not authorise, issue or accept the notice, and does not appear before the court |
What carries legal effect: the newspaper, not the e-noticeboard
Court-ordered newspaper publication
- Authorised by the court as a mode of service under FDL 42/2022
- Carries legal effect when ordered and carried out as prescribed
- The published notice is evidenced on the case file
- Arabic by default; a foreign-language newspaper is permitted where the party served is a foreigner
Dubai Courts electronic noticeboard
- A supplementary channel on the Dubai Courts website
- Posting has NO legal effect of its own (Resolution 9/2024, Art. 4)
- Limited to cases already served by posting or newspaper publication per the Law (Art. 3)
- A mirror for information — it does not replace the law-prescribed service
Have a question about your case?
Dubai Resolution No. 9 of 2024 — read it correctly
Dubai Courts posts service-of-process notices on an electronic noticeboard on its official website. Resolution No. 9 of 2024 defines exactly what that posting is worth. Article 3 confines the noticeboard to cases where service is performed by posting or by newspaper publication under the Law, and requires the notice to have already been duly served and to contain the information the Law specifies. Article 4 states that posting on the noticeboard has no legal effect. In plain terms: the online listing is a convenience that lets people check for notices, but the service that actually counts is the court-ordered newspaper publication, not its mirror on the website.
Language of the notice, and proof that it was published
The default language of a publication notice is Arabic, in a widely circulated UAE Arabic newspaper. The reformed law additionally allows publication in a foreign-language newspaper where the party to be served is a foreigner or non-UAE national, so that a foreign defendant has a better chance of actually seeing the notice. That is a targeted allowance, not a universal rule: it is not correct to say that every publication needs two newspapers or two languages. Where translation is involved — for example, when the underlying documents are in another language and must be rendered accurately into Arabic — the wording must be handled with care, because the published text is what a court will read.
Publication also has to be evidenced. The record that the notice appeared — placed on the case file — is what allows the court to confirm that notification was effected, and it is what a party will want kept safely if the point is ever questioned. The exact statutory wording of the proof-of-publication requirement sits in the full text of Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022; where a precise clause is needed, it should be confirmed against the official text rather than assumed. MANJAZ can help keep a clean record of what was prepared and published, but the sufficiency of that proof is for the court to weigh.
When the party is outside the UAE — a different route, not publication
A situation people often confuse with publication is a defendant who is abroad. Being outside the UAE is not, by itself, a reason to jump to a newspaper notice. Where a party to be served is outside the country and cannot be reached by technical or electronic means, through a licensed service company, or by a method the parties agreed, Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 provides a diplomatic channel: the notification is sent through the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and on to the relevant diplomatic mission, unless a special international convention applies. These provisions sit at Articles 10 and 11 of the law.
This route has its own deeming rule: service abroad by the diplomatic channel is treated as effected twenty-one working days after the diplomatic mission receives the notification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Article 11(2)). It is a distinct mechanism from newspaper publication, with a distinct timeline and a distinct evidential trail. Confusing the two — or asking for publication when the diplomatic route is the correct one, or vice versa — is exactly the kind of error that careful document preparation is meant to avoid. Which route applies is, again, a matter for the court to direct on the facts of the case.
What MANJAZ can prepare and coordinate
- Organising the file so the request for publication is presented clearly to the competent court
- Drafting and reviewing the wording of the notice according to the court's requirements
- Certified and legal translation between Arabic and other languages where the file requires it
- Arranging the newspaper placement where the court has directed publication
- Keeping a clean record of what was prepared and published for the case file
- Following up the procedural steps according to the requirements of the competent authority
Common misconceptions about publication
The mistakeThinking publication is available automatically whenever an address is unknown.
The fixPublication is a court-authorised fallback used only after the ordinary and electronic methods cannot be effected; the court decides, not the party.
The mistakeTreating the Dubai Courts e-noticeboard posting as the service itself.
The fixUnder Resolution 9/2024 the posting has no legal effect; the court-ordered newspaper publication is what counts.
The mistakeCiting the 1992 Civil Procedures Law as if it still governed.
The fixThe current instrument is Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022, in force since 2 January 2023, which replaced Federal Law No. 11 of 1992.
The mistakeAssuming every publication must appear in two newspapers or two languages.
The fixArabic is the default; a foreign-language newspaper is permitted specifically where the party served is a foreigner — not as a universal requirement.
The mistakeExpecting a service provider to guarantee that publication will be accepted.
The fixNo private party can guarantee acceptance; whether service was validly effected is decided by the court on the file.
How this appears in practice
A claimant files a case but the defendant cannot be reached at any known address or number.
What is usually neededThe record of attempted ordinary and electronic service is put before the court; if the court authorises publication, the notice is prepared and published as directed. The court, not the claimant, makes that call.
A party sees a notice on the Dubai Courts website and wonders whether they have been served.
What is usually neededThe online posting itself has no legal effect under Resolution 9/2024; what matters is the underlying court-ordered service. The right step is to check the case file and act on it, not to rely on the mirror alone.
The defendant is a foreign national believed to be living outside the UAE.
What is usually neededThis is likely the diplomatic route under Articles 10–11, not newspaper publication. The two mechanisms differ; the court directs which applies, and the documents should be prepared for the correct one.
The case documents are in English and the court directs publication in Arabic.
What is usually neededAccurate legal translation of the wording matters, because the published Arabic text is what the court reads. MANJAZ can prepare and coordinate the translation according to the court's requirements.
Questions and answers
It is a court-authorised way of notifying a party of judicial proceedings by publishing the notice in a newspaper, used only when the ordinary and electronic methods of service cannot reach that party. It is governed by the UAE Civil Procedure Law, Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022, and the permission to use it is a decision of the court.
Only when the ordinary and electronic methods of service cannot be effected — that is, the party genuinely cannot be reached in person or through modern channels such as a recorded call, text message, smart applications, email or fax. Publication is a fallback, not a first resort, and an unknown address on its own is not an automatic trigger.
The court authorises it — the Case Management Office, the competent judge, or the chief justice. A party may ask for publication and prepare the material, but cannot decide that the case qualifies, cannot issue the notice, and cannot declare the other side served. A private company such as MANJAZ has no authorising role at all; it only helps prepare and coordinate.
No. Under Dubai Resolution No. 9 of 2024, posting on the Dubai Courts electronic noticeboard has no legal effect of its own (Article 4), and it is limited to cases already served by posting or newspaper publication under the Law (Article 3). The service that carries legal effect is the court-ordered newspaper publication; the website listing is only a supplementary mirror.
Arabic by default, in a widely circulated UAE Arabic newspaper. The law additionally permits publication in a foreign-language newspaper where the party to be served is a foreigner or non-UAE national. That is a targeted allowance for the foreign-party situation — it is not correct that every notice must appear in two newspapers or two languages.
That is usually a different route, not newspaper publication. Where a party abroad cannot be reached by technical or electronic means, through a licensed company, or by an agreed method, Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 provides for notification through the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and on to the diplomatic mission (Articles 10–11), with service deemed effected twenty-one working days after the mission receives it (Article 11(2)).
MANJAZ can prepare and organise the documents, coordinate the wording and translation, arrange the newspaper placement where the court has directed publication, and follow up — all according to the requirements of the competent court. MANJAZ does not decide whether a case qualifies, does not issue or authorise the notice, does not guarantee that publication is accepted, and does not appear before the court.
The Civil Procedure Law specifies the particulars a service-of-process notice has to carry, and the competent court directs the wording it will accept. Dubai Resolution No. 9 of 2024 confirms the point from the other direction: Article 3 allows a notice onto the Dubai Courts e-Noticeboard only where it was duly served in accordance with the methods and procedures prescribed by the Law, only in cases where service is performed by posting or newspaper publication, and only where the notice "include[s] the information specified in the Law". In practice a notice is expected to make clear which court and which case it relates to and who is being notified, but the exact particulars required may differ depending on the document, the type of case and the stage of proceedings, and they are fixed by the Law and by the requirements of the relevant authority — not by the party and not by a service provider. MANJAZ can draft and check the wording against what the court asks for; MANJAZ cannot approve it or decide that it is sufficient.
The default is Arabic, in a widely circulated UAE Arabic newspaper, so where the case file, the underlying instrument or the party's details are in another language, the wording that goes to print has to be rendered into Arabic accurately. Courts and official authorities in the UAE generally expect documents submitted to them to be in Arabic or accompanied by a translation prepared by a translator licensed by the UAE Ministry of Justice. Whether a certified translation is required in a particular file, and in what form, depends on the document and on the requirements of the competent court. The point to hold on to is that the published Arabic text is what the court reads — a loose rendering of a name, a case reference or an operative phrase becomes an error on the record. Note also that permission to publish in a foreign-language newspaper where the party to be served is a foreigner is an addition to the Arabic default, not a substitute for it.
Three different things get mixed up under the heading "electronic". First, electronic service — a recorded video or voice call, a text message, smart applications, email or fax — is part of the ordered list of service methods in the Civil Procedure Law and sits before publication in the sequence; if the party can be reached that way, the question of publication does not arise at all. Second, Dubai Courts offers electronic channels for handling publication notices, so the way a notice is submitted, the newspaper selected or the amount paid may well be digital; availability and the exact channel are subject to the court's current requirements and should be checked with the court rather than assumed from older announcements. Third, the Service of Process e-Noticeboard on the Dubai Courts website is described in Article 2 of Resolution No. 9 of 2024 as an additional method of communicating notices, and Article 4 states plainly that posting on it has no legal effect. So arranging publication electronically is one thing; an online listing replacing the publication the court ordered is another — and it does not.
The governing instrument remains the Civil Procedure Law issued by Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022, in force since 2 January 2023, together with its amendments: the UAE Government has since issued a federal decree-law amending certain provisions of the Civil Procedures Code, announced on the official UAE Legislation portal and by the Emirates News Agency, with the officially summarised changes concerning matters such as the direct formation of estates courts and the establishment of specialised courts rather than service by publication. In Dubai, Resolution No. 9 of 2024 additionally regulates the e-Noticeboard. Because article numbering can move when a code is amended, any specific article should be confirmed against the official text in force rather than taken from a secondary write-up — Resolution No. 9 of 2024 itself points to Articles 9, 10, 11, 272, 273, 274 and 288 of the Law as the provisions governing service of process and its publication. What has not changed is the principle: publication is a court-authorised fallback, and the 1992 Civil Procedures Law no longer governs.
The published text forms part of the record the court relies on when deciding whether service was validly effected, so a mistake in the case reference, in a party's name as it appears on official documents, or in the Arabic wording may lead the court to treat the service as defective — which can mean the notice has to be corrected and published again, with the delay and cost that follow. Whether a particular error matters, and what must be done about it, is for the competent court to assess on the file; no service provider can decide that question or promise that a notice will be accepted. This is precisely why the wording and any translation are worth checking carefully before the notice goes to print. MANJAZ can review and prepare the wording, coordinate the translation, and keep a clean record of what was prepared and published for the case file, subject to the requirements of the relevant authority.
Where MANJAZ fits into a publication notice
MANJAZ is a publisher, an explainer, and a provider of document and process support that specialises in documentation and legal translation — it is not a court, a government body, or a law firm, and it never guarantees a particular result. On a publication notice, our work is practical and clearly bounded: we help review and organise the file, draft and check the wording of the notice, translate accurately between Arabic and other languages where needed, arrange the newspaper placement once the court has directed publication, and keep a clean record for the case file.
The line we do not cross is the judicial one. Whether a case qualifies for service by publication, whether the notice is issued, and whether the other side is treated as duly served are all decisions for the competent court, taken on the file and on the record of failed ordinary and electronic service. Getting the documents right early — the correct route, accurate wording, proper translation, and a preserved record — is where a service provider genuinely adds value, and it is exactly the kind of detail that a court later relies on.
Official sources
- UAE Ministry of Justice — Main Legislations (Civil Procedure Law, FDL 42/2022)
- UAE Government Portal (u.ae) — Litigation procedures: general provisions
- Dubai Legislation — Resolution No. 9 of 2024 (posting service-of-process notices on the Dubai Courts website)
- UAE Legislation Portal — Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 (Civil Procedure Law)
- Dubai Courts — Public/Publication Notices (الإعلانات بالنشر)
This content is for general awareness and is based on the official sources available at the time of the last update. Publication-notice requirements and steps differ by the type and stage of the case and the direction of the competent court or authority. It is not legal advice. MANJAZ is a service provider that helps prepare and coordinate publication-notice requirements — it is not a court, does not decide whether a case qualifies for service by publication, and does not issue judicial notices.
Need a court notice served by publication?
Send the case reference and the notice you need, and MANJAZ will help prepare and coordinate the publication-notice steps according to the court’s requirements.