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Awad Al-Muhairi on International Law Day: Rule of Law is a Measure of Community Trust and Investment Attractiveness
The world marks World Law Day on 13 September each year, an occasion on which states and judicial and legal institutions revisit the role of the law as an instrument for protecting rights and preserving social peace. On this occasion, lawyer Awadh Mubarak Almheiri affirmed that the rule of law is no longer merely an internal judicial matter, but has become a measure of public trust and of the attractiveness of the business environment.
An occasion renewed since the 1960s
World Law Day traces back to an international conference held in Washington in 1965 under the banner “World Peace Through Law”, attended by delegations from dozens of countries. The occasion later became an annual date on which legal communities recall the idea that the law is a path to peace and stability, and not merely an instrument of punishment.
Almheiri said the occasion takes on a tangible practical dimension in the United Arab Emirates, because legislation there has not remained a rigid text; over recent years it has undergone successive reviews covering civil transactions, criminal procedure, employment relations, personal status and companies, making the legal system better able to absorb newly emerging patterns of dispute.
Legislation that keeps pace with the present and anticipates the future
He explained that the progress made in digital litigation, simplified procedures and shorter dispute timelines has had a direct effect on court users, whether individuals or companies, and that prompt justice is no longer a slogan but a measurable outcome in the time taken to decide cases and the speed of enforcing judgments.
He added that an investor choosing a market does not look at economic incentives alone, but asks first about the clarity of the legislation and the ability of the courts to resolve a dispute and enforce the judgment, which makes the quality of the legal system an integral part of economic competitiveness.
A word from lawyer Awadh Almheiri
The law is not measured by the number of its provisions, but by the ability of an ordinary person to reach it, understand it and take shelter in it. What we have seen in the UAE in recent years is that legislation has come closer to people: faster procedures, digital courts, and texts written in language a non-specialist can understand. It is our responsibility as lawyers to continue along this path, by carrying the law out of the corridors of the courts and into the awareness of society, because a right its owner does not know about is lost before it ever reaches a judge.
Legal awareness is the first line of defence
Almheiri noted that many of the disputes that reach the courts could have been avoided had they been preceded by a clear written contract, a short consultation before signing, or a careful review of a penalty clause or an arbitration provision, pointing out that legal literacy is no longer a luxury for specialists but a daily need for individuals and business owners alike.
He went on to say that World Law Day is an occasion to salute judges, members of the public prosecution, lawyers, researchers and legal professionals across the country, and to renew the commitment to the role of the legal profession in protecting rights and safeguarding justice, stressing that the profession is a trust before it is a job, and that defending a single right in its proper place serves society as a whole.