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AI rules for lawyers, by country · United Arab Emirates · Middle East

United Arab Emirates: the DIFC Courts guidance

DIFC Courts, Practical Guidance Note No. 2 of 2023, on the use of large language models and generative content generators · Dubai International Financial Centre

Page verified 5 August 2026. We could not open the guidance note from this session, so everything below is recorded from contemporaneous reporting and official statements rather than quoted from the document. We say so rather than imply we read it.

The earliest instrument in the Gulf, and one of the earliest anywhere: 2023. It asks for something most later rules stopped short of, an affirmative disclosure of AI-generated content and its source.

What it requires

  • DiscloseParties must make the Courts aware of any AI-generated content used in proceedings.
  • IdentifySpecify the source of the AI-generated content.
  • QualifyHighlight any potential limitations or biases associated with the AI system used.
  • ScopeLarge language models and generative content generators, in proceedings before the DIFC Courts.

The third limb is unusual. Almost nothing else on this record asks a filer to characterise the weaknesses of the tool they used. That is a competence duty expressed as a disclosure duty, and it is closer to what the CCBE and Singapore later articulated than to a simple verification rule.

What the DIFC is, and is not

The Dubai International Financial Centre is a financial free zone with its own common-law court system, its own procedural rules and its own judiciary, sitting alongside the UAE federal and Dubai local courts. This guidance binds proceedings in the DIFC Courts. It is not UAE federal law, and nothing on this page describes UAE federal law.

The practical relevance is wide despite that, because a great deal of international commercial contracting in the region is written to the DIFC Courts’ jurisdiction, so international firms encounter this rule without operating in the UAE generally.

The Gulf, in order

  • 2023DIFC Courts, Dubai. Disclosure of AI-generated content, its source, and the system’s limitations.
  • Jan 2026QICDRC, Qatar. 27 paragraphs, signed by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd. Prohibits AI-generated evidence and privileged material in public tools; requires disclosure of multimedia AI; can require an affidavit.
  • None foundSaudi Arabia. SDAIA generative AI guidelines for government employees and the public, dated 1 January 2024, and no lawyer-facing court rule that we could locate.

What to do about it

Seven days free, then $349 a month. Or run it across the estate.

Disclosing the source of AI-generated content, and the limitations of the system that produced it, are both claims about the tool. Neither can be made honestly after the fact from memory. The same engine either way: a signed record made on your own machine, content-free, and checkable free by anyone, forever.

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See also the attorney certification, the free verifier, and every jurisdiction we track.

Sources

  • DIFC Courts, Practical Guidance Note No. 2 of 2023. Not opened from this session.
  • Recorded from UAE legal commentary and the Chambers Artificial Intelligence 2025 UAE guide. We carry no quotation from the guidance note.

Related

Checked 5 August 2026. Not read at source. This page describes DIFC Courts guidance only, not UAE federal law. Information, not legal advice.

Common questions

Do the DIFC Courts have rules on AI?

Yes. Practical Guidance Note No. 2 of 2023 addresses the use of large language models and generative content generators in proceedings. It prioritises transparency, requiring parties to make the Courts aware of AI-generated content, including disclosing the use of AI systems, specifying the source of the AI-generated content, and highlighting any potential limitations or biases associated with the system.

Is DIFC Courts guidance the same as UAE federal law?

No. The DIFC is a financial free zone with its own common-law courts and its own procedural rules. The guidance binds proceedings in those courts. It is not a federal UAE instrument, and this page does not describe UAE federal law.

How does the DIFC approach compare with Qatar's?

The DIFC Courts moved earlier, in 2023, and require affirmative disclosure of AI-generated content and its source. Qatar's QICDRC Practice Direction No. 1 of 2026 is later but more detailed: it does not require pre-emptive declaration unless the Court asks, but it can require an affidavit identifying which portions used AI and how the output was verified, and it separately prohibits AI-generated evidence and requires disclosure of multimedia AI.

Which Gulf courts have AI rules?

On this record, the DIFC Courts in Dubai since 2023 and the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre since 6 January 2026. We have found no lawyer-facing court rule in Saudi Arabia and say so plainly rather than assume one exists.

Information, not legal advice, and not advice on the law of any jurisdiction. Every entry is verified against the issuing body’s own document; where a source is reporting rather than the document, we say so.