- Settling Government disputes amicably without resorting to court has positive effects and will achieve valuable results for both the Government Entity and the claimant. These advantages and results include the following:
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Saving time and effort and achieving expeditious justice, whereby a dispute is settled in a shorter period of time than the time usually taken by the various stages of litigation until a final judgment is rendered. Coupled with this are the enforcement procedures that may also involve other disputes. An amicable settlement to a dispute that is satisfactory to both parties can be carried out voluntarily without compulsion.
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Reducing the number of disputes to which the Government is a Party, whenever there is a way to amicably settle these disputes without adversarial action before judicial bodies, and placing a heavy burden on the claimant to be awarded the rights subject of claim.
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Minimizing costs and expenditure, when resorting to litigation to resolve a dispute. Both parties will incur costs and work hours allocated to the dispute by the teams managing the case file, whether for the claimant, the Respondent Government Entity, the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department, or Dubai Courts, in addition to avoiding any litigation expenses and legal fees the parties may incur.
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Involving the parties to the dispute in making the final decision regarding the dispute, whereby during the negotiation and settlement stage, each party will be actively involved and will have a key role in finding various solutions to the dispute according to a mechanism that best serves its interest or reduces its losses. However, should the dispute be brought before a judiciary body, that party loses the ability to make such a decision, and can only build its case to defend its legal position. Ultimately, the decision and the sole solution will be up to the court considering the dispute.
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Amicable settlement maintains the relations between the two parties to the dispute, strengthens tolerance and promotes mutual cooperation between the parties in the future. An amicable settlement is reached following negotiations based on mutual respect between the two parties and their involvement and cooperation with the Department to find a solution to the dispute. This can end the dispute while at the same time maintaining the relations between the two parties to the dispute, which is less likely to happen if the dispute proceeds to court where each party stands as an opponent against the other and the dispute might be marked by hostility or intransigence.
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Seeking legal opinion and insight on the dispute, whereby through legal negotiations and meetings with the department, the claimant is provided with a legal opinion and insight on its claim in a neutral, impartial and transparent manner. The party also gets acquainted with the Government Entity’s response and legal arguments and grounds invoked by the Government Entity as regards the claim filed by the claimant.
The Department will advise the complainant as to whether its legal position is valid or not in the claim filed against the Government. In other words, the Department will provide pro bono legal advice to the complainant regarding the claim, and to that end, the Department will depend primarily on the legal grounds, evidence and sound reasoning, providing the complainant with insight as to how the claim will be resolved from a legal point of view. Accordingly, the claimant will be able to make a well-informed decision; should the claimant find that the claim is not valid or groundless, the complainant will not proceed with the complaint beyond that point, thus saving time, effort, money, and pointless expenses that could have been incurred in litigation for a claim that is likely to lose.