Asset Attachment in the UAE: Grounds, Deadlines and Defence
Attachment is the step that decides whether a future judgment is worth anything. In the UAE a creditor can have a debtor assets frozen before the dispute is decided, and a debtor can find an account or a property blocked without any prior notice. Both sides are governed by the same provisions of the Civil Procedure Code, and both sides win or lose on the detail: the ground relied on, the proportionality of the freeze, and the deadlines that follow the order.
Why the order comes before the argument
Precautionary attachment (الحجز التحفظي) is a temporary protective measure. It freezes movable and immovable property of the debtor, including money held by third parties such as banks, so that a judgment is not left with nothing to enforce against. The application is made by petition and decided without notice to the debtor: the effect depends on surprise. For a creditor that means the real work happens before filing — identifying accounts, shareholdings, vehicles or real estate precisely enough for the court to act on them. A general belief that the debtor must have something in the country does not produce an order.
The legal basis
Attachment is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 promulgating the Civil Procedure Code, which replaced Federal Law No. 11 of 1992. The provisions on precautionary attachment sit in Articles 246 to 251, while the execution-stage rules on movables and real estate run through Articles 264 to 305. Cabinet Resolution No. 57, the regulation issued under the previous Code, continues to apply in the parts that do not contradict the new law. Under Article 247 the order is issued either by the court hearing the substantive claim or, where no claim has been filed yet, by the summary judge (قاضي الأمور المستعجلة) as a provisional measure.
The grounds the court will actually test
Article 247 sets out a closed list. The most common ground is the risk that the creditor loses the security of the right: the debtor has no permanent place of residence in the UAE, or there are serious indications that the debtor intends to leave, to move assets away or to conceal them. The Article also covers a landlord attaching movables of a tenant or subtenant located in the leased premises, including goods removed from the property where no more than thirty days have passed and what remains is not sufficient security; a creditor holding an official or ordinary document for a debt that is due, unconditional and determined in amount, or a judgment that is not yet enforceable; and an employee securing labour entitlements after assessment by the competent authority. Concern about the debtor general solvency is not in itself a ground — the standard is serious indications, not apprehension.
Proportionality, and what the court can demand first
An attachment is confined to the amount claimed. Where the value of the property attached is out of proportion to the right secured, the debtor may ask the competent court to limit the attachment to part of the assets (Article 246). Before issuing the order the court may require further particulars, documents or statements under oath, and may direct a short inquiry through the administrative authorities (Article 247(5)). Security from the applicant is at the discretion of the court in civil matters, which distinguishes the general regime from ship arrest, where the rules on security are express.
The deadlines that decide the outcome
Where the order is granted by the summary judge, the creditor must file the substantive claim confirming the right (دعوى بثبوت الحق) within eight days of the order; otherwise the attachment is treated as if it had never been made (Article 250(2)). After a final judgment in the creditor favour, execution must be commenced within thirty days of the judgment becoming final, failing which the attachment again lapses. Where money is attached in the hands of a third party, the proceeds are distributed among the attaching creditors after ten days from the third party declaration (Article 310). Ship arrest runs on a separate clock: the claim on the validity of the arrest is brought within five working days under the Maritime Law. These are not formalities — they are the most common reason a well-founded attachment collapses.
If the attachment is against you
A debtor does not have to wait for the main case. An objection (التظلم) lies to the summary judge or to the competent court, both against the substance of the order and against its timing, and is open to the person whose property was attached, to interested third parties and to a creditor whose application was refused (Article 250(3)). Three points are worth checking immediately. First, whether the substantive claim was in fact filed within the eight days. Second, whether the attachment exceeds the amount claimed, which supports an application to confine it. Third, whether the ground relied on genuinely falls inside Article 247 rather than resting on general suspicion. In the maritime regime an arrest can be released against a bank guarantee or other sufficient security (Article 57 of the Maritime Law); the general Code contains no equivalent express provision, so substitution of security is raised before the court as part of the objection.
Special regimes and the financial free zones
Article 247 applies without prejudice to any other legislation, so a special statute displaces the general rules. Ship arrest follows the Maritime Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 43); industrial property, Federal Law No. 11 of 2021 (Article 68); trademarks, Federal Decree-Law No. 36 of 2021 (Article 47); bills of exchange, the Commercial Transactions Law (Article 601); and the liquidation of insurance companies, Federal Decree-Law No. 48 (Article 94). The DIFC and ADGM operate their own common-law procedures: where a dispute belongs to those courts, the federal Code does not apply directly and freezing relief follows the rules of the relevant zone. Identifying the right forum at the outset matters more than the wording of the application — an order from the wrong court secures nothing.
How we work on these matters
We act both for creditors seeking an attachment and for owners whose assets have been frozen. On the creditor side the work begins with tracing and documenting assets to the standard the court expects, choosing between the summary judge and the court hearing the claim, and preparing the substantive claim so that the eight-day step is ready before the order is applied for. On the debtor side it begins with reading the order and the record behind it: the ground relied on, the proportionality of what was frozen, and whether the procedural steps were observed. Matters are handled in Russian, English and Arabic, and where a case touches a bank, a criminal complaint or enforcement abroad, those tracks are coordinated rather than run separately. This material states federal legislation as at September 2026 and is general information, not advice on a particular matter: the outcome depends on the facts and on the court seized.
Where we handle matters like this
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments
Recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments in the UAE. Asset seizure, account freezing, tracing debtor assets. Defence against unjustified enforcement.
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Commercial and corporate disputes in UAE courts, DIFC and arbitrations. Comprehensive case support: from filing a claim to enforcement of decisions, in Russian, English and Arabic.
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