sboghossian Tool — ADGM Courts Search
What it does
Searches the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Courts case database and returns structured case information including parties, status, division, and links to published judgments. ADGM Courts apply English common law, making their judgments directly relevant to commercial disputes, employment matters, and financial-services regulation in the UAE's second international financial centre.
Jurisdiction background
ADGM is Abu Dhabi's international financial free zone, established by Federal Law No. 4/2013 and Abu Dhabi Law No. 4/2013. Its courts are entirely separate from UAE Federal Courts and onshore Abu Dhabi Courts. Key features:
- English common law applies (English and Welsh common law as of 2013, with modifications)
- Judgments are published in English; proceedings are in English
- Court of First Instance (CFI), Court of Appeal (CA)
- Specialist divisions: Small Claims, Employment, Arbitration
- ADGM judgments are enforceable within the ADGM and, via reciprocal arrangements, in certain other jurisdictions
Distinction from DIFC: ADGM and DIFC are both English-common-law free zones in the UAE, but they are separate jurisdictions. DIFC is in Dubai (governed by DIFC laws and administered by the DIFC Judicial Authority); ADGM is in Abu Dhabi (governed by ADGM regulations and administered by the ADGM Registration Authority). See [[tool-difc-courts-search]] for DIFC matters.
Setup / auth
- No API key required for public case search; judgments are publicly accessible.
- Implement rate-limiting and caching to avoid overloading the public portal.
- Source: ADGM Courts website (https://adgmcourts.com) — confirm current URL at implementation time.
Capabilities
Search parameters
| Parameter | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
partyName |
string | Corporate or individual name; supports partial match |
caseNumber |
string | Format: ADGMCFI-YYYY-CIV-NNN (CFI civil), ADGMCA-YYYY-CA-NNN (Court of Appeal), ADGMCFI-YYYY-EMP-NNN (Employment), ADGMCFI-YYYY-SCD-NNN (Small Claims) |
practiceArea |
enum | Commercial, Employment, Financial Services, Arbitration, Other |
dateFrom / dateTo |
ISO date | Filter by judgment date |
judgeSearch |
string | Filter by presiding judge (useful for practice intelligence) |
keywordSearch |
string | Full-text search within published judgments |
Output schema
{
"totalHits": 12,
"cases": [
{
"caseNumber": "ADGMCFI-2024-CIV-045",
"division": "Court of First Instance",
"parties": {
"claimant": "Alpha Capital Ltd",
"defendant": "Beta Investments LLC"
},
"practiceArea": "Commercial",
"filedDate": "2024-03-15",
"status": "Judgment delivered",
"judge": "Justice Smith",
"judgments": [
{
"date": "2024-09-10",
"type": "Final judgment",
"pdfUrl": "https://adgmcourts.com/judgments/..."
}
],
"summary": "Breach of contract; summary judgment application"
}
]
}
Usage patterns
Pattern 1 — Case status check
"Is there a judgment in [case number]?"
→ Search by caseNumber → return status + judgment PDF link
Pattern 2 — Party search for due diligence
"Has [company name] been involved in ADGM litigation?"
→ Search by partyName → return all cases where named as party → flag for due-diligence report
Pattern 3 — Precedent research
"What has ADGM Courts said about [legal issue]?"
→ Search by keywordSearch + practiceArea → return relevant judgments → extract and summarise
Pattern 4 — Forum-shopping analysis
Client asks whether to bring a claim in ADGM or DIFC Courts. → Run parallel searches on both tools → compare precedent depth, procedural timelines, and enforceability → see [[tool-difc-courts-search]]
Permissions & safety
- Return publicly available case information only; do not attempt to access sealed or confidential proceedings.
- Do not present ADGM judgment summaries as legal advice — surface the underlying judgment PDF for lawyer review.
- Do not fabricate case numbers or parties; return only verified results from the database.
Failure modes
| Failure | Response |
|---|---|
| Case not found | Return { totalHits: 0 } with a suggestion to check the case number format or search by party name |
| Portal unavailable | Return a clear error with retry guidance; do not return cached stale results without flagging the cache date |
| Judgment PDF link broken | Return the case metadata with a note that the judgment PDF is temporarily unavailable; provide the direct portal URL |
Related skills
- [[tool-difc-courts-search]]
- [[research-case-law-mena]]
- [[pa-workflow-litigation]]