Guide
DIFC and ADGM courts and law: how the two systems differ
Updated
The legal system is the difference people cite most and evidence least. Here is what the two authorities' own legal frameworks say, and where we stop short.
How each zone was constituted
ADGM states its own constitutional basis on every page of its legal framework: it has been established in accordance with Federal Decree No. (15) of 2013, the establishment of a financial free zone in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Its legal framework index also lists Federal Law No. (8) of 2004, the federal financial free zones law, and Abu Dhabi Law No. 4 of 2013.
For DIFC, the equivalent statement we can verify today comes from its regulator: the DFSA describes itself as a body established under Dubai law as the independent regulator of financial services and related activities for the DIFC.
Where the law comes from
ADGM's commercial legislation index includes a set of regulations named the Application of English Law Regulations. DIFC instead enacts its own body of DIFC laws, drafted in a common law style but standing on their own. That distinction is the substance of most DIFC and ADGM comparisons you will read.
We have deliberately not summarised what the Application of English Law Regulations do. The regulation text was not readable to us at source, and characterising a constitutional instrument from memory is exactly the error this site exists to avoid. Read the regulations on ADGM's legal framework site before you rely on the difference.
The courts
Each zone runs its own courts, with their own procedural rules, published in the same legal frameworks. ADGM's courts legislation, courts regulations, courts rules and courts procedures are all indexed alongside its commercial legislation. DIFC Courts publish separately at difccourts.ae. Both zones also have their own arbitration regulations.
What this means for the choice
- If your counterparties are used to English law drafting, both zones will feel familiar, and the difference is a matter for your litigators rather than your finance director.
- If enforcement matters most, the question is where a judgment will actually be enforced, which is about treaties and assets, not about which zone issued the licence.
- If nothing is contentious yet, this factor is usually less decisive than premises, regulator relationship and where your clients sit.