Civil Law and UAE — Ultra-Basic Tort Keywords Revision Set

For ultra-basic tort-law revision, remember the central chain:

HARMFUL ACT → DAMAGE → CAUSATION → LIABILITY → COMPENSATION

The current federal starting point is the Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 promulgating the Civil Transactions Law, which entered into force on 1 June 2026 and repealed the 1985 Civil Transactions Law.

1. Tort — الفعل الضار / المسؤولية التقصيرية

Tort is the area of civil law dealing with liability for legally wrongful harmful conduct outside, or independently of, an ordinary contractual obligation.

Ultra-basic formula

ACT → HARM → DAMAGE → CAUSATION → LIABILITY → REMEDY

2. Harmful Act — الفعل الضار

A harmful act is conduct that causes legally recognised harm to another person.

Examples:

• negligence
• wrongful interference
• damaging property
• causing personal injury
• unlawful disclosure
• fraudulent conduct
• dangerous conduct
• certain professional mistakes

Keyword

Harmful Act = Conduct causing legally recognised harm

3. Tortfeasor

The tortfeasor is the person whose conduct gives rise to civil liability.

Simple structure

Tortfeasor → Harmful conduct → Victim → Damage

4. Victim / Injured Person

The injured person is the person who suffers legally recognised harm.

Ask:

• Who was injured?
• What right or interest was affected?
• What loss occurred?
• Can compensation legally be claimed?

5. Fault — الخطأ

Fault concerns the wrongful or legally blameworthy nature of the conduct where required.

Examples:

• negligence
• carelessness
• failure to take reasonable precautions
• deliberate wrongdoing
• wrongful interference

Remember

Fault ≠ Damage

Both must be analysed separately.

6. Damage — الضرر

Damage is the legally recognised loss suffered by the claimant.

Main categories

Material damage

• financial loss
• property loss
• medical/economic expense
• lost income

Moral damage

• reputation
• honour
• freedom
• social standing
• other recognised personal interests

The current Civil Transactions Law expressly provides for moral harm and compensation.

7. Causation — علاقة السببية

Causation asks:

Did the defendant's conduct cause the claimant's damage?

Formula

ACT → CAUSE → DAMAGE

If the necessary causal connection is not established, tort liability may fail.

8. Direct Harm

Direct harm is harm resulting directly from the relevant act.

A historical Federal Supreme Court Civil Cassation No. 99, Judicial Year 16 is useful for revision of the UAE distinction between direct and causative harm.

Memory

Direct = immediate connection

9. Causative Harm

Causative harm involves a harmful consequence arising through a causal process.

The court examines:

• conduct
• wrongful character
• causation
• resulting damage

Memory

Causative = conduct → causal process → damage

10. Material Damage

Material damage concerns economic or financial loss.

Examples:

• repair costs
• medical expenses
• lost income
• property destruction
• business losses

The Federal Supreme Court in Civil Cassation No. 880/2021 recognised that additional material damages may be claimed where the required elements are established, including certain present and future damages.

11. Moral Damage

Moral harm can concern:

• freedom
• honour
• reputation
• social standing
• other legally protected personal interests.

Article 254 of the current Civil Transactions Law expressly addresses moral harm.

Memory

Material = economic

Moral = personal/non-economic

12. Future Damage

Future damage is loss that may occur after the present dispute.

It may be compensable where it is legally established under the applicable standard.

FSC Civil Cassation No. 880/2021 is useful for this principle.

13. Loss of Opportunity

Loss of opportunity concerns the loss of a real opportunity rather than automatically awarding the entire hoped-for result.

The Federal Supreme Court recognised compensation for a missed opportunity where the applicable requirements are established in Cassation No. 880/2021.

Remember

Lost opportunity ≠ automatic full expected profit.

14. Lost Profit

Compensation can include lost profit where it constitutes a natural consequence of the harmful act and is legally established.

The current Article 255 provides that compensation is assessed according to the loss suffered and loss of profit where it is a natural consequence of the harmful act.

Formula

Loss + Natural Causal Connection → Possible Compensation

15. Multiple Wrongdoers

Sometimes several people contribute to the same damage.

Ask:

• What did each person do?
• Did each contribute to the damage?
• What share of responsibility exists?
• Is joint and several liability appropriate?

Current Article 253 provides for proportional responsibility and permits the court, in appropriate circumstances, to impose equal or joint-and-several liability. It also allows reduction or denial of compensation where the injured party contributed to causing or aggravating the harm.

16. Contributory Conduct

The claimant's own conduct can matter.

Example:

A person's careless conduct contributes to the accident.

Possible consequence

Claimant's contribution → Reduction or possible denial of compensation

The current Article 253 expressly recognises this principle.

17. Force Majeure / External Cause

An external event may affect liability where it legally breaks or changes the causal connection.

Possible examples:

• force majeure
• act of God
• sudden accident
• third-party conduct
• conduct of the injured person

Memory

External Cause → Possible exclusion/reduction of liability

18. Necessity — الضرورة

Necessity concerns conduct undertaken to prevent a greater imminent harm.

The current Article 252 provides that a person who causes harm to avert a greater imminent harm is not liable for compensation except to the extent the court considers appropriate in light of justice.

Formula

Greater Imminent Harm → Necessary Action → Judicial Assessment

19. Self-Defence

Self-defence concerns lawful protection against an unlawful threat.

Ask:

• Was there a threat?
• Was the response necessary?
• Did the person exceed the lawful limits?

Memory

Defence within limits → protection

Excess → possible liability

20. Fraud / Deceit

Fraud can create civil consequences where misleading conduct causes legally recognised harm.

Basic keywords:

• deception
• material fact
• intention
• reliance/legal consequence
• damage

Dubai Court of Cassation Judgment No. 270 of 2023 is a useful authority concerning the material and intentional elements of fraud.

21. Concealment

Deliberate concealment of an important fact may constitute deceit in appropriate circumstances.

Dubai Court of Cassation Judgment No. 231 of 2020 is useful for this principle.

Memory

False statement OR legally significant concealment → possible deceit

22. Contractual vs Tortious Liability

This is an important exam distinction.

Contractual liability

Contract → Obligation → Breach → Damage

Tortious liability

Legal duty → Harmful act → Damage → Causation

Dubai Commercial Cassation No. 941/2019 emphasised that courts must give a dispute its correct legal characterisation and discussed the distinction between contractual and tortious liability.

23. Three Core Tort Questions

Always ask:

1. Fault?

Was there legally wrongful conduct?

2. Damage?

Did the claimant suffer legally recognised harm?

3. Causation?

Did the conduct cause the damage?

Formula

FAULT + DAMAGE + CAUSATION = BASIC TORT ANALYSIS

24. Liability

Liability means that the legal system attributes responsibility for the damage to the defendant.

Basic chain

Conduct → Fault/Responsibility → Damage → Causation → Liability

25. Compensation — التعويض

The principal tort remedy is generally compensation.

It seeks to address legally recognised loss.

Possible heads include:

• material damage
• moral damage
• future damage
• lost profit
• loss of opportunity

Current Article 255 uses the extent of the loss and naturally resulting lost profit as the basis for assessment.

26. Burden of Proof

The claimant generally needs to establish the facts necessary for the claim under the applicable evidentiary rules.

Typical proof may include:

• documents
• photographs
• witnesses
• expert reports
• medical records
• financial records
• electronic evidence
• official records

Formula

ALLEGATION → PROOF → JUDICIAL FINDING

27. Expert Evidence

Experts are particularly important in tort disputes involving:

• medical injury
• construction accidents
• engineering
• property damage
• accounting losses
• technical systems
• technology

Remember

Expert = technical assistance; Judge = legal decision.

28. Medical Tort

Medical-liability disputes can involve:

• professional standard
• medical error
• causation
• physical injury
• moral harm
• expert evidence
• institutional responsibility
• compensation

A useful recent authority is Dubai Court of Cassation Judgment No. 377 of 2025, concerning medical liability and assessment of physical and moral damage.

29. Construction Tort

Construction-related torts may involve:

• unsafe work
• structural defects
• property damage
• injury
• negligence
• contractor responsibility
• consultant responsibility
• expert evidence

Formula

Construction Conduct → Defect/Negligence → Damage → Causation → Liability

30. Property Tort

Property damage may involve:

• destruction
• trespass
• unlawful interference
• water/fire damage
• negligent construction
• unauthorised occupation

Formula

Property Interference → Damage → Compensation/Restoration

31. Digital / Technology Tort

Modern tort disputes may involve:

• data misuse
• cybersecurity incidents
• AI systems
• automated decisions
• digital fraud
• blockchain
• smart contracts
• electronic evidence

The underlying questions remain:

Who acted? What happened? What damage occurred? Was there causation? What evidence proves it?

32. Employer / Institutional Responsibility

A tort may involve more than the immediate individual actor.

Potential issues include:

• employer responsibility
• agency
• institutional negligence
• supervision
• professional responsibility
• vicarious liability

The exact basis depends on the applicable statute and factual relationship.

33. Joint vs Separate Sources of Liability

A particularly useful UAE case is Dubai Commercial Cassation No. 941/2019.

The court distinguished situations where different defendants' liabilities arise from different legal sources—for example:

• bank → contractual liability
• wrongdoer → tortious liability

The decision explains why the legal source of each liability matters when determining the appropriate form of responsibility.

34. Public Order and Tort

Some civil-law questions may involve public-order considerations.

Federal Supreme Court Cassation No. 250/2020 is useful for revision because it confirms that public-order matters can be raised by the court on its own initiative in appropriate circumstances.

35. Criminal Act + Civil Damage

One act may produce both:

• criminal responsibility
• civil liability

The criminal judgment can have important evidentiary/res judicata consequences for related civil proceedings.

FSC Civil Cassation No. 880/2021 specifically discussed the binding effect of a final criminal judgment on matters necessarily determined in the criminal case and forming the common basis of the civil claim.

36. Tort and Res Judicata

Do not automatically assume:

Criminal judgment = entire civil claim decided.

The relevant principle is narrower: matters necessarily decided in the final criminal judgment concerning the common factual/legal basis may bind the civil court under the applicable rules.

The 880/2021 case is a useful authority.

37. Tort and Remedies

Possible remedies can include:

• compensation
• restoration
• specific performance where appropriate
• protective/injunctive relief where available
• other statutory remedies

Formula

WRONG → DAMAGE → REMEDY

38. Ultra-Basic Tort Case Laws — At Least 6

Important case-law caution

Most of the older UAE cases above were decided under the 1985 Civil Transactions Law. Since the 2025 Civil Transactions Law took effect on 1 June 2026, these cases should be treated as historical/interpretive authorities for principles that remain compatible with the current law, rather than as direct interpretations of the new Code.

39. Current 2025 Code — Tort Provisions to Memorise

For an ultra-basic revision answer, remember the current harmful-act sequence:

Article 245

General harmful-act liability framework.

Article 246

Compensation obligation for harm.

Article 247

Direct and causative harm.

Article 248

Rules concerning destruction of another's property.

Article 249

External causes such as force majeure, sudden accident, third party or injured person's act.

Article 250

Self-defence.

Article 251

Attribution of the harmful act.

Article 252

Necessity / prevention of greater imminent harm.

Article 253

Multiple wrongdoers and claimant contribution.

Article 254

Moral harm.

Article 255

Assessment of compensation according to loss and naturally resulting lost profit.

40. Ultra-Basic Tort Keywords

Memorise these 30 keywords:

1. Tort
2. Harmful act
3. Tortfeasor
4. Victim
5. Fault
6. Negligence
7. Damage
8. Material damage
9. Moral damage
10. Causation
11. Direct harm
12. Causative harm
13. Liability
14. Joint liability
15. Contribution
16. Force majeure
17. External cause
18. Necessity
19. Self-defence
20. Fraud
21. Concealment
22. Compensation
23. Lost profit
24. Loss of opportunity
25. Future damage
26. Evidence
27. Expert
28. Remedy
29. Res judicata
30. Enforcement

41. Ultra-Final Tort Revision Formula

HARMFUL ACT

↓

FAULT / LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY

↓

DAMAGE

↓

CAUSATION

↓

LIABILITY

↓

EVIDENCE

↓

COMPENSATION

↓

JUDGMENT

↓

ENFORCEMENT

One-line exam memory rule

WHO caused WHAT harmful act, to WHOM, causing WHICH damage, through WHICH causal connection, subject to WHICH defence, proved by WHICH evidence, producing WHICH liability and WHICH remedy?

10-second revision

TORT = WRONGFUL/HARMFUL ACT + DAMAGE + CAUSATION + LIABILITY + REMEDY.

And for the current UAE Code, remember:

245–255 = Harmful Act → Liability → Defences → Multiple Wrongdoers → Moral Harm → Compensation.