The UAE Jurists' Association said it will appeal against a ruling by the Civil Court to allow expatriate lawyers to appear in courts.

The court rejected two earlier decisions by the Director-General of Dubai Courts to stop expatriate lawyers from appearing in the Courts of Appeal and of Cassation and gave them until 2010 to appear in the Court of First Instance.

In a statement, the Jurists' Association said it will appeal against the ruling to protect the rights of UAE lawyers. It said Article 10 of Federal Law No 23 of 1991, has made the profession the exclusive preserve of nationals. It considered as exceptional the practice of the profession by non-nationals. Meanwhile, Egyptian advocate Hamdi Al Sheewi, who lodged the civil lawsuit that led to the ruling, said an Arab lawyer's right to appear in the UAE courts is decided by laws issued by the authority concerned. If the law prevents him, then a lawyer has no right to utter a word, but if an issued law gives him that right, the Jurists' Association has no right to utter a word.