Abu Dhabi: People who feel like they have been wronged by Abu Dhabi goverment departments or companies should not hesitate to take the matter to court, the Government Affairs Department at the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (AJDD) said today (Wednesday).
The Government Affairs Department tends to all court cases filed by or against non-federal government departments in the capital and aims to ensure that the public’s money is unharmed.
Between 2010 and 2014, the department has represented 101 out of the existing 155 government institutions, including diwans, funds, centres, companies, departments, authorities, majlises, committees and educational facilities.
During the five-year period, 2,907 cases were filed against various public institutions while 1,744 were filed by them against others. Around 40 per cent of these were financial cases, 30 per cent were to cancel administrative decisions and ask for a compensation while 15 involved rent issues and nine per cent were regarding medical mistakes. The remainder contained an assortment of topics.
The total number of verdicts that were issued in favour of the 101 prosecuted government entities from 2010 to 2014 was about 2,500 while those against them were approximately 900. “This could be due to a number of reasons including individuals’ failure to provide the necessary documents or take legal action within the permissible time-frame, among others,” said Hassan Salem Al Marashda, Head of the Government Affairs Division in Al Ain. Meanwhile, Nasser Ahmad Basslaib, Head of the Government Affairs Division in Abu Dhabi, said: “People have often requested a large compensation — usually a lot more than they deserve. During the five-year period, over Dh1 billion was asked by individuals filing lawsuits against government organisations. However, courts only allowed Dh650 million to be given.”
Basslaib also revealed that constant inspections into government departments mean that it is not within their best interests to delay or refrain from carrying out the verdicts against them in terms of compensation. “Most organisations feel that the sooner they pay what they are legally required to, the faster the case against them can be closed, which is to their benefit. Additionally, legal action can be taken against those who do delay payments,” the official added.
