In the UAE mainland, there is no concept of legal privilege as it is understood in common law jurisdictions.

Communications between an attorney and client are treated as confidential. The principle of the confidentiality of communication between attorneys and clients is entrenched in professional codes of conduct and laws governing the legal profession.

These laws and codes bind members of the legal profession and do not apply to or restrict disclosure by clients of information and advice provided by external legal advisers at the client’s request.

Disclosure is permissible in very limited cases, including where:

• The written consent of the client or the written consent of the rightful owner of the confidential information has been obtained
• An express court judgment ordering such disclosure has been obtained, and then only to the extent needed by the court
• The attorney, their partners or employees are accused of a criminal charge or a civil claim arising from the relationship with the client or of negligence or professional misconduct

In the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), there are provisions in the DIFC laws and regulations that are relevant to the concept of privilege:

• The Code of Conduct of Legal Practitioners in the DIFC courts imposes a duty on practitioners to keep information communicated by their client confidential unless such disclosure is authorized by the client, ordered by the DIFC court or required by law. This duty continues even after the practitioner has ceased to act for the client.
• The glossary of the DIFC courts includes a definition of “privilege”, and it is the right of a party to refuse to disclose or produce a document or to refuse to answer questions on the ground of some special interest recognized by law.
• Moreover, a “privileged communication” is defined in the set of regulations of the Dubai Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA), the regulator of financial services in the DIFC, as “a communication attracting a privilege arising from the provision of professional legal advice and any other privilege properly applicable at law to the communication in question, but does not include a general duty of confidentiality.”

In the ordinary course of events, a “privileged communication” would be protected against compulsory disclosure, except in circumstances where the DFSA, as the regulator of banks and financial institutions licensed in the DIFC, requests the disclosure of such information and documents in the context of an audit or investigation of a regulated entity.