Abu Dhabi includes Hindi as third official court language
Dubai : In a landmark decision, Abu Dhabi has included Hindi as the third official language used in its courts, alongside Arabic and English, as part of a move designed to improve access to justice.
The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department on Saturday said it has extended the adoption of interactive forms of statement of claims filed before courts by including the Hindi language alongside Arabic and English in labour cases.
This is aimed at helping Hindi speakers to learn about litigation procedures, their rights and duties without a language barrier, in addition to facilitating registration procedures via unified forms available through the ADJD website, the judicial body said.
According to official figures, the UAE population is estimated to be around five million of which 2/3rd are immigrants from foreign countries.
The Indian community in the UAE, numbering 2.6 million, constitutes 30 per cent of the total population and is the largest expatriate community in the country.
Yousef Saeed Al Abri, undersecretary of the ADJD, said the adoption of multilingual interactive forms for claim sheets, grievances and requests, aims to promote judicial services in line with the plan Tomorrow 2021, and increase the transparency of litigation procedures.
"This is in addition to facilitating registration procedures to the public through simplified and easy forms and raising litigants' legal awareness via interactive forms of the statements of claims, to ensure access to the legal materials related to the subject of the dispute," Al Abri was quoted as saying by the Khaleej Times.
He indicated that the extension of the adoption of interactive forms in several languages comes under the directives of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and ADJD Chairman.
Al Abri explained that the adoption of new languages comes as part of the bilingual litigation system, the first phase of which was launched in November 2018, through the adoption of procedures requiring the plaintiffs to translate the case documents in civil and commercial lawsuits into English, if the defendant is a foreigner.
"The foreign investor receives the case files translated, thus contributing to the provision of a global judicial service that meets the requirements of residents in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi," he added.
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Son of civic sweeper cracks UPSC exam
Thane (PTI): For 32-year-old Prashant Suresh Bhojane, whose mother works as a civic sweeper in Maharashtra's Thane city, cracking the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam was always his dream, and he persevered against all odds to finally fulfil the goal.
In the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2023 final results declared on Tuesday, he passed the exam by securing the 849th rank.
Prashant had started the journey towards fulfilling his dream in 2015, when he first appeared for the exam, and finally cracked it in the ninth attempt.
His achievement gave a reason to cheer for the residents of Khartan Road Sweepers Colony, where his family lives, as they took out a procession in celebration on Wednesday night. A few local politicians also took part in it.
Prashant's mother works as a sweeper with the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), while his father is a Class IV employee in the civic body. He completed his engineering degree, but was not interested in doing a job in that field as becoming an IAS officer was always his dream, his family members said.
Talking to PTI, Prashant said that while appearing for the UPSC exam, he started working in Delhi in 2020 at a competitive exam coaching centre, where he was given the job of checking mock exam papers of students.
"That way I could study as well as earn my livelihood," he said.
He said his parents would regularly ask him to stop giving the exams and return home, but he was confident and determined that he would achieve his goal one day.
"When I was appearing for the UPSC exam, my parents silently suffered throughout, but it has now paid off," he said.
His father Suresh Bhojane said he was very happy to see his son passing the UPSC exam.
"Earlier, I wanted my son to start doing a job, but now we feel that what he had decided was just right," he said.
Jagdish Kairalia, general secretary of 'Shramik Janata Sangh Union' that controls the labour union in several civic bodies, said Prashant's success story was celebrated in every house in the locality.
"One should not underestimate the sweepers as their children also have talent. This boy has proven it and made us proud. He is a role model for others in the colony," he said.
