A Royal Decree has been issued ratifying the Administrative Courts Law No. 27 of 2014. The Law, which was published in the Official Gazette on August 17, 2014 and comes into force after 60 days from its publication in the Official Gazette, abolishes and replaces the Higher Courts of Justice Law No. 12 of 1992 and establishes a two-degree adjudication system for administrative disputes.

Whilst the New Law introduces some major changes to the administrative judiciary system, most of the essential features of the Higher Court of Justice Law are maintained.

According to the new Law which is due to enter into force on October 17, 2014, all administrative decisions, including those issued by governmental bodies such at the Trademarks and Patents office, are now subject to appeal before the “Administrative Court” within 60 days as of the day of issuance of the appealed decision.

While decisions issued by the Higher Court of Justice were final and cannot be appealed, according to the new law, all decisions issued by the Administrative Court shall be subject to appeal before the “Higher Administrative Court” within 30 days of the date of issuance of the appealed decision.

By virtue of article 39 of the Law, all administrative cases currently under consideration by the Higher Court of Justice are to be referred to the Administrative Court as of October 17, 2014 from the point where it was left off.

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