MENA

Abu Dhabi folds AI into its courts, starting in September(gulfnews.com)

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department plans to fold artificial intelligence into every stage of a court case, starting in September, in what it calls a first for judicial systems anywhere: reading a file, researching the relevant law and precedent, and preparing a first draft of what a judge would otherwise write alone. Judges keep the final say on every ruling; the system prepares groundwork, not decisions. The change is scheduled to arrive in phases over eighteen months, so what a lawyer with a matter before an Abu Dhabi court actually notices will build up gradually rather than switch on overnight.

E-Courts·28 Jul·3 sources

White & Case invests in Saudi legal AI platform Clauze(legaltechnology.com)

White & Case has taken a stake in Clauze.AI, an AI system aimed at contract review, governance and due diligence for companies operating in Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf, in what the firm says is its first stake in a Middle Eastern technology venture. The product was founded by Waad Alkurini, who spent a decade at White & Case's Riyadh office; it works bilingually in Arabic and English, and keeps client data resident inside the Kingdom. Neither side disclosed how much was invested.

Fundraising·10 Sep·White & Case, Clauze.AI·3 sources

Egypt trains state lawyers on AI under a new protocol(masrawy.com)

Egypt's National Telecommunication Institute and the State Lawsuits Authority, the body that represents the state in litigation, have signed a protocol to build shared training in AI, cybersecurity and digital transformation for its counsellors and for members of other judicial bodies. It follows a 2025 pilot, the AI Ambassadors programme, that put more than 600 counsellors through training, with a second cohort now under way. The protocol is about capacity-building rather than deployment: it sets no budget, timeline or target for actually putting AI into a case.

E-Courts·31 Aug·3 sources