The Civil Court of the Maldives has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the owner of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy building, seeking over $92,000 (MVR 1.4 million) in unpaid rent.
The UAE Embassy office was housed across three floors of Newsha building in Galolhu from 1 May 2020 to 31 October 2022. Initially, the property was leased to a third party under a construction-lease agreement. The embassy had negotiated the lease with that party. However, the lease was transferred to the building’s owner in August 2022, at which point the embassy was informed of the change.
The lawsuit alleged that, despite notifying the landlord of their intention to vacate, the embassy continued to use the property until October 2022 without paying rent. The plaintiff claimed that the embassy owed more than $42,900 in unpaid rent for the period during which they continued to occupy the premises. Additionally, the embassy allegedly terminated the lease without the required three months’ notice, a violation of the lease agreement, which mandated a further $48,720 in compensation.
In total, the landlord sought over $92,000, including legal costs, for the unpaid rent and the three-month notice compensation.
Despite these claims, the UAE Embassy refused to cooperate in the proceedings, returning all relevant documents and declining to collect any further paperwork related to the case.
In her ruling on Thursday, Judge Hafiza Abdul Sattar cited the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which grants embassies and high commissions certain privileges. Under the Maldives’ Civil Procedure Code, entities with diplomatic privileges are immune from civil suits in Maldivian courts. As such, the court ruled that the UAE Embassy, as a place of diplomatic privilege, could not be prosecuted.
The court’s decision echoed a similar case involving the Indian Embassy. The Maldives’ Supreme Court had previously ruled that foreign embassies cannot be sued in the Maldives due to the country’s obligations under the Vienna Convention.
