The Dubai Civil Court of First Instance has ordered a Dubai government department to return Dh20 to a lawyer over a dispute.

According to official records, the Emirati lawyer Mohammad Al Mansouri, filed a civil case against the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department for collecting additional Dh20 fees while renewing his professional card.

In February 2019, a notification from the department to the lawyer sparked the dispute as he was told to pay a fine for not renewing the card, as well as extra renewal fees.

Al Mansouri told the court that he had been working as a lawyer since 2014 and had always renewed the card on time.

After visiting the department, he was told that there was a technical mistake in the system, according to records.

He applied for a renewal when a second mistake happened and he was only notified to pay Dh1,000 in fees for renewal and additionally charged Dh20 as knowledge and innovation fees.

In July 2019, he was told that he needed to pay the rest of the renewal fees - another Dh1,020.

According to Al Mansouri, he paid the knowledge and innovation fees twice due to the department’s mistake.

“I’m not in need of the Dh20 but the repeated mistakes by the department caused damages to me. I visited the department several times to solve the problem and that’s wasted my time too,” Al Mansouri said in official records.

He launched a civil case demanding that the Dh20 be returned, as well as Dh51,500 in compensation.

A lawyer representing the government department told the court that the department’s system sent automatic notifications to the lawyer as a reminder.

The court ordered the government department to repay the lawyer’s Dh20 and to cover all legal costs of the case.

The court, however, rejected the lawyer’s claim for Dh51,500 compensation.