Qanun: Arabic-First Legal Drafting and Translation for UAE Lawyers and Firms
2026-06-12 · 5 min read
Legal work in the UAE is bilingual by law. Onshore contracts must be in Arabic or accompanied by an Arabic version that prevails in case of dispute. Court filings are in Arabic. And yet most legal AI tools are built for English-language markets — LexisNexis, Harvey, Spellbook — and treat Arabic as an afterthought. Qanun is built Arabic-first.
Bilingual Drafting
Qanun generates court-ready legal documents in both English and Arabic simultaneously. You describe what you need — an NDA between two parties, an employment contract under MOHRE, a commercial tenancy for a Dubai office — fill in the structured fields, and Qanun produces a complete bilingual instrument in 20–30 seconds. The Arabic-prevailing clause is included by default. The output is formatted for a two-column DOCX (English left, Arabic right) or sequential layout (full English first, full Arabic second) — both formats accepted by UAE courts and notaries.
24 Document Types, Three Jurisdictions
Qanun covers 24 instruments across corporate, employment, real estate, finance, and technology categories. Jurisdiction is selectable: Onshore UAE (Civil Code), DIFC (English common law), or ADGM (English common law). The governing law clause, arbitration seat, and risk flags adjust accordingly — DIFC and onshore UAE are legally separate systems, and Qanun flags the distinction explicitly.
Arabic–English Translation
The Translate tab accepts any legal text — paste an Arabic judgment, an English contract, a DIFC court order — and produces a glossary-consistent translation. Qanun maintains a UAE legal termbase: الطرف الأول is always "First Party", القانون الواجب التطبيق is always "Governing Law", القوة القاهرة is always "Force Majeure". Generic translation tools (Google Translate, DeepL) do not apply legal terminology consistently across a document. Qanun does, because inconsistent terms in a legal translation can change meaning in court.
Contract Review
The Review tab analyses any UAE contract and flags jurisdiction-specific risks: missing VAT clause on a commercial agreement, non-compete exceeding the UAE Labour Law two-year limit, foreign governing law on an onshore UAE contract, freezone-to-mainland contracting without proper structure, gratuity clause conflicting with Federal Decree-Law No. 33/2021. Each flag cites the specific UAE law or regulation.
Pricing
Qanun is available on a 14-day free trial (15 translation pages, no credit card). Paid plans start at AED 449/month for solo practitioners and AED 999/month for teams of three.