The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation upheld the decision of the Abu Dhabi Education Council, ADEC, to close Al-Worood Academy Private School, following the death of a three-year-old pupil in a school bus.
It cited that the death of the child, Naziha Alaa, was not an individual incident, but resulted from a major breach in security, safety and health requirements in a way that jeopardizes the lives and safety of students.
The ADEC had set up a committee to investigate the incident and had decided to suspend the school, placing it under the administrative and financial supervision of the council until its closure. The ADEC also rejected a petition by the Academy against its decision.
The Academy filed a lawsuit before the Abu Dhabi Administrative Court to demand the cancellation of the ADEC’s decision, describing it as contrary to the provisions of private schools regulations and calling the death incident an individual case.
For its part, the ADEC rejected the school's plea before the court, stressing that the decision was the result of a serious violation committed by the school.
The Court of First Instance rejected the school's case. So, the school lodged an appeal before the Court of Appeal, which overturned the initial judgment of closure and consequent effects.
The ADEC contested the Appeal Court's ruling before the Court of Cassation, which referred it to the Court of Appeal. Once more, the tribunal overturned the ADEC's decision. The ADEC again referred the case to the Court of Cassation, which upheld the ADEC's closure decision.
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