Q: A friend of mine has a few criminal cases in Dubai for bounced cheques. The complainants of his bounced cheques are individuals. Criminal cases have been filed and a sentence of jail term has been imposed by the Dubai Court in Absentia. He would like to know the following: 1) If he reaches the settlement with the complainant, can the jail term be removed? 2) In some instances, if the complainant is not in Dubai anymore, then how can the settlement be reached in order for the jail term to be removed? Please advise. Thank you.

Q: I am Ravi, doing business in Ajman. I had to come to India on an emergency by Aug 18. Unfortunately, there was a cheque of AED 120K issued to one of the suppliers [in Sharjah] and it got bounced. I have personally called and informed them, upon reaching back I will give the money. They are not accepting my request and started threatening my son who's living alone in the UAE. He's calling me to India saying that they will put me in a UAE jail [in case I am there] and they are going to file a new case in India to stop me from travelling to the UAE. Now, they're demanding me to pay AED 140K, otherwise, they will not withdraw the case against me. If I arrange AED 90K now & surrender the passport, will the police allow me to go out to arrange the balance amount? In case I could arrange the full amount of AED 120K will they release me? Any possibility to clear it off without arresting me? If I arrive at Dubai Airport, will I be shifted to Sharjah? Or Ajman? Please advise how to resolve this.

Q: I have filed a case on a bounced cheque of 1.3 million AED. This is a criminal case filed in Sharjah, UAE. It's been two months and this individual has not been arrested yet. Furthermore, he is operating his business as usual and earning good profits. What is the procedure to ask the court to seal his business premises so he is pressured to pay?

In the UAE, cheque bounce is a very frequent problem faced by people during their span in the country. It is covered under the purview of Commercial Transactions Law, and legal implications/penalties can be financially severe and daunting for more “serious” offenses. Bounced cheque issues may arise in a variety of commercial transactions, including but not limited to, companies’ exchanges, bank loans, property rents or purchases, and individual transactions.

As the civil and commercial transactions in the UAE have been growing rapidly, and due to replacing cash with other financial instruments such as cheques for big amounts of money, this had caused some hiccups at times leading to criminal and civil consequences on the person who defaults on fulfilling obligations.

This Law promulgates the Federal Penal Code (Criminal Law) of the United Arab Emirates. Crimes and chastisement punishments shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other penal codes.

The law promulgates UAE Criminal Procedural Law (Penal Procedures Law) which governs criminal procedures in the UAE. This law applies to the procedures relating to offences whose punishments are not specified, dogma and punitive offences, and blood money, if they do not violate the Sharia rules.

The provisions of this law, promulgating UAE Civil Code, govern the civil transactions in the United Arab Emirates. The commercial transactions remain subject to the laws and regulations applicable in their regard.