Q: I have a cheque bounce case against me of 63830 Dhs and I paid 14000 out of this. I submitted a petition to get this money adjusted in the case balance. It was approved but the adjustment is not done yet. The other party's attorney has meanwhile requested the court to seize bank accounts, RTA, DLD, Central Bank... etc. to recover the money. I have a travel ban also. I have 2 Queries - How much time do I get to make all payments after all the seize requests has been applied to court. I mean how soon do Banks, RTA, DLD departments reply to court? - Can I get arrested if Banks do not get money in my account? I am willing to settle out of court. But as 14,000 was paid in the party's personal account, they did not acknowledge that in court despite I shared proof. So settlement if any, I want to do in court. Please suggest.

Q: A cheque bounced with an amount more than 1 million Dirhams but there's no legal agreement with the party. Questions: 1. If a case is filed against the cheque issuer, what will be the court stand? 2. How much time does it take by the court for judgement? 3. In whose favour will the judgement be? 4. Can the cheque issuer file a case against the borrower as there's no agreement with the party? And what will be the outcome?

Q: I have a bounced cheque of AED 75,000. It is under the name of a saloon and the owner is asking me to give her time to pay. She is telling me that she will pay me monthly starting this end of January, and she will pay AED 100,000 instead. Is it possible to do an agreement with this? If ever, is this valid in court?

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.

An interview-format article covering the topic of loans and bounced cheques in the UAE. This is from the legal podcast of lawyer Ludmila Yamalova, the founder of Lawgical with LYLAW.

What shall I do if I have a bounced cheque? You need to contact your lawyer as soon as possible to issue a travel ban against the person who issued the bounced cheque. It should be noted that time plays a very important role in bounced cheque cases.

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 provisions of this Decree by Law amend the Federal Law No. (18) of 1993 by replacing Clause (4) of Article (379) as well as Articles (600), (617), (641), (642), (643), (644), and adding new articles numbered (635) Bis, (641) Bis (1), (641) Bis (2), (641) Bis (3), (641) Bis (4), (643) Bis (1), (643) Bis (2), (644) Bis (1) and (644) Bis (2). The Decree-Law also repeals Articles (401), (402) and (403) of the Federal Law No. (3) of 1987.