Q: I am running a small company and I have a bounced cheque from my customer who really cheated me and he's not returning my goods; and now, he himself is asking me to file a case against him. What are the possibilities to recover my amount of AED 64000, as this has brought a great impact on my business stability?

Q: Hello, My father had a criminal case for bounced cheques. He has previously paid a part of the amount but failed to pay the full amount as his company faced losses and closed. He's now facing a jail time of 2 years. Now, the same person is filing a civil case. Could you please tell me how would this end? Thank you very much. (Please do keep in my mind he signed personal cheques).

Q: I had lent AED 56K to a person in Dubai. His cheque given to me has bounced for insufficient funds. If I file a police case against him, will he pay a nominal fine in the court & be free? Actually, this way he has done many cases like that. My issue is how to recover my money from him. Can I file a civil case against him? What is the procedure for filing a civil case? After filing the police complaint, the cheque will remain in the police file, then can I file a civil case without the bounced cheque? Can I file a civil case simultaneously with the police case?

Q: Hi, Could you please let me know what is the rule for cheque return that we give for our loan guarantee? We took a loan one year ago for AED 770,000 and now we can not pay the instalments. Our cheque is AED 1,200,000 and the bank deposited the cheque. They said they will open a case in Sharjah, and we don't know the cheque return rules in Sharjah. My husband is out of the country now and he wants to come back, but we're afraid if they open the case in Sharjah as we heard that they keep the person in jail until returning the full amount. Our loan was 4 years and the instalment was AED 25000. We paid 8 instalments. Now, the cheque returned and we don't know whether they've opened a case or no and if they opened what we should do. Please advise me if it's better for my husband not to come back to the UAE or to Sharjah. Also, will they fine him around AED 20000 without jail or they will keep him in jail. Thanks and regards

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: Hi there, Last year in January, one of my friends asked me to give cheques to him to buy a flat on rent and he gave me the reason that he is having bank issues that's why he cannot use his cheques. He promised me that he will pay on time and I will not face any issues. But after April, he stopped paying and I started getting calls and emails that I am having a case in the police and the civil court. I have a travel ban. My dept is 60,000 AED. I don't have enough money to pay this amount and that guy isn't paying either. Can anyone help me to get rid of this? Thanks in Advance!

Q: Dear Sir/Madam, I have filed a police report against someone who gave me a bounced cheque from a closed account. Until now, he has not been arrested. The police mentioned that he is not responding to their calls. Does that mean if he ignores the police calls, he will never be arrested? I don't know his address. How can the arrest process be expedited?

Q: I can't file a cheque case because I do not have the Emirates ID of the debtor. I got a court letter and tried with federal authority citizenship with no luck. They said they couldn't find this person with this name. Any other option to get his ID?

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.

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.

This Law applies to merchants, as well as to all acts of commerce carried out in the UAE by any person even though he be not a trader. Commercial matters regarding which specific Federal laws are issued shall be subject to the provisions of such laws, and to the provisions hereof which do not contradict with said laws.

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 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.

The provisions of this Federal Decree-Law No. (31) of 2021 Promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law, known as the "New UAE Penal Code", governs criminal actions in the United Arab Emirates. The New Penal Code repeals the previous UAE Penal Code (Federal Law No. (3) of 1987 Promulgating the Penal Code).