Q: So my friend asked me to give him a loan of AED 17,000 and he said he would give me interest. I was not aware at the time that interest is not allowed on private loans between individuals. For 5 years he said he would pay me back but he hasn't till now. I only asked him to simply repay me the principal amount and that I don't need any interest at this point. He kept stalling and finally, I was fed up with it and informed him Ill be filing a case. Now he is angry and he threatened me by saying that he will sue me back since interest on personal loans is not allowed. It's like he knew about all this from the start and he coerced me into this. I think his plan all along was to take the loan from me, offer me interest knowing it's not allowed, and then use that excuse not to repay it. He runs several businesses and surely has an idea of corporate laws but I'm just an ignorant employee. Please tell me what I can do in this situation. Will I be able to recover the amount?

Q: Dear sir/madam, I gave one of my friends AED 35,000/- to set up his business in Dubai. It has been almost a year now and he's not willing to give me my money back. I gave him the money via cheques, but we didn't sign any agreement.

Q: I gave AED 200K amount to my friend to start up a new restaurant in Abu Dhabi. For the last 1 year, he did not pay me anything and always have some excuses. Need legal advice about my rights and how to handle this situation.

Both creditors and borrowers must be aware of their rights and responsibilities when navigating the complicated laws and regulations of debt collection in the United Arab Emirates. In order to guarantee equitable treatment for all parties concerned, a set of laws and regulations control the legal debt collection procedure in the United Arab Emirates.

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.

The law promulgates UAE Civil Procedures Code (Civil Procedure Law) which governs civil procedures in the United Arab Emirates, including the prosecution before the courts, litigation and execution.