Q: Dear Sir/Madam, Can a clinic and a doctor sue me for defamation if I mention the doctor's name in a negative review of the clinic on Google Maps? Also if they were to proceed with legal action, as they are threatening to do so if I don’t take the review down, how would that affect me as I am not a resident in Dubai and only visit once every 6 months?

Q: Greetings, I appreciate the information. A spouse opens a case for divorce based on false accusations and lies which result in ruining the partner’s reputation, causing mental stress and financial damage. Since the divorce was denied by the appeal court, can the affected partner open a case of defamation or disobedience? The spouse refuses to live with her husband for more than 16 months and holding the kids from seeing or speaking to father and holding the kids' passports. The husband has tried hiring three different lawyers to help his cause but made it more complicated and financially very difficult. Please advise

Q: I filed a criminal case for physical domestic violence, defamation, and threats made towards me in December 2018. After a long process in the public prosecution and evidence collected as well as witness testimony, the first instance court gave a judgment to the accused of 3 months imprisonment, deportation and a 10K fine in November 2019. The accused appealed the case and, on ALL three charges, he got "innocent". I made the request to the public prosecution to re-appeal the appeal and send it to the cassation court. They sent me a rejection SMS 1 day after I made the request. How can this be? The public prosecution is supposed to be my defender in this case. I do not feel safe as a single woman living here anymore. It is not easy for me to leave because I have children who attend school here and he threatened them as well. I need to know if there are any steps I can take to make the cassation courts take this seriously and look at the file again.

Q: Dear Lawyers, My former partner in the company has been saying bad things about me and my family, especially after his cheque payment bounced. He directly threatened, via his company email, to defame me among my relatives. He also sent a WhatsApp voice message (in Persian) to my brother-in-law, filled with offensive language and defamation threats against me and my family. 1) Are the email and WhatsApp voice messages sufficient proof to file a defamation case? 2) Can I send him a legal notice in advance and request an apology letter within 7 days? 3) Do I have the right to ask for a signed apology letter addressed to me and my family? 4) Can I share the apology letter with the people he defamed me to?

Q: A verbal abuse complaint was filed against me. Though there is no witness and no direct evidence, there are a few indirect WhatsApp messages that may be open to interpretation and were provided by the complainant. The police filed a case and seized my phone. It has now been over 3 months. The police transferred to the public prosecutor. However, the case was returned with a recommendation for settlement or moving to a one-day court. The complainant refused to settle before and now does not answer the police calls when they try to get the complainant to sign the notice for one one-day court hearing so this can move forward. I am following up with the police every week but there is no progress. What can be done now? Can I request the police to close the case or move it to one-day court regardless? What are my options?

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).

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.