Dubai Courts have begun to apply new legislation that decriminalises most cases of bounced cheques.
Only offences found to involve fraud – such as when a person deliberately sets out to deceive the recipient or withdraws funds before the cheque can be cashed – will be brought before the courts.
The move is in line with efforts to speed up judicial procedures and improve the efficiency of the court system.
“Criminalisation has been limited to cases of fraud in issuing a cheque or in cases where there were sufficient funds but were withdrawn by the issuer,” said Khalid Al Mansouri, Chief Judge of the Enforcement Court, in a statement.
He said settling cases out of court would lead to swifter resolution for complainants.
“This is in line with the initiatives and strategic plans of Dubai to support a sustainable economy and achieve faster, more accurate justice that represents the vision of Dubai Courts of becoming distinct courts globally,” he said.
In October last year, the UAE Cabinet updated the country's Federal Law on Commercial Transactions with several new provisions that aimed to discourage criminal lawsuits against people and businesses for bouncing cheques.
The updated law, which will come into effect across the country in 2022, redefines crimes involving bounced cheques and the issuance of cheques without value.
Under further amendments announced in November, the scope for criminalisation of returned cheques owing to insufficient funds has been narrowed and confined to cases of bad faith and other cheque crimes.
Courts in Dubai are already putting the procedures into effect.
Complainants can directly approach the judge to order payment of the cheque’s value or what is remaining of it.
Banks are also obliged to make partial payments by releasing any available funds in the bank account for the benefit of the cheque bearer unless the beneficiary disagrees.
In 2017, Essam Al Humaidan, Dubai’s attorney general, took steps to move cases of bounced cheques – that were included among a range of other minor offences – outside the court system.
The decision – known as the Penal Order – authorised Dubai prosecutors to issue fines against offenders instead of referring them to the courts.
Fines against bounced cheques up to Dh50,000 in value are Dh2,000. Those who bounce cheques of between Dh50,000 and Dh100,000 were fined Dh5,000.
Dh10,000 would be the fine for bounced cheques between Dh100,000 and Dh200,000.
Bounced cheques accounted for 83 per cent of cases settled without having to go to court in 2020, Mr Al Humaidan said.
Last year, 16,289 cases were settled out of Dubai's courts under the Penal Order, which involved Dh48.1 million ($13.1m) in fines.
These included 13,517 cases of bounced cheques.
“The Penal Order has achieved great results. It has saved time and effort and allowed courts to focus more on serious offences,” Mr Al Humaidan previously told The National.
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Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
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Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
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