Federal Decree Law Concerning the Issuance of the Civil Transactions Law

The legislative provisions shall apply to all matters dealt with by those provisions in the letter and in the spirit . There shall be no scope for innovative reasoning in the case of provisions of definitive import . If the judge finds no provision in this Law, he must pass judgment according to the Islamic sharīʿa. Provided that he must have regard to the choice of the most appropriate solution from the schools of Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, and if none is found there, then from the schools of Imam al-Shafiʿi and Imam Abu Hanifa as dictated by expediency.

If the judge does not find the solution there, then he must render judgment in accordance with custom, but provided that the custom is not in conflict with public order or morals, and if a custom is particular to a given emirate, then the effect of it will apply to that emirate.

 

 

The rules and principles of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) shall be relied upon in the understanding, construction and interpretation of these provisions.

Public order shall be deemed to include matters relating to personal status such as marriage, inheritance, and lineage, and matters relating to sovereignty, freedom of trade, the circulation of wealth, rules of private ownership and the other rules and foundations upon which society is based, in such a manner as not to conflict with the definitive provisions and fundamental principles of the Islamic Shari'ah.

1-  It shall not be permissible to repeal a legislative provision or to suspend the operation of it save by a subsequent legislative provision expressly so enacting or which includes a provision inconsistent with the earlier legislative provision or which rearranges the subject matter the rules for which are already laid down in such legislation.

2- If a legislative provision repeals an earlier legislative provision and the later legislative provision is itself repealed, such repeal shall not result in the earlier provision coming into force again unless it is expressly so laid down.

1- Provisions relating to competence (legal capacity) shall apply to all persons to whom the conditions laid down in such provisions apply.

2- If a person is competent under old provisions and he loses that competence under new provisions, such loss shall not affect his earlier dispositions.

 

1-  The new provisions relating to limitation of time for claims shall apply as from the time they come into force to every period of limitation which has not expired.

2-  Provided that the old provisions shall apply to questions relating to the commencement of the running of time, and the suspension and interruption thereof, in relation to the period prior to the new provisions coming into force.

 

1-  If the new provision lays down a limitation period shorter than that laid down in the old provision, the new period shall apply from the time the new provision comes into effect notwithstanding that the old period has already commenced.

2-  If, however, the remainder of the period provided for under the old provision is shorter than the period provided for under the new provision, the period of limitation shall expire upon the expiry of that remainder.

The provisions relating to evidential proof current at the time such proof was prepared, or should have been prepared, shall apply thereto.

Times shall be calculated according to the solar (Gregorian) calendar unless the law provides otherwise.

The law of the State of the United Arab Emirates shall be the authoritative source in determining relationships when the nature of such relationships requires to be determined in a suit in which there is a conflict of laws as to the law to be applied between the parties.

1- The law of the state of which a person has the nationality shall apply to the civil status and competence of such person but nevertheless in financial dealings transacted in the State of the United Arab Emirates the results of which materialise therein, if one of the parties is an alien of defective capacity and the lack of capacity is attributable to a hidden cause which the other party could not easily discover, such cause shall have no effect on his capacity.

2- With regard to the legal regulation of foreign juridical persons including companies, associations, establishments and otherwise, the law of the state in which such bodies have their actual main administrative centre shall apply thereto, and if such a body carries on an activity in the State of the United Arab Emirates, the national (sc.UAE) law shall apply.

1- The substantive requirements for marriage shall be determined by the law of the state where the marriage was performed.

2-With regard to the form, a marriage between aliens or between a national and an alien shall be deemed to be valid if it is contracted in accordance with the rules of the country in which it took place, or if the rules laid down by the law of each of the spouses have been observed.

1. The law of the state where the marriage was performed shall govern the personal and financial effects entailed by the marriage.

2. The law of the state where the marriage was performed shall govern divorce by the husband, divorce officiated by the judge and separation.

In the circumstances provided for in the two foregoing Articles, if one of the spouses is a national at the time the marriage is contracted, the law of the United Arab Emirates alone shall apply, save in respect of the legal capacity to marry.

Obligations to support relatives shall be governed by the law of the person having such obligation.

Substantive matters relating to guardianship, trusteeship and maintenance and other systems laid down for the protection of persons having no competence or of defective competence or of absent persons shall be governed by the law of the person requiring to be protected.

1. Without prejudice to Paragraphs (3) and (4) of this Article, inheritance shall be governed by the law of the state where the deceased resided at the time of death. 

2. The financial rights existing on its territory and belonging to an alien having no heirs shall devolve to the State.

3. The substantive provisions of will and all dispositions made upon death hall be governed by the law of the state designated by the will or disposition or the law of the state whose nationality the person making the disposition holds at the time of death if the will or disposition does not designate a law. 

4. The form of the will and all dispositions made upon death shall be governed by the law of the state designated by the will or disposition, the law of the state whose nationality the person making the disposition holds at the time of issuance thereof or the law of the state in which the disposition was made. 

5. The laws of the United Arab Emirates shall govern the will issued by an alien regarding his property located at the State. 

1- Possession, ownership and other rights over property shall be governed by the lex situs in the case of real property, and movable property shall be subject to the law of the place in which such property is at the time when the cause resulting in the acquisition or loss of possession, ownership or other rights over the property arose.

2- The law of the state in which property is located shall determine whether such property is real or movable.

1- The form and the substance of contractual obligations shall be governed by the law of the state in which the contracting parties are both resident if they are resident in the same state, but if they are resident in different states the law of the state in which the contract was concluded shall apply unless they agree, or it is apparent from the circumstances that the intention was, that another law should apply.

2- The lex situs of the place in which real property is situated shall apply to contract made over such property.

1- Non-contractual obligations shall be governed by the law of the state in which the event giving rise to the obligation took place.

2- The provisions of the foregoing paragraph shall not apply to obligations arising out of an unlawful act in connection with events taking place abroad which are lawful in the State of the United Arab Emirates notwithstanding that they are considered to be unlawful in the country in which they took place.

The rules relating to jurisdiction, and all procedural matters, shall be governed by the law of the state in which the action is brought or in which the procedures are carried out.

The provisions of the foregoing Articles shall not apply in cases where there is a contrary provision in a special law or in an international convention in force in the State.

The principles of private international law shall apply in the absence of a relevant provision in the foregoing Articles governing the conflict of laws.

The law of the State of the United Arab Emirates shall apply in the case of persons of unknown nationality, or persons who are shown to have more than one nationality at the same time. Provided that in the case of persons shown to have at the same time the nationality of the United Arab Emirates and of another State, United Arab Emirates law must be applied.

If it appears from the provisions contained in the foregoing Articles that the law to be applied is the law of a particular state which has more than one legal system, the domestic law of that state shall determine which legal system is to be applied. In the absence of a specific provision, the prevailing system of law, or the law of the place of residence, as the case may be, shall apply.

1-  If it is established that a foreign law is to be applied, only the domestic provisions thereof shall be applied, to the exclusion of those provisions relating to private international law.

2-  Provided that the law of the United Arab Emirates shall apply if international law relating to applicable law provides that United Arab Emirates law shall apply.

 

The provisions of a law designated in Articles (10), (11), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24), (25) and (26) of the present Code shall not apply if such provisions contradict the provisions of the Islamic Sharia or the public order or morals in the United Arab Emirates.

The law of the United Arab Emirates shall be applied if it is impossible to prove the existence of an applicable law or to determine its effect.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Exceptions may not be used by analogy, nor may their interpretations be extended.

A mandatory provision (of law) shall take precedence over a contractual stipulation.

That without which an obligation cannot be performed is itself an obligation.

A rule shall depend on its cause for its existence and shall cease to be if the cause ceases to exist.

Fungibles shall not cease to exist.

Certainty shall not be removed by a doubt.

There is a presumption of continuance.

There is a presumption that an obligation has been discharged.

There is a presumption against the existence of supervening qualities.

A thing proved to have existed in the past shall be deemed still to exist in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

There is a presumption that an event (known to have occurred) has occurred in the immediate past.

No analogies may be drawn from what is shown to be contrary to analogy.

1-  No harm shall be done, nor harm done in return.

Necessity excuses the doing of a prohibited act.

The averting of evil is better than the doing of good.

Compelling need shall not annul the rights of others.

1-  Custom, whether general or particular, is binding.

2-  Regard shall be had to custom if it is of long duration and continuing, or is prevalent.

3-  Actual facts may be established by reference to custom.

Customary usage amounts to evidence (of rights and obligations) and shall be abided by.

What custom (or common knowledge) regards as impossible (absurd) shall be treated as what is in fact impossible (absurd).

Greater (evidential) weight shall be given to the prevailing and the commonplace than to the rare (and exceptional).

That which is established by custom is equivalent to a stipulated condition.

An obligation under custom has the same force as an expressly stipulated condition.

Where prohibition conflicts with an obligation, the prohibition shall take precedence.

That which is ancillary attaches (to the principal subject matter) and need not be separately specified.

If a matter ceases to exist, that which is incidental to it shall also cease to exist.

That which has lapsed (been waived) or ceased to exist shall not arise again.

A subordinate matter (right or obligation) shall be annulled if the principal matter (right or obligation) is annulled.

If (and only if) the original thing is lost, an obligation may be performed by use of a substitute.

A disposition affecting the public must, to be valid, be in the public interest.

An answer refers back to the question. 

No regard shall be had to mere possibilities.

No regard shall be had to an (act performed in consequence of a) belief which is shown to be wrong.

If a matter is established by (proper lawful proof, (the effect is tantamount to the judge being) as an eye-witness.

A person shall be bound by his admissions.

A subsidiary matter may be proved without the principal matter being proved.

A matter which is (merely) outwardly apparent suffices as a defence (to maintain the status quo), but not to establish a (positive claim of) right.

The yield (esp. of animals or land) belongs to (him who undertakes) the burden (of making the payment for the upkeep of the thing producing the yield).

(He who has) the advantage (of e.g. an arrangement must bear) the burden (e.g. of contributing his share).

No person may validly make a disposition over the property of another.

He who prematurely obtains a thing shall be penalised by being deprived of it.

No person may resile from what he has (conclusively) performed.

1- The personality (status of person) of a human being shall commence at the moment of being born alive.  It shall terminate upon his death.

2- The law shall lay down the rights of a fetus in utero.

 

1- The facts of birth and death shall be recorded (or: proved) by entries in registers kept for that purpose.

2- If there is no such evidence or if it should appear that the entries in the register are incorrect, it shall be permissible to prove the same by any legal means of proof.

 

Provisions relating to foundlings shall be laid down in a special law.

The provisions relating to lost and missing persons shall be laid down in a special law.

1-The nationality of the State of the United Arab Emirates shall be regulated by law.

2- By the word "national", wherever it appears in the Civil Code, shall be meant any person having the nationality of the United Arab Emirates.  By the word "alien" shall be meant any person who does not have the nationality of the United Arab Emirates.

 

1-The family of a person shall consist of his spouse and relatives.

2-All persons coming from a common stock shall be deemed to be relatives.

1- A direct relationship is the relationship of root and branch (direct lineage).

2- An indirect relationship is the link between persons of a common stock without direct lineage, whether or not within the degree of consanguinity precluding marriage.

 

In calculating the degree of direct relationship each upwards stage of generation to the source shall be regarded as one degree away from that source.  In calculating the degree of indirect relationship degrees of ascent from the descendants to the common origin shall be taken into account, and then downwards from him to the last generation, and each stage shall be counted as a degree with the exception of the common source.

One of the relations of the spouses shall be regarded as having the same degree of relationship to the other spouse.

1- Each person shall have a name and a surname, and his surname shall attach to the names of his children.

2- A special law shall regulate the manner of acquisition and changing of names and surnames.

1- A residence (mawtin) is the place in which a person normally resides.

2- A person may have more than one residence at the same time.

3- If a person does not have a place in which he normally resides, he shall be deemed to be without a residence.

The place in which a person carries on a trade, profession or occupation shall be deemed to be a residence in connection with the administration of the business relating to such trade, profession or occupation.

1- The residence of a person of defective capacity or a person under a restriction, and missing or absent persons, shall be the residence of the person representing such persons at law.

2- A person of defective capacity who is authorised to trade shall have a special residence in relation to the work and dealings which the law regards him as having capacity to transact.

1- It shall be permissible to adopt an elective place of residence to carry out a specific legal operation.

2- An elective place of residence may only be proved by writing.

3- An elective place of residence to carry out a legal operation shall be the residence in relation to all matters connected with that operation including compulsory enforcement proceedings unless it is expressly stated that that residence is restricted to certain matters exclusively.

1- Every person who has reached the age of majority in possession of his mental powers and who has not been placed under a restriction shall be of full capacity to exercise his rights laid down in this law and the laws deriving from it.

2- A person shall be of the age of majority upon reaching the age of twenty one lunar years.

1- No person who lacks discretion by reason of youth, imbecility or insanity shall be competent to exercise his civil rights.

2- Persons under the age of seven years shall be deemed not to have reached the age of discretion.

Any person who has reached the age of discretion but has not reached the age of majority and any person who has reached the age of majority but is an idiot or of unsound mind shall be of defective capacity under the law.

Persons of no capacity or of defective capacity as the case may be shall, with regard to guardianship, tutelage and custodianship, be subject to the relevant conditions in accordance with the rules laid down by law.

No person may divest himself of his personal liberty or of his capacity, or vary the concomitants thereof.

Any person who suffers an unlawful infringement of any of the rights appurtenant to him as a person shall have the right to require that such infringement cease, together with compensation for any damage suffered by him.

Any person whose use of his name or surname or both is disputed by another without justification or whose name or surname or both are wrongfully assumed by another shall have the right to require that such infringement do cease and to claim compensation for any harm suffered.

Juridical persons shall consist of the following:-

(a)  the State, the (individual) Emirates, the Municipalities and other administrative units, under the conditions laid down for them by law;

(b)  public departments, authorities and bodies and public institutions and establishments upon which a judicial personality is conferred by law;

(c)  Islamic bodies recognised by the State as having a juridical personality;

(d)  waqfs;

(e)  civil and trading companies, save as excluded by a special provision;

(f)  private societies and establishments established in accordance with the law; and

(g)  any grouping of persons or property having a juridical personality under the provisions of the law.

 

(1)  A juridical person shall enjoy all rights, save those pertaining (exclusively) to the capacity of being a natural person, within the limits laid down by law.

(2)  Such persons shall have:‑

(a)  separate financial liability;

(b)  legal capacity within the limits laid down by the document establishing it, or as laid down by law;

(c)  the right to bring proceedings; and

(d)  a separate place of residence.  The place of residence of a juridical person shall be deemed to be the place in which it has its administrative centre, and so far as concerns juridical persons whose head office is abroad but which carry on an activity in the State, their administrative centre, with regard to the law of the State, shall be deemed to be the place at which the local administration is situated.

(3)  Such persons must have a (natural) person to express their intentions.

Juridical persons shall be subject to the special laws pertaining to them.

Property ("mal") is any thing or right having a material value in dealing.

Property may be "mutaqawwim" or "non-mutaqawwim". Mutaqawwim property is that which it is permissible for a Muslim lawfully to enjoy, and non-mutaqawwim property is that which it is not permissible for a Muslim lawfully to enjoy.

Any thing which can be possessed whether physically or constructively, or which may be lawfully enjoyed, and which does not by its nature or by operation of law fall outside the scope of dealing (transactions), shall be a proper subject of property rights.

Things which are by their nature outside the scope of dealing are those which no person may possess exclusively, and things which are outside the scope of dealing by operation of law are those which the law does not permit to be the subject of property rights.

1- Fungible things are those whose units or parts are of a replaceable nature, or nearly so, in such a way that by custom other things can take their place without any appreciable distinction, and which are calculated in dealing by number, measurement, capacity or weight.

2- Non-fungibles are those things whose individual instances differ appreciably as to description or value, or which are unique in circulation.

 

1- Consumable things are those the nature of which cannot be enjoyed save by consuming or spending them.

2- Usable things (durables) are those which can only be enjoyed by repeated use, they retaining their specific identity.

 

 

Any thing of a permanently fixed nature and which cannot be removed without damaging or altering its surroundings shall be regarded as real property.  Everything else shall be regarded as movable property.

Real property by allocation (i.e. intended to serve as part of the real property) is movable property placed by an owner in real property of his, with the intent of its being used or exploited, even though not (permanently) fixed to the real property.

1- All real property or movables owned by the State or public juridical persons, allocated in fact or in law for the public benefit, shall be deemed to be public property.

2- In no circumstances may such property be disposed of or distrained (attached) or pass into (private) ownership by effluxion of time.

 

The doing of what is permitted by law negates liability, and no person who lawfully exercises his rights shall be liable for any harm arising thereout.

1- It is proper that a private harm be borne to avert a public harm.

2- It is proper that a greater harm be removed by (inflicting) a lesser harm.

1- A person shall be held liable for an unlawful exercise of his rights.

2- The exercise of a right shall be unlawful:

a- if there is an intentional infringement (of another's rights);

b- if the interests which such exercise of right is designed to bring about are contrary to the rules of the Islamic Shari'ah, the law, public order, or morals;

c- if the interests desired are disproportionate to the harm that will be suffered by others; or

d- if it exceeds the bounds of usage and custom.

A right may be personal, property or moral (choses in action).

A personal right is a legal relationship between an obligee and an obligor whereby the obligee has a claim against his obligor for the transfer of a property right, or to perform or refrain from performing an act.

1-  A property right is a direct power over a particular thing, given by law to a particular person.

2-  A property right may be original or consequential.

1- Original property rights are rights of ownership, disposal, usufruct, use, residence or shared occupation, rights of easement, waqfs, and rights which the law provides shall be deemed to be such.

2- Consequential property rights are mortgages for security, possessory mortgages, and liens.

1-  Moral rights are those which subsist over a non-material thing.

2-  Rights of authors, inventors, artists, and rights in trade marks and other moral rights, shall be governed by the provisions of special laws.

 

Evidence to prove a right shall take the following forms:-

(a)  writing;

(b)  testimony;

(c) circumstantial evidence;

(d)  eye-witness and expert evidence;

(e)  admissions; and

(f)  evidence on oath.

 

The burden lies on an obligee to prove his right, and on an obligor to refute it.

Writing, testimony and conclusive circumstantial evidence, as well as eye-witness and expert evidence, shall be valid as against other parties, but an admission shall be valid against the maker thereof alone.

Any testimony by which an advantage is gained by or a detriment averted from the witness shall be rejected.

The testimony of a deaf person, and his oath, shall be admitted by his accustomed signs, if he is unable to write.

The burden of proof is upon him who asserts, and the oath (of denial) must be taken by him who denies.

(Independent) evidence must be produced to establish what is contrary to the apparent facts, and the oath must be taken to show that the facts presumed to exist are true.

The oath shall be accepted from one who takes it to discharge himself, but not to bind another.

(1)  The oath shall only be taken on the application of the opposing party.

(2)  It shall be permissible for the judge, of his own motion, to direct that a party take the oath in the following circumstances:

(a)  if he claims a right in an inheritance and establishes the same, he shall take the oath of istithaq to show that he has not received what is due to him from the deceased, and that he has not discharged him, that he has not assigned his rights to another, and that there is no pledge in existence as against such right;

(b)  in the event of proof of his entitlement to property, he shall take the oath to show that he has not sold such property or that he has not given it as a gift, or that it has not left his possession by any other means;

(c)  in the event that a sale is rescinded for a defect, he must swear that he did not consent to the defect either by word or deed; or

(d)  in the event of a judgment for a right of pre-emption, he must take the oath to show that his right of pre-emption has not lapsed for any reason.

 

The evidence of a translator registered in the special register shall be accepted, as laid down by law.

Conflicting evidence shall have no force, but (sic) it shall be of no effect in the judgment of a court if it is proved thereafter, and an interested party shall have a claim for indemnity against the witness. 

In the rules and procedures for proof and the adducing of evidence of a right, the Courts shall apply the provisions laid down in special laws, to the extent that the same do not conflict with the foregoing provisions.