Big cheque
A reader from Dubai asks: I have a cheque for a big amount of Dh1.5 million from a businessman due to commercial transactions. Three months ago, I filed complained against the owner of the bounced cheque in police station and then the said owner of the cheque was referred to the criminal court which ordered the man to be held in custody for two years. The appeal court reduced the jail term to only one year. Presently, the owner of the cheque is in prison, I inquired about the judgement. I found the court has not directed the owner of the cheque to pay the cheque amount, but only ordered imprisonment for the owner of the cheque. My question here is; Do I need to file a civil case to claim the cheque amount? Do I need to prove my case with a proper document about the civil court or the court will consider the case and pass judgement in my favour when I prove the owner of the cheque is already in jail and was found guilty by the criminal court. Please advise.
I would like to clarify that the criminal court which passed judgement in the cheque case provided the person who issued the cheque with two options — either pay the cheque amount or face imprisonment if the cheque amount is big. This is the only procedure that shall be applied by the criminal court as per the law, In this case since the person did not pay the cheque amount, he went to jail. Therefore, the questioner shall file a civil case to claim the cheque amount. The fact that the person who issued the cheque was convicted by the criminal court does not necessarily mean he would be convicted before the civil court. Therefore, the questioner shall provide the civil court with all evidence to claim the amount of the cheque, if he has the right for the same, and maybe he can ask the court to assign an accounting expert to ascertain the reality of such debt.
Absconding complaint
A reader from Dubai asks: I worked in a company for more than three years. Due to business problems my company did not pay my salary on time and requested me verbally to take unpaid leave and work temporary for some time in another company and then come for cancellation. I left the company for six months. Later I came to know that my company filed an absconder complaint against me in the Ministry of Labour just two weeks after I left the company. I tried to convince the Ministry of Labour that the complaints were false, but to no avail. My question here is; 1. How can I come out of this problem and get my right and pay for my credit card. If not, I will face bank problem. 2. What is the way to lift the absconder ban? Please advise.
I would like to advise the questioner who has been requested by the employers to take unpaid leave that such procedure is contrary to the law. The employer is obliged by law to pay the employee’s salary as long as such employee is on the employer’s sponsorship even if no work has been assigned to him. As for the absconder complaint against the questioner, he has no choice but to try to prove before the Ministry of Labour that he had not absconded from the sponsor and such complaint is malicious, In case the ministry did not accept the questioner request, he has the right to request the Ministry of Labour to refer the case to the competent court and the questioner will have more chance to prove his case. In case the judgement is in favour of the questioner then the absconder ban may be lifted by the ministry as per that judgement.
New job
A reader from Dubai asks: I got a good offer from a new company and accepted it, I already signed the offer letter and also mentioned that I should join within one month, but when I went o resign, my current employer offered me the same salary that was being offered by my new employer and requested me to stay. My question here is; If I don’t join the new employer in a month, can they take any legal action against me? Please advise.
I would like to clarify that the questioner may continue work with the current employer with the new offer and he will not bear any responsibility if he did not join the new company, especially as the questioner is still on the residence permit of the current employer.
— Compiled by Bassam Za’za, Legal and Court Correspondent
(Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba is a lawyer with Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants)