IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE MARRIAGE IN THE TERRITORY OF ARAB EMIRATES, YOU ARE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED TO READ THE LOCAL LEGISLATION. AND ALSO WITH FAMILY CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS - WHAT THE MARRIAGE TIES WILL BE STRONG AND IMPOSSIBLE Marriage did not seem to you FOR TODAY.
The Law "On Personal Status" was adopted on the basis of the norms and principles of traditional Sharia law, taking into account the changing needs of modern society. Non-Muslim expatriates may apply for a court to apply their country's law in the UAE. The Law on Civil Law Transactions defines the applicable law for various categories of cases. However, in practice, foreign laws are rarely applied for the following reasons:
- The application of foreign laws is a laborious and complex procedure. The court must provide the relevant laws of another country, translated into Arabic. The application of precedents and case law as a whole makes this task burdensome and difficult to accomplish.
- Foreign laws are not subject to application if they are contrary to public order, morality or Islamic Sharia standards (Article 27 of the Civil Procedure Law).
- Foreign laws will not be applied if their effect cannot be determined (Article 28 of the Civil Procedure Law). Thus, if a judge in Dubai is not ready to clearly interpret foreign law, he will be guided by local law.
- Foreign law can be applied to one foreign citizen, but in contrast to this, under the laws of the UAE, it will be possible to apply the local law of the UAE if this party has dual citizenship or is not established (Article 24 of the Civil Procedure Law).
- According to the current legislation, each party has the right to insist on the application of the law of its own country. However, in practice, UAE courts will only apply foreign law if both parties agree on this.
FAMILY RELATIONS
Family legal relations in the UAE are regulated by the following legislative acts:
Federal Law No. 28 of 2005 on Personal Status,
Federal Law No. 5 of 1985 on Civil Law Transactions;
Federal Law No. 11 of 1992 on Civil Procedure
Marriage recognition
For a marriage concluded outside the United Arab Emirates to be recognized as valid, a certificate of marriage must be legalized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country in which it was concluded, and then at the UAE embassy located in that country. Further legalization activities should be carried out at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates.
Under certain circumstances, even properly executed marriage certificates will not be sufficient to be recognized in the UAE. For example, marriages between a Muslim and a non-Muslim, such as a Christian and a Jew, are not recognized as Islamic.
Validity of a prenuptial agreement
Muslim couples (UAE citizens and foreigners) sign a marriage contract (nikah) if they enter into an Islamic marriage in the country of Islamic law or elsewhere. The marriage contract contains a section that allows you to specify a dowry (mahr). It is the payment of a certain amount of money / values in favor of the wife, partly at the time of marriage (mukadam) and partly in case of divorce or death of the husband. The dowry norm must be present in the contract to ensure its legal force. The contract was previously seen as a preliminary marriage contract due to the dowry clause, but this position is far from the truth. There are restrictions as to what can be included in a marriage contract, and what is contrary to public order or sharia, and therefore excluded.
Some wives may use the term "dowry" to their advantage in the negotiation process and agree to a smaller amount of dowry on alternative terms. The terms of the contract are discussed by the future husband and father of the wife or other male mentor. If a Muslim couple intends to refer in the future to a prenuptial agreement drawn up in another country, it is likely that the courts in the UAE will not speed up the implementation of the decision on such an agreement, especially regarding children. Under Sharia law, a couple is not entitled to enter into an agreement / contract for children who have not yet been born.
The contract will be declared invalid or void if any clause in it contradicts sharia, public order and morality in the UAE (Article 27 of the Civil Procedure Law). Public order is defined in Article 3 of the Civil Procedure Law as “issues related to personal status”. This means that any conditions in the contract that are contrary to morality in the UAE (for example, a link in a contract for the stay of an unmarried couple) will be deemed invalid.
Divorce
For Muslims in the UAE, divorce is the termination of a marriage contract between the parties. A divorce can be initiated by a husband or wife if her husband gave her such a right (isma) in a prenuptial agreement. Otherwise, the wife may initiate a divorce for "damage" reasons. The definition of damage is broad and includes 7 grounds for divorce (they will be listed below).
There are two ways to divorce:
- After pronouncing or writing the word “talak” (which means “I will divorce you” in Arabic), a husband or wife (if she has Isma) in the presence of a witness. For Muslims, this is a religious method of real divorce, but for divorce, legally recognized in court, it must be recorded and receive confirmation. (Section 106 of the Personal Status Law prescribes: “A divorce is valid if ... the judge authenticates it”). If there is a dispute as to whether the word “talak” was spoken, witness can give a show lia in court.
- The second way to get a divorce is to go to court (“separation by court decision”). The applicant files for divorce, and the parties are referred to the Family Settlement Committee, which operates in court.
The purpose of the committee is to reconcile the parties before dividing them in accordance with Section 98 of the Law on Personal Status. The consultants of this committee do not have a legal education, but have experience in resolving conflicts. They meet with both parties, and if an example cannot be achieved, the matter is referred to the court. The judge then decides that there is a good reason for the divorce, which include:
- Separation due to defects or fraud:
- Defects include insanity, leprosy, impotence, or a sexually transmitted disease. Parties can count on such “defects” as a basis for divorce only if they were not aware of them at the time of marriage. It is entirely possible that the court can postpone the case for up to a year to determine whether it is possible to eliminate the defect (Section 113 of the Law on Personal Status).
- Deception: if there was a case of serious deception between the parties in the process of marriage. That is, if one of the parties were aware of the fraud, then it would not have entered into marriage. In this case, such a party has the right to use this fact as a basis for divorce (Section 114 of the Law "On Personal Status").
- Separation for non-payment of the current dowry.
- Separation due to harm or dispute. One of the spouses has the right to ask for a divorce if he has suffered from the other side, and such damage makes it impossible for them to live together (Section 117 of the Law on Personal Status). In this situation, the court may appoint two arbitrators to investigate the causes of the disagreement between the parties and oblige them to submit a report to the court. Establishing the fact of guilt of one of the parties may entail financial consequences for her.
- Separation due to lack of financial support during the period of marriage: the wife has the right to demand a divorce if the court decides that the husband has the means to provide her, but he does not.
- Separation due to the absence of one of the parties: the wife has the right to divorce if the husband has disappeared. However, a court decision on divorce can be obtained after one year from the date of the woman's declaration of divorce, provided that her husband is absent.
- Separation due to imprisonment: a wife has the right to divorce if her husband is sentenced to more than three years in prison and has been in prison for more than one year while filing a divorce application.
- Separation in connection with desertion (Hajjar): if the husband leaves the family home and does not return within four months after receiving a request from the wife, she has the right to divorce.
The waiting period (idda) is an important concept in Muslim divorces. This three-month period, which begins after the "talaq" was confirmed by the court. If the wife is pregnant, the waiting period does not end until she gives birth. During the waiting period, the wife should remain celibate. The purpose of this period is not only to establish the fact that the wife is not pregnant, but also to allow the parties time to decide whether there is a chance for reconciliation. The husband provides his wife during the waiting period, regardless of who initiated the divorce proceedings.
Jurisdiction features
Legislation in the UAE is codified, and the decisions of the cassation court in Abu Dhabi give rise to precedents. Litigation cases are auxiliary to the interpretation of the law, however, the number of precedents in family law is not significant, since such cases do not reach the stage of cassation proceedings.
There are a number of exceptions, but in general, the trial courts are competent to consider family claims filed against citizens or foreigners permanently residing or residing in the UAE (Section 5 of the Personal Status Law and Section 20 of the Civil Procedure Law). In addition, a resident or a foreigner can start a divorce proceedings in the UAE, even if their spouse lives abroad while he is in the area of local jurisdiction. The UAE can be considered a place of permanent residence if one of the parties has a resident visa.
The rule of primacy of the UAE courts will also apply, but only in certain cases. One of the parties may request the suspension of the trial in the UAE on the basis of evidence that the final decision was made in the course of the court’s jurisdiction of another country.
