UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Stuart Paterson, Janine Mallis, Tania Forichon and Elif Eren Ozenir, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP
• crimes relating to public office (ie, bribery), includ - ing civil action (Article 286). Limitation rules also differ in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), depending on the cause of action. 1.4 Extraterritorial Reach and Cross-Border Co-Operation Generally, a criminal offence occurs where it took place within the jurisdiction (Article 17 of the Penal Code). However, there are specific provisions that enable the courts to exercise extraterritorial jurisdic - tion. Offences with extraterritorial effect include (Article 21 of the Penal Code): • crimes against internal or external State security, its constitutional regime or bonds issued under legal licence, or in connection with its stamps, or falsification or counterfeiting of official documents or seals; • crimes of falsification, counterfeiting or forgery of the State’s money, or circulation or possession with intent to circulate, whether such acts are commit - ted in or outside the State; • crimes of falsification, counterfeiting or forgery of coins or paper money legally circulated in the State, or circulation or possession with intent to circulate; or • premeditated murder of a citizen of the State. Under Article 22 of the Penal Code, a person found in the State after committing the following crimes, whether as a perpetrator or an accomplice, is subject to extraterritorial effect: • destruction or interruption of international commu - nications; • drug or human trafficking; • piracy and international terrorism; or • money laundering crimes. Article 285 of the Penal Code extends jurisdiction to bribery offences committed outside the UAE if: • the offender or victim is a UAE citizen;
• the crime involves UAE public/private sector employees; or • UAE public funds are affected. Federal Law No 39 of 2006 on International Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (as amended) gov - erns international judicial co-operation in criminal matters. Extradition requests must meet key condi - tions (Article 7): • the offence is punishable by ≥ one year imprison - ment in both countries; and • if in relation to the execution of a sentence, the remaining sentence is ≥ six months. The offence need not be identically defined in both jurisdictions. The UAE adheres to: • multilateral treaties, including the Riyadh-Arab Agreement for Judicial Co-operation (the “Riyadh Convention”), which was signed by most Arab countries, which applies to civil, commercial and administrative matters. Article 38 provides that each contracting party must undertake to extradite the persons in its territory and against whom an accusation is brought by the competent authorities or by a judgment issued by the legal authorities of any other contracting parties; and • bilateral treaties for judicial co-operation including with Australia, China, Egypt, France, India, Iran, the Kyrgyz Republic, Nigeria, Pakistan, Spain, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and South Africa (some cover criminal and civil matters, others only crimi - nal or civil/commercial). Extradition may be rejected if jurisdictional conflicts arise or if dual criminality is not met. Many extraditions rest on active co-operation with INTERPOL and Europol. Operation HAECHI VI, con - ducted between April and August 2025, saw the UAE join 40 countries to combat cyber-enabled financial crimes, such as investment fraud, phishing, and mon - ey laundering. The operation recovered USD439 mil - lion globally, including significant seizures within the UAE. Other recent extraditions include Kinahan gang
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