UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Stuart Paterson, Janine Mallis, Tania Forichon and Elif Eren Ozenir, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP
• per Article 27, the claim is then transferred to the civil court to determine the quantum of damages, based on the conviction. Civil Proceedings Victims may also file a standalone civil claim for harm suffered. To succeed, they must prove: • the act was committed; • damage was sustained; and • a causal link between the act and the damage. There is no class action regime or equivalent collective redress mechanism for white-collar crime in the UAE. However, multiple victims could seek to have their claim for compensation heard by the criminal court, as noted above. 2. Enforcement 2.1 White-Collar Enforcement Authorities White-collar crime prosecutions follow the Criminal Procedural Law. Article 9 gives the public prosecutor exclusive jurisdiction to initiate and oversee criminal proceedings. The process is as follows: • A complaint is filed with the public prosecution or a law enforcement officer (Article 12), or is initiated by the public prosecutor. • Law enforcement officers investigate and com - pile a matter file, including conducting interviews and taking statements from the complainant, the accused, and other witnesses. • The matter file is referred to the public prosecutor, who may conduct further investigations and may request the assistance of law enforcement officers with gathering evidence. For more serious offenc - es, the public prosecutor’s office may conduct the investigation itself. • The public prosecutor will consider all the evidence before deciding whether to issue an indictment order against the accused and refer the matter to court, or dismiss the complaint.
There are specialist departments within the police and public prosecutor’s office for financial crimes, including bribery, money laundering, abuse of power, embezzlement and the misuse of funds, and cyber - crimes. The UAE has been under international pressure (eg, from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), EU and international financial institutions) to align its AML/ CFT framework with global standards. In recent years, the UAE has taken substantial steps to fight financial crime, resulting in it being removed from the FATF grey list in February 2024 and the EU’s list of high-risk third countries in July 2025. Importantly, the UAE has committed to maintaining momentum in this area. This commitment is evident in its prioritisation of robust enforcement and implementation of significant reforms, including the creation of specialised prosecu - tion units and courts, increased regulatory sanctions and high-profile enforcement actions. 2.2 Initiating an Investigation The public prosecutor may investigate independently and will generally do so for more serious offences. There are no rules regarding the initiation of investiga - tions that are specific to white-collar offences. Under Article 8 of the Criminal Procedural Law, crimi - nal investigations should be conducted in Arabic. The public prosecutor can order for translators to be present at interviews and other relevant parts of an investigation. The public prosecutor can issue a summons or an arrest warrant, or order a travel ban against the accused (Article 99). A complainant can appeal the public prosecutor’s decision to dismiss an allegation within ten days (Articles 134–135). The Court of Appeal will hear the appeal and can conduct a complementary investiga - tion. If it finds there are sufficient grounds for the mat - ter to be pursued, it will send the matter file back to the public prosecutor and order it to be referred to court (Article 138).
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