UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Stuart Paterson, Janine Mallis, Tania Forichon and Elif Eren Ozenir, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP
3.2 Bribery, Influence Peddling and Related Offences Bribery is criminalised under the Penal Code, and applies to domestic and foreign persons in the UAE whose actions occur in or outside the UAE, if the results of such actions have or were intended to have effect in the UAE. Bribery in the Public Sector (Articles 275–287) The Penal Code prohibits a person or company from directly or indirectly promising, offering or granting a bribe to a public servant, a person assigned to a pub - lic service, a foreign public servant or an employee of an international organisation in return for: • performing or omitting acts within or against their duties; and/or • using real or alleged influence for the purpose of obtaining an undeserved advantage from a public department or authority. Under Federal Decree-Law No 49 of 2022 on Human Resources in the Federal Government (the “UAE Human Resources Law”), public sector employees are prohibited from accepting gifts unless they are symbolic, marked with the name of the gift bearer, and provided through an assigned government unit. Bribery in the Private Sector It is a criminal offence for a manager of an entity or establishment in the private sector, or for someone who works in any capacity, to solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, for themselves or for another person, a bribe in return for performing or omitting acts within or against their duties (even if they do not intend to effect the act or to refrain from it, or if the bribe comes after the act or omission). Providing a bribe in the private sector is addressed under Articles 278–279 of the Penal Code. A bribery conviction will lead to a fine equivalent to the bribe, provided that the fine is not less than AED5,000 (Article 283). The maximum sentence is five years’ imprisonment. The bribe itself will also be subject to confiscation.
ments. It is more likely that such remediation will be required by regulators where regulated entities have committed breaches of the applicable regulatory framework. 3. White-Collar Offences 3.1 Criminal Company Law and Corporate Fraud Criminal Offences The Penal Code sets out criminal offences applicable to companies. See 1.5 Corporate and Personal Lia- bility for details of corporate liability under Article 66 of the Penal Code. Sentences that can be imposed on legal persons under Article 66 include fines, forfeiture and criminal measures provided for the crime under the Penal Code. If the Penal Code provides a principal penalty other than a fine, the penalty will be limited to a fine not exceeding AED5 million. The corporate liability of legal persons does not prevent the punish - ment of the offender with penalties prescribed under Under Article 451 of the Penal Code, a company that uses fraudulent practices to deceive a victim and cause them to surrender a legal right will be punished with a fine of AED5 million. Such conduct can include: • assuming a false name or quality; • taking possession of any movable property or writ - ten instrument; • obtaining any signature upon that instrument; or • cancelling, destroying or amending the instrument. A company will also be punished with the same pen - alty if its representatives, directors or agents, acting in its favour or on its behalf, alienate any real or movable property in the following circumstances: • being aware that it is not owned by the company; • being aware that they have no right to dispose of it; • after having previously disposed of it where the act injured others; or • concluding any agreement to dispose of it. the Penal Code. Corporate Fraud
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