UAE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Hassan Elhais, Awatif Mohammad Shoqi Advocates & Legal Consultancy
Similarly, the mother – as custodian – has the right to hold the identity documents of the children. However, under Article 124 of Federal Decree Law No 41 of 2024 on the Issuance of the Personal Status Law, the court may order her to hand over the documents to the father if she attempts to misuse them. Federal Decree Law No 41 of 2024 on the Issuance of the Personal Status Law has imposed penalties in the event of non-compliance with the laws by either parent. If individuals refuse – without justification – to hand over official documents as ordered or if they mis - use the document that is in their custody, they may be subjected to fines and/or imprisonment, as per Article 251 or Article 252 respectively. Furthermore, under Article 252, similar penalties may be imposed if a par - ent transports a child out of the country without the consent of the other parent or the court. Article 15 of Federal Decree Law No 41 of 2022 on Civil Personal Status and Article 18 of the Abu Dhabi Civil Personal Status Law state that, if the civil per - sonal status laws do not cover certain provisions, the provisions of Federal Decree Law No 41 of 2024 on the Issuance of the Personal Status Law will apply. Thus, although the civil personal status laws do not provide for penalties, the above-mentioned penalties may apply to instances of non-compliance by parties subject to the civil personal status laws. Parental settlement agreements If a parent wishes to relocate with a child to the UAE and obtains the necessary consent from the other par - ent, both parents may enter into a settlement agree - ment to outline the terms and conditions governing such relocation. In the UAE, such an agreement may be ratified with the help of the UAE courts. The par - ents may enter into the agreement before a UAE court or execute the agreement online to ensure that the agreement is signed before the child travels to the UAE. This agreement is equivalent to a judgment ren - dered by a local court. To ratify the parental settlement agreement, the parties may approach the family guidance department situ - ated within the family court premises. The agreement may mirror an already-existing court order issued by a foreign court or may contain new terms and condi -
tions as agreed between the parties. Once executed as prescribed, this agreement may be regarded as a court order with the enforcement power of a court decision. Thus, the agreement may be invoked by either party in the event of a breach of the terms of the agreement. Either party has the right to submit an application to the family guidance department, requesting to exe - cute a parental settlement agreement, provided that at least one of the parties involved is a resident of the UAE. Enforcement of foreign relocation orders in the UAE The UAE is not a signatory to the 1980 Hague Conven - tion on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduc - tion. Consequently, UAE courts apply their own local laws to determine cases involving non-consensual international child relocation. When a foreign order is submitted before a UAE court, seeking to restitute parental rights and return the child to the custodial parent, the UAE court will apply the UAE Civil Proce - dure Code under Federal Decree Law No 42 of 2022 Promulgating the Civil Procedure Code to determine the matter. Article 222 of the UAE Civil Procedure Code states that judgments and orders delivered by a foreign country may be ordered to be enforced in the UAE. The enforcement case is registered on the basis of a petition to the enforcement judge and the judge will issue their order within five days. Although such order can be appealed, doing so will not automatically suspend the execution of the order unless the court authorises such suspension. Before issuing the order, the court must verify: • whether the UAE courts had exclusive jurisdiction over the dispute at hand; • whether the foreign judgment was delivered according to the law of the country where it was issued and whether the judgement was duly rati - fied; • whether both parties to the dispute were sum - moned and duly represented; • whether the foreign judgment placed before the UAE court is a final decision; and
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