UAE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Hassan Elhais, Awatif Mohammad Shoqi Advocates & Legal Consultancy
• whether the judgment is in conflict with any order issued by the state court and whether the judge - ment is against UAE public policy. Additionally, the enforcement judge may request addi - tional supporting documents before issuing their ver - dict. The law also states that these provisions must not prejudice the stipulations of treaties and agreements that the UAE has established with other countries regarding the implementation of foreign judgments. Parental child abduction Parental child abduction occurs when a parent removes the child from the other parent or retains the child without the consent of the other parent. This may occur when a parent relocates with the child to the UAE from a different country or when a parent relocates to another country from the UAE. Relocation to the UAE from a different country When a parent abducts the child from a different country and travels to the UAE, the other parent may submit a request for the UAE courts to order the return of the child, based on an existing treaty between the UAE and that country, in line with the UAE Civil Pro - cedure Code. Any judgment issued by foreign courts can be enforced in the UAE, subject to prerequisites of the aforementioned provisions of the UAE Civil Pro - cedure Code. However, if there are no existing treaties between the UAE and that country, the other parent can file a new application for relocation. In this scenario, the court will ascertain which parent has custody over the child, whether there is an existing and valid foreign judg - ment seeking to return the child, whether the child was abducted, and – most importantly – the best interests of the child. If the parent has a foreign court order regarding the custody of the child, then they may approach the court for recognition of that order, provided that it satisfies the requirement laid out in Article 222 of the UAE Civil Procedure Code and the acceptance of such foreign court order is subject to the approval of the UAE courts.
If the parent brought the child to the UAE after giving an undertaking that the child would be returned, and the parent has then refused to return the child, then the other parent may file a petition for enforcement of the undertaking. If the mother has suffered harm and the child is within the custody age, she may request an urgent court order to deliver the child back to her. The courts usu - ally examine the best interests of the child in custody matters and, as such, decisions on such urgent appli - cations may vary from case to case. If the prejudiced parent has a court order stating that she has custody of the child, she may file a criminal complaint for child abduction pursuant to the court order. However, the acceptance of such application is subject to the discretion of the criminal court and the prosecution. Moreover, the prejudiced parent may file a new custody petition in the UAE to get the child custody order and also request a temporary decision on custody until the dispute is settled. Relocation from the UAE to a different country When both parents are residents of the UAE and one of the parents abducts their child to a country outside the UAE, the remaining parent must first ensure that they obtain legal custody of the child. For this, the parent may file a petition before the UAE family court for custody of the child. Upon the declaration of the parent as custodian of the child, the parent may initi - ate the execution of the judgment. They may also pursue a criminal complaint of kidnap - ping against the other parent as per Article 380 of the UAE Penal Code under Federal Decree Law No 31 of 2022 Promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law. According to Article 380, if a parent or a grandparent kidnaps a child – even if without fraud or coercion – or refuses to return the child, that person is liable to be imprisoned or fined. Upon the filing of the crimi - nal complaint, the parent is entitled to ask the public prosecutor to notify Interpol for an extradition request in accordance with Federal Law No 39/2006 on Inter - national Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters (the “Judicial Cooperation Law”).
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