UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Law and Practice Contributed by: Stuart Paterson, Janine Mallis and Tania Forichon, Herbert Smith Freehills
dispose of any real or movable property in the following circumstances: • being fully aware that the company does not own it; • being fully aware that they have no right to dispose of the property; and • disposing of the property with the knowledge that another person has already disposed of it or contracted to dispose of it, which operates to injure others. Merely making false statements is not sufficient to constitute the crime of fraud. Material acts must accompany the false statements. Cyberfraud A crime of fraud can also arise under Federal Decree Law No 34 of 2021 (as amended by Federal Law No 5 of 2024) (the “Cybercrimes Law” ). The offences under the Cybercrimes Law include: • forgery of an electronic document (including modifying its contents on an electronic site); • using a forged electronic document with knowledge of the forgery; • using an IT system to obtain for oneself or for a third party, without any right, an asset, benefit, document or a signature by using any fraudulent method; and • accessing IT systems without permission. Commercial fraud Federal Law No 42 of 2023 on Combatting Com - mercial Fraud (the “Commercial Fraud Law” ) criminalises commercial fraud, being any of the following acts: • the import, export, re-export, manufacturing, sale, display or acquisition for the purpose of sale, storage, lease, marketing or trading, fake, corrupt or counterfeit commodities;
• advertising fake or unreal prices or reduc - tions; or • describing, advertising or displaying goods in a manner that contains false, deceptive or misleading data. Bribery UAE law distinguishes between the bribery of a public official and that of a private individual. The New Penal Code prohibits a person or com - pany from directly or indirectly promising, offer - ing or granting any grant, undue gift or benefit (a “bribe” ) to a public servant, a person assigned to a public service, or an employee of an inter - national organisation for the following purposes: • in return for performing or not performing an act which is in violation of the duties of their job; • to incite any such person to use their actual or assumed power for the purpose of obtain - ing an undeserved advantage in favour of the principal inciter or in favour of any other person in a public department or authority; or • to use their actual or assumed power to obtain an undeserved advantage from a pub - lic department or authority. Facilitation payment – a small bribe made to a public official to expedite a government adminis - tration process – would constitute a bribe under the New Penal Code and is therefore prohibited. Under Federal Decree-Law No 49 of 2022 on Human Resources in the Federal Government (the “UAE Human Resources Law” ), public sec - tor 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.
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