On the 2nd of January 2022 the Federal
Decree-Law No. 14/2020 will come into force, however, and similar
to all new laws and regulations, it will be necessary to see how
the relevant court will implement its provisions in order to
understand the different aspects which are governed by the said
Federal Decree-Law.
One important aspect addressed by the new amendments is related
to cheques issued within the State. While Articles 401, 402, and
403 of the Federal Decree No. 3/1987 on Penal code have been
abrogated, this does not mean that the bounced cheques will be
decriminalized or that the drawer will not be subject to
imprisonment.
In practice, legal proceedings in relation to a bounced cheque
in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) differ from one case to another,
and several factors must be taken into consideration including
the amount of the cheque and the reason
the cheque was bounced. In general, the relevant courts will apply
a fine instead of a jail sentence in
