Expats in UAE get English language handbook simplifying emirati laws

Expats living and working in the UAE are to receive an English language handbook simplifying the complex Arabic laws of the emirates.

The 243 page guide will be launched next Monday, March 5, and is expected to simplify expats’ lives as regards understanding the complicated rules by which the emirates are governed. Its authors include legal consultants and the entire publication is being issued under the authority of Dubai’s Rulers Court. In addition to explanations of current Arabic laws, the guide will also include a section dedicated to the Quran-based Sharia law and an explanation of the system used by the Dubai courts as well as legal advice on setting up a UAE-based business.

Recently social media and English language newspapers have been full of reports of expats falling foul of laws they either didn’t know about or did not understand from a cultural point of view, thus ending up being fined or even imprisoned as a result. For example, flashing the middle finger is a common reaction to bad or dangerous driving in Western countries, but in the UAE it’s actually against the law. Hopefully the new publication will inform and educated expats living and working in the emirates, simply by giving a clear explanation of what’s expected of them and what they should not do.

The guidebook came into being after a number of law firms researched available translations from the original Arabic and found they were at best incorrect and at worst impossible to grasp as regards meaning. Not only should it clarify UAE laws for expats, it should also provided a means whereby the courts can save time and money spent in dealing with expats’ often unintentional misdemeanours. A thousand copies have been printed so far, and will be available from Dubai Mall’s Kinokuniya bookstore as well as from Amazon. It’s the first of a series on UAE laws, with employment laws and laws relating to real estate investments due to follow.