QUESTION: I am working with an affiliated company of Qatar Petroleum. Does Qatar Labour Law applicable to employees of such companies? We have employment contracts but no law is referred to in the contract. If there is conflict, will Qatar Labour Law prevail over the contract?

AR, Doha

 

ANSWER: Article 3 of the Qatar Labour Law excludes various individuals and entities, including, but not limited to, individuals employed by ministries and other governmental organisations, public institutions and companies which have been established by Qatar Petroleum and domestic and casual employees from its provisions and regulation.

The employment affairs of workers of the ministries and other governmental organs, public institutions, Corps and companies which are established by Qatar Petroleum by itself or with others, are regulated by special laws. The provision of Labour Law has been further expanded by an amendment early this year by Law No 3 of 2014.

As per the amendment, Qatar Labour Law – Law No 14 of 2004 shall not apply to companies which have been incorporated by the government, companies in which the government has participated in the inCorp; and which work in the petroleum sector in relation to marketing and selling of petroleum products, chemicals and petrochemicals; companies which have been incorporated by Qatar Petroleum in whole or in part; companies in which Qatar Petroleum owns a stake; companies involved in exploration and production sharing agreements, field development agreements and production sharing; and joint venture agreements in the petroleum sector and petrochemical industries; and those whose employment affairs are regulated by special laws.

The employment agreement executed with the employer will be sufficient enough to establish employment rights.

 

Internet law violations

 

Q: How strong is the Internet Law in Qatar?

UT, Doha

 

A: Qatar issued Cybercrime Prevention Law No 14 of 2014, imposing many sanctions and several penalties for offences committed through the cyberspace such as the Internet, IT networks, computers, etc. The law stipulates a 10-year imprisonment and a fine of up to QR200,000 for forging any official e-document. In case if the document forged is unofficial, a three-year term or a fine of a maximum of QR100,000 shall be imposed. A jail term of up to three years and a fine of up to QR200,000 are the punishment for unauthorised possession or use of e-card, whether it is an ATM or credit card, or stealing numbers or forging e-cards.

Laws impose a jail term of up to three years and a fine of up to QR500,000  for the breach of intellectual property rights by using the Internet. Publication of false news, impersonation of individuals or entities, or  involvement in identity theft or stealing movable property using the Internet are also offences under the law.

 

Court sessions usually in public

 

Q: I would like to know more about the legal system in Qatar. There was a case against one of our staff, who is alleged to have committed forgery. He says that if we go to the court, the judge will call us to his office and decide the matter privately. Is this true?

JT, Doha

 

A: According to Article 59 of Law No 13 of the year 1990, court sessions shall be in public, unless the court perceives of its own initiative, or upon request of one of the adversaries, making it in-camera with a view to maintain the public order, or in deference to manners or the inviolability of the family. However, pronouncement of the judgment shall, in all circumstances, be public.

 

Transfer of sponsorship

 

Q: I have been working with a company for seven years. I would like to change the company now. How can I do that? I don’t have any job offer yet. Can I get a no-objection certificate (NOC) from my employer without a job offer from another establishment? If I resign, how much gratuity will I receive?

OK, Doha

 

A: Transfer of sponsorship and grant of the NOC are at the discretion of the current employer and subject to the approval of the immigration authorities. According to Article 4 of Entry and Exit Laws, except with the written consent of the previous sponsor, grant of entry visa for work prior to the completion of two years is prohibited.

Under Article 54, a worker having a minimum service of one continuous year will be entitled for gratuity payment minimum at the rate of days/year.

 

♦ Please send your questions by e-mail to: [email protected]

 

LEGAL SYSTEM IN QATAR

Article 1100 stipulates that when an application is made for the sale of a property, the formalities laid down for compulsory expropriation must be followed. The sale shall take place at the request of either the applicant or of the third party holder, whoever shall have more interest in expediting the sale. The applicant must mention in the notices of sale the price at which he has valued the property.

If the sale of the property is not applied for within the period and in accordance with the procedure laid down, the ownership, or if the sale is applied for but no higher price than that offered by the third party holder, the ownership of the property shall be vested finally in the third party holder if he deposits the sum at which he has valued the property in the court’s Treasury.

The abandonment of the mortgaged property is made by a declaration submitted to the execution judge by the third party holder. He must, within five days from the date of the declaration, notify the abandonment to the creditor who is conducting the proceedings of expropriation by a registered letter accompanied by an acknowledgement slip.

The party who has most interest to expedite the sale may apply to the judge of the summary court for the nomination of a receiver against whom the proceedings of expropriation may be taken. The third party holder, if he applies, will be appointed receiver.

If the third party holder does not opt for payment of the inscribed debts, the purge of the property or the abandonment of the property, the mortgagee can only take expropriation proceedings against him after he has summoned him to pay the debt accrued due or to abandon the property. The third party holder may take part in the auction on condition that he does not offer a price lower than the sum that he still owes on the price of the property which is being sold.

If the mortgaged property is expropriated, even after proceedings for purge or abandonment have been taken and the third party holder acquires the property at the auction, he will be deemed to be the owner of the property by virtue of his original title deed and the property will be purged of all inscriptions if he pays the price for which he acquired the property at the auction.

If, in the preceding cases, a person other than the third party holder acquires the property at the auction, he will hold his right by virtue of the judgement of adjudication from the third party holder.

Under Article 1108, if the price at which the property is sold by auction exceeds the total of the sums due to the inscribed creditors, the difference in excess belongs to the third party holder, and the mortgagee creditors of the third party holder may be paid out of this excess. Servitudes and other real rights that the third party holder had on the property before he acquired the property are re-vested in him.

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