QUESTION: I filed a complaint against a person in Qatar and the case went to court after public prosecution. And he admitted his guilt. I followed up the case until the judgment was issued. The accused received his punishment too. But he is understood to be freely staying in the country despite the sentence. On enquiry, I have learned from the court of appeal that his punishment has been suspended. Then where is justice for me?
OS, Doha
ANSWER: As per Article 79 of penal laws, when rendering a judgment for an offence bearing imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or a fine, the court may order the suspension of the execution of the penalty, considering the morals of the convicted, his past, age or the circumstances in which the offence was perpetrated lead one to believe that he shall not perpetrate another offence.
Article 80 stipulates that the suspension of the execution of the penalty shall last three years as from the day when the judgment becomes definitive. If the period elapses without rendering a judgment bearing annulment of the suspension of the execution, the judgment bearing the penalty shall be considered as inexistent.
The suspension of execution may be annulled in the two following cases: where a judgment bearing imprisonment is rendered against the convicted for more than three months in an intentional offence perpetrated during the period of suspension or before and court ordered the suspension without knowing the judgment or if it appears that a judgment of imprisonment for a period of more than three months in an intentional crime was rendered before ordering the suspension of execution.
Fee exemption
for litigations
Q: Do the Qatari courts provide exemption for fees in litigations other than labour issues? If so, what is the procedure and who are eligible for such an exemption as per law? I have to file a case but I do not have money to be paid as fee to the court.
WD, Doha
A: As per Article 552 of civil and commercial procedure law, a request for exemption from payment of fees shall be submitted to the registry of the competent court. The court shall fix a session for hearing such request, the other litigants shall be served with notice of such hearing at least three days’ notice.
The court shall decide on the request after examination of the papers and documents submitted by the applicant and examination of the statements of litigants present and the representative of the registry and others whose opinion is deemed appropriate in this respect.
If a party proves to be unable to pay the judicial fees, he shall be exempted wholly or partially from payment.
Exemption shall include fees of judicial papers, execution fees, expenses of judicial notices and other expenses borne by the litigants.
Maintenance of
leased property
Q: We are engaged in real estate business and we have leased a property to a person at our sponsor’s request. We have not received any security deposit from him. Until March, the lessee had been paying the rent regularly but after that he stopped. We served him a notice to vacate the premises. He refuses to undertake any proper maintenance of the building and to vacate it. As the contract doesn’t refer to maintenance, who is responsible for it? Without any agreement, shall we claim the amount for damages on the property?
LK, Doha
A: According to Article 615, the lessee shall be bound to carry out the minor repairs required by the normal use of the leased property. The lessee shall be bound to restitute the leased property in the condition in which it was at the time he took delivery thereof, subject to loss or deterioration due to a cause not attributed to him.
If no agreement in writing setting out particulars of the property was drawn up at the time of delivery, the lessee is presumed, subject to proof to the contrary, to have received the property in good condition.
The costs of restitution of the leased property shall be incurred by the lessee unless the agreement or prevailing custom otherwise provides.
Upon the expiration or termination of the lease, the lessee shall restitute the leased property. If he retains it unlawfully, he must pay compensation to the lessor based on the rental value of the property and of the damage suffered by the lessor.
Entry and
exit laws
Q: I had an employment visa. My plan was to establish a new company in Doha. However, I dropped the plans and returned to my home country, almost six months ago. Now I want to come back to Qatar and the sponsor has agreed to co-operate. Please advice.
VH, Doha
A: Employment visas are automatically cancelled if the employee stays out of the country continuously for more than six months. However, as per entry and exit laws (Article 13 of Law No 4 of 2009 / Article14 of Law No 21 of 2015), workers holding residence permit can stay outside the country for more than six months, provided they seek the permission of the authorities concerned either in advance or later by paying a fee. But when they come back, their RP must be valid for at least 60 days.
LEGAL SYSTEM IN QATAR
A cheque shall contain the following particulars: the word “cheque” written in the body of the instrument in the same language in which it is written, unconditional order to pay specific amount, the date and place of issue, the name of the drawee, the place of payment and name and signature of the drawer.
If the instrument does not contain any above-mentioned particulars shall not be deemed to be a cheque, except in the following cases: if the place of issue is not included, it shall be deemed to have been made in the place recorded next to the name of drawer; or if the place of payment is not indicated, the place speci?ed beside the name of the drawee is considered to be the place for payment.
If a number of places are recorded beside the name of the drawee, the cheque is considered to be payable at the ?rst place recorded on it. When any of these particulars are not stated on the cheque, it shall considered to be payable at the principal business premises of the drawee.
As per Article 563, the cheques issued and payable in Qatar may only be drawn on a bank. Instruments drawn in the form of cheques other than a bank shall not be considered as cheques.
A cheque may not be issued unless the drawer has, at the time of issuing the cheque with drawee, funds that can be disposed by cheque in accordance with an explicit or implied agreement.
In the event of denial, the drawer shall prove that the drawee had sufficient fund for its payment at the time of issue, falling which he shall secure the payment of the cheque even though it is protested after the prescribed times.
According to Article 565, if the amount of the cheque is written in both words and numbers, and if there is a discrepancy between the two, the amount written in words shall be adopted.
The drawer may request the certification of cheque and such certification shall confirm the availability of sufficient funds against payment on the date of the endorsement and the bank shall set aside the funds for payment of the cheque when it is presented.
The drawee shall not refuse the certi?cation of the cheque if there is sufficient funds against payment. The signature of the drawee on the face of the cheque is deemed as its certi?cation.
The funds for payment of the certi?ed cheque shall remain blocked with the drawee for payment upon presentation of the cheque.
As per Article 567, the cheque may be made payable to a named person with an express mention ‘to order’ or without it; or a named person with a statement “not to order” or any other similar expression; or to the bearer of the cheque.
A cheque drawn in favour of a specified person shall be deemed to be a bearer cheque, where the expression “or to bearer” is recorded, or any other similar expression is recorded. If the name of the bene?ciary is not stated, the cheque shall also be deemed as bearer cheque. A cheque containing the condition “not negotiable” shall only be paid to the bearer who received it with such stipulation.
A cheque may be drawn to the drawer’s order and may also be drawn for account of another. The payment of the cheque shall be guaranteed by its drawer and any condition that exempts the drawer from such guarantee shall be deemed null and void.