Question: I am receiving my courier/postal mails open and I doubt the ‘mandoob’ (representative) of my company is doing this. Is there a law in Qatar to deal with such unpleasant acts?
ST, Doha


A: According to Article 333 of the penal law, whoever illegally intrudes into another person’s private life and without their consent through opening a letter or telegram against the will of the addressee; or eavesdrop on a telephone conversation; or recording or transmitting conversations that took place in a private place or through any kind of apparatus; or taking or transmitting somebody’s photographs or photographs of other persons in a private place using any type of device; shall be liable for imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year and/or a fine not exceeding QR5,000. 

Reviewing loan repayment terms 
Q: I availed a bank loan for personal purposes in 2016-end. I have paid the instalments without any defaults. Recently I got an offer and I am planning to transfer my visa. But there was delay in getting the visa transferred. I am unable pay the instalments to the bank because I don’t have any job. Can I ask the bank for making an exception based on my non-employment situation? Am I legally eligible for such a consideration? Normally, what are the procedures initiated by bank on defaults? Please advise.
HA, Doha

A: Negotiate with the bank for revising the repayment terms. Reviewing of the repayment terms or offering any such exception is the discretion of the bank and the borrower cannot legally claim for such consideration or exception from the bank. Claims for loan repayment shall subsist irrespective of whether the borrower is employed or not. In general, prior to disbursement of loans, all banks enter into specific loan agreements with the borrowers which usually set out specific terms and conditions, signed cheques, etc. for repayment of loan or recovery in the event the borrower loses his employment or any other source of income based on which the bank had disbursed the loan or otherwise. Banks may try to invoke all the conditions for securing repayment of the loan set forth in the loan agreement in the event of a default which may include encashment of the cheque issued by the borrower in favour of the bank against the loan along with any other securities provided by the borrower. 

Settlement stalled over work defects
Q: We have executed a work which was subcontracted to us without any delay. Now the contractor refuses to issue the completion certificate stating that the employer has identified defect in the works which we have executed. How can we get the payments for the work done? In such cases of defects in the executed works, what are the remedies available under the law? Please explain.
LM, Doha

A: Article 694 of the civil laws stipulates that an employer may refuse to take delivery if the defect in the works or violation of the mutually agreed conditions exceed such an extent that they would not serve the intended purpose. If the defect or violation are not of such seriousness, the employer shall only be empowered to reduce the consideration in proportion to the significance of the defect or shall oblige the contractor to rectify the defect within a reasonable time limit to be fixed by himself if such rectification is feasible and does not involve exorbitant costs. The contractor may carry out such rectification within a reasonable period of time, if this is possible and does not cause substantial damages to the employer. According to Article 695, the employer or main contractor shall not invoke the rights under Article 694 if he is responsible for causing the defect whether this is by issuing orders contrary to the subcontractor’s view or in any other manner. 

Witness ‘fails’ to remember facts
Q: What remedy is available, if the witness in criminal case does not clearly remember the facts or his statements made to police in the initial stage of investigation? Will the court consider it as perjury? Please advise.
JS, Doha

A: Article 202 of the Criminal Procedure code, if the witness claims that he no longer remembers a fact, or his testimony in the hearing contradicts his former testimony or statement, the portion of his testimony related to the incident may be read out from his statement during investigation or from the record of collected evidence.

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LEGAL SYSTEM IN QATAR

According to Article 10 of Civil and Commercial Procedure law, unless otherwise stipulated in another law, the copy of the summons shall be served in the following manner:
(1) with respect to ministries, departments, and other governmental institutions, it shall be delivered to the ministers, heads of department and Institution or whoever acts on their behalf, save for lawsuits papers, appeal and judgment documents which shall be delivered to the State Lawsuits Department, Ministry of Justice; (2) with respect to public authorities, public institutions and other juristic persons, the summons shall be delivered to the chairperson or manager or one of the joint partners or their legal representatives or whoever acts on their behalf; (3) with respect to foreign companies with branches or head offices in Qatar, the summons shall be delivered to the branch manager or the agent; (4) with respect to the armed forces, the summons shall be delivered to the commander to whom the person to be summoned is answerable; (5) With respect to minors or persons of unsound mind, the summons shall be delivered to their guardians or heirs; (6) With respect to prisoners, it shall be delivered to the director of the prison or whoever acts on his behalf; (7) With respect to sailors of commercial vessels and their crews, the copy shall be delivered to the captain in order to serve it to them. If the vessel has left the port, the copy shall be delivered to the shipping agent; (8) With respect to persons who have a known domicile abroad, the copy shall be delivered to the ministry of justice to communicate it to them by diplomatic means. It shall be sufficient in this respect to receive the response of the ministry stating that delivery to the person concerned has been effected; (9) With respect to persons who have no known addresses inside or outside the State, it shall be delivered to the Chief of Police, provided that the summons indicates the person’s last known address. The court may order, in such case, to publish the summons in two Qatari daily newspapers.
Without prejudice to the aforementioned Articles, the court may serve the summons on any person who has a known address inside or outside the State. The summons may be delivered to a person in his workplace by registered mail or any other appropriate means.
According to Article 12, the time limit for those who live abroad is sixty days. This distance time limit shall not apply in the case of a person summoned in Qatar while he is present. The summoning judge may order the reduction of this time limit where there are convenient means of transport and where there is urgency. 
If the law specifies attendance or for the proceedings to take place within a time limit calculated by days, months, or years, the day of serving the summons or communication of the proceedings considered by the law as the commencement of the time limit shall not be counted. If the time should expire before commencement of the proceedings, such proceedings shall not take place before the expiry of the last day of the time limit. 
If the deadline to appear before the court falls on an official holiday, the time limit shall be extended to the first working day thereafter. Unless the law stipulates otherwise, time limits specified by month or by year shall be calculated according to the Gregorian calendar.