DR, Doha
Answer: As per Article 85 of Civil and Commercial Procedure Law, the course of litigation shall discontinue by operation of the law due to the death or incapacity of one of the parties unless the lawsuit is ready for judgement on its merits and then the court may hear the lawsuit based on final statements and applications or postpone it at the request of those who represent the party that has died or is incapacitated or has lost capacity to proceed or at the request of the other party. The lawsuit shall be deemed to be fit for judgement on merits whenever the parties have submitted their final statements and applications in the hearing before the death or incapacity or loss of capacity to proceed with litigation.
Probation period and service benefits
Q: I started working in a computer hardware shop in 2013. Now I have decided to resign and return to my home country. While calculating the service benefits, the company has excluded six months from my service as probation. They have denied benefits for that period. Is it legal to do so? Is it legally required to have a probation period of six months at the beginning of the employment? Please advise.
SS, Doha
A: The probation period is the discretion of the parties, which can be maximum for a period of six months. The parties to the contract may agree to start employment without probation as probation is not compulsory under the law. According to labour laws, once completed, the probation period is considered as part of the overall employment term and is taken into account when calculating gratuity and other terminal benefits. All benefits accrued during the probation period must be paid along with repatriation costs. The employer has no right to exclude the probation period from calculation of service benefits.
Party fails to settle payment
Q: Our company has been awarded with a contract for the supply of materials for a project. It was agreed in the contract that the materials will be supplied in three parts and payments will be settled after 20 days of receipt. The party has failed to settle the payment due as per the contract and we face difficulties to continue with contract because of the financial issues. In such a case, what action can be initiated ? How can we terminate the contract?
HS, Doha
A: According to Article 183 of the Civil Code, in contracts binding on both parties and imposing reciprocal obligations, where one of the parties fails to perform his obligation, the other party may, after serving a formal notice on the other party, demand performance of the contract or dissolution of the contract, and may claim any damages caused by such failure to perform. The judge may grant additional time to the debtor, if it is necessary as a result of the circumstances. The judge may also reject the application for dissolution of the contract if the obligation not performed is insignificant compared with the obligations considered in their entirety.
Landlord refuses to accept rent
Q: Our landlord wants us to vacate the building and is refusing to accept the rent. We have a contract which is valid up to March 2019. We have heard that we can deposit the rent in the court if the landlord did not accept it. What is the procedure for making rental payments to the court? Please advise.
AL, Doha
A: According to the rental laws, if the landlord refuses to accept the rent, the tenant may, within seven days of the date of such refusal, notify the landlord, by registered letter, that the rent is due to be received within seven days, and if the landlord does not accept such rent within the specified period, the tenant shall deposit the rent with the treasury of the Committee for Settlement of Rental Disputes, against no fees. This shall be considered as payment of the rent on the prescribed date.
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LEGAL SYSTEM IN QATAR
According to Article 438 of Civil and Commercial Law, the supervisor of the sale shall abstain from proceeding with the sale if the amount generated is sufficient for settlement of debts that caused the attachment plus expenses. If attachments occur after that by the execution officer or third parties on the price acquired from the sale, they shall only affect the excess amount after settlement of the debts.
The minutes of sale shall contain all procedures of sale, objections and obstacles faced by the execution officer, measures taken by him to deal with such objections and obstacles, whether the distrainee is present or absent, signature if he is present or abstention to sign, the price offered by the successful bidder in the auction and the name and signature of the successful bidder.
As per Article 440, if a claim is filed for recovery of attached items, the sale shall cease, unless the competent judge of execution has ordered continuation of execution whether the price is deposited or not.
The claim of recovery shall be filed against the creditor, distrainee and distrainers who interfered in the attachment. The claim shall contain a detailed statement of evidence of ownership. Upon filing the claim, the plaintiff shall deposit at the Registry of the court all documents, otherwise a judgment may be issued based on the distrainer’s request to continue the execution without awaiting final settlement of the claim. This judgment shall not be subject to appeal.
If the claimant of recovery loses his claim, he may be punished with a fine not exceeding QR1,000 that shall be given wholly or partially to the creditor without prejudice to its right to compensation, if it deems appropriate.
As per Article 445, any creditor who has an existing debt for immediate payment may attach movables or debts belonged to his debtor and controlled by third parties even if these debts are adjourned or if a condition is attached to them. Attachment covers all debts belonged to the debtor and kept by the garnishee until the time of reporting what he owned unless it is specified to attach to a particular debt.
If the creditor does not hold an executive deed or if the debt has no specific amount, attachment shall only be effected by an order issued from the competent judge of execution to grant permission of attachment and assess the debt of the distrainer temporarily based on a petition submitted.
According to Article 447, attachment shall take place without prior notification to the debtor by way of summons served upon the garnishee that includes the following: (1) Copy of the judgment or the official deed on which the attachment is based or permission by the judge for attachment or the order of the judge to assess the debt; (2) Statement of the original garnished amount, and interest and expenses thereof; (3) Failure of the garnishee to fulfil the obligation or deliver what he possesses to the distrainer; (4) Instruction by the Registry of the competent court, within fifteen days from the date of notification of attachment, to the garnishee to declare what he owns of the debt of the debtor. If the summons does not include the aforementioned details mentioned in (1), (2) and (3), the attachment shall be null and void.
If the garnishee is resident outside the State of Qatar, the summons shall be delivered to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon him through the diplomatic channels.