No classification based on the ownership of shares

Question: I have started a contracting company in Doha in partnership with my friends. But we are not happy with a partner and his behaviour. He holds 3% of shares in the company. We have some kind of restriction to take management decision freely because of his voting rights. Being a person holding less percentage of shares, can we exclude him from the general meetings? Is it possible to categorise partners on the basis of shareholdings? Please advise.
DB, Doha

Answer: According to Article 252 of the Companies Law (No. 11 of 2015), every partner has the right to attend the assembly regardless of the number of shares he owns, and by virtue of a particular authorisation, he may be represented in the assembly by another partner other than the directors. Every partner shall have a number of votes equivalent to the number of shares he owns or represents. There is no restriction or classification among the shareholders based on the ownership of shares.

Employee ‘entitled’ for end-of-service gratuity
Q: I resigned my job last month due to some personal reasons and the management accepted my resignation. When I claimed the benefits after the notice period, the management rejected the claim stating that benefits are not paid in case of resignation. Is there any provision in the Qatari law that denies the benefits for employees who have resigned ? I have completed two years and four months in the company. How are the benefits calculated as per the Labour Law? Please guide.
MS, Doha

A: The termination of the employment contract or resignation by the employee does not affect the right to get paid the service benefits. The employee will be entitled for end-of-service gratuity, salary dues and payment against leave entitlements. If the employee is terminated under any of the grounds mentioned in Article 61 of the Labour Law, the employee is not eligible for the gratuity.
According to Article 54 of the Labour Law (No. 14 of 2004), the employer shall pay the gratuity to those employees who have one or more years of continuous service and unless otherwise a higher rate is agreed between the employer and employee, the gratuity shall be calculated @three weeks’ basic salary per year of service. The employees shall be entitled to gratuity for the fractions of the year in proportion to the duration of employment. The employer should arrange the repatriation immediately after the last working day and employer should bear the expenses.

Paying rent in case of landlord’s death
Q: My lease contract is for five years and I am staying in the leased premises with my family. I pay the monthly rent to the landlord directly. But the landlord did not come to collect the rent for May and on enquiry, I came to know that he passed away last week. The colleague who introduced the landlord to me has left Qatar and I don’t know any other person related to the landlord. Is there any issue on the legality of the lease contract? In this situation, how can I pay the rent? Please advise.
HS, Doha

A: According to Article 16 of the Rental laws, the lease shall not be terminated by the death of one of the parties to the lease. As per the contract, you are legally entitled to continue to stay at the leased premises till the end of the contract with the terms and conditions including the rent agreed. The rental agreement shall not get terminated on the death of the landlord. Regarding payment of rent, the tenant may pay the rent to the Rental Committee not later than seven days of the date agreed upon or of the month for which the rent is due.

Penalty for purposely polluting water tank
Q: Someone polluted my water tank with food waste. I don’t know who did this. I filed a complaint. What will be the punishment for such acts under the Qatari law?
OS, Doha

A: According to Article 254 of the Penal law, any person who purposely pollutes or spoils a well, public water supply, or any other water resource, or makes the water unusable in anyway shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years and a fine not exceeding QR20,000. If the act was by mistake or out of negligence, the imprisonment shall not exceed six months or a fine not exceeding QR2,000 or both.

LEGAL SYSTEM IN QATAR
According to Article 380 of Criminal Procedure Code, for the judicial rehabilitation, the following requirements should be met: (1) The penalty is for a crime or misdemeanour that has been completely executed, or a pardon has been issued thereon, or the penalty is discontinued by lapse of the period. (2) A period of two years has lapsed from date of enforcement of the penalty or issuance of a pardon thereon if it was a penalty for a crime, or one year has lapsed if it was a misdemeanour penalty.
This period shall be doubled in cases of recidivism and the discontinuance of the penalty for lapse of time. In all cases, recidivism shall be affirmed in the criminal condition sheet, or judicial precedents. The rehabilitation judgment shall be issued by the criminal court.
As per Article 382, if a precautionary measure is decided with the penalty, the period shall commence from the day on which the measure ends, or discontinued therein by lapse of time. If the convicted person is released on parole, the period shall only commence from the date when the release by parole becomes final.
The rehabilitation judgment is issued if the convicted person shall fulfil all the adjudged financial obligations to the State or to the individuals, unless these obligations have lapsed or the convicted person proves to be in a situation whereby he cannot fulfil them. If a number of judgments are issued against the petitioner, rehabilitation judgement shall not be issued, unless the above-mentioned conditions are fulfilled.
According to Article 385, the petition for rehabilitation shall be submitted by the convicted person to the Public Prosecution. It should include the necessary information to identify the petitioner, and shall state therein the date of the judgment issued against him and the places where he has resided since being released.
The Public Prosecution shall investigate the petition to find out the details of the petitioner’s residence at all places since the time of the judgment, the period of such residence, and to learn about his conduct and sources of his income, and in general explore all information deemed as necessary.
The Public Prosecution shall attach the investigation to the petition and submit them to the criminal court within three months following its submission of a report whereby it clarifies its opinion and states its reasons. The following are to be annexed to the petition: (1) Copies of the judgment issued against the petitioner; (2) Criminal condition status; (3) Report on his conduct during the period of enforcement; and (4) A report from the police about his state of affairs at places of his residence since being released.
As per Article 387, the court shall, on considering the rehabilitation petition, hear testimony of the Public Prosecution and the petitioner, and inquire any needed information. The Public Prosecution shall summon the petitioner to the hearing, at least eight days prior to it.
Whenever the conditions of judicial rehabilitation are satisfied, the court shall issue a rehabilitation judgment after considering the conduct of the petitioner since adjudged. The Public Prosecution shall send copy of the rehabilitation judgment to the courts that issued the judgments of penalty or measurement to notify them, and order it to be indicated in the registers prepared for this purpose.