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The Dubai Commercial Court ruled that the defendant must pay the plaintiff the full Dhs6.4 million represented by two cheques issued in 2023, one for Dhs2.2 million and the other for Dhs4.2 million. The judgment, which was reported on August 5, also requires the defendant to cover 5 percent legal interest calculated from the maturity date of the second cheque on Aug. 1, 2023, until the entire sum is settled. In addition the court ordered the defendant to bear all associated legal fees, expenses and attorney costs after he failed to appear or submit evidence that the underlying debt had been paid. The plaintiff had presented the cheques following the defendant’s repeated promises to settle the original obligation in cash but received no response to a subsequent legal notice.
A cheque is legally considered a settlement of a due debt, the court determined in its assessment, placing the burden on the defendant to prove that the obligation had been fulfilled or had otherwise ceased. The defendant provided no such proof during proceedings in which he did not participate, leading the court to hold him fully liable under commercial law principles. This decision aligns with established practices in Dubai courts for enforcing cheque-based debts where presentation occurs after the instrument’s due date.
The ruling comes more than three years after the two cheques reached maturity without being honoured, a timeline the plaintiff detailed in court filings that described initial forbearance based on the defendant’s assurances of imminent payment. Once those assurances proved unfulfilled and the cheques expired, the plaintiff pursued formal recovery through the commercial judicial system. The court’s order effectively converts the dishonoured instruments into an executable judgment for the complete principal plus accruing interest.
Federal Decree-Law No. 50 of 2022 on Commercial Transactions, which entered into force on Jan. 2, 2023, shifted treatment of most bounced cheques from potential criminal offences to civil enforcement mechanisms, according to a 2026 analysis published by The Legal 500. Under the updated framework, cheques for insufficient funds can function as writs of execution, permitting direct compulsory recovery without requiring a full civil trial in many instances. Al Tamimi & Company’s law updates have similarly noted that only a small proportion of such complaints now advance to criminal prosecution, with the overwhelming majority directed toward civil execution channels.
Legal observers report that more than 95 percent of cheque disputes in the UAE now resolve through civil proceedings rather than criminal ones, reflecting the law’s emphasis on debt recovery over punitive sanctions absent evidence of fraud. The Dubai Commercial Court’s decision in this matter exemplifies that approach by focusing exclusively on the civil liability arising from the instruments. Practitioners indicate the 5 percent legal interest rate applied here follows standard judicial practice for delayed commercial payments in the emirate.
The judgment underscores the continued reliability of cheques as debt settlement tools in UAE commercial practice even after the legislative changes, according to analyses of post-2023 enforcement trends. Defendants in such cases who neither honour the instruments nor appear to contest the claims routinely face full enforcement orders that include interest and costs. This case adds to the body of decisions reinforcing prompt compliance with cheque obligations in Dubai’s business environment.
