Criminal defence
Criminal Lawyers in Dubai
If the police have asked you to attend a station, or a member of your family has been held and nobody will tell you why, get advice before you give a statement. What you say in the first few hours goes into the file and it stays there.
Licensed advocate practice, licence 593372.
First ten minutes free, with the advocate.
Dubai courts, and coordination for Abu Dhabi.
Proceedings in Arabic, explained to you in plain terms.
The short answer
This page sets out how a criminal case works in the UAE, from the first complaint through to judgment and appeal, and what a criminal lawyer in Dubai does at each stage. It is written for people who have never dealt with the system before, which is most of the people who call us.
On this page
Ten free minutes
Enough to say whether this needs a lawyer at all.
What to do first when a case is filed against you
The period between the complaint and the first prosecution hearing is short, and it is the part of the case where a defence is easiest to build and easiest to damage.
If you have been called to a police station
Go. Failing to attend does not make a complaint go away and it can make your position worse. Before you go, write down your own account of what happened while it is fresh, with dates, amounts and the names of anyone who was present. Take your Emirates ID and your passport copy. Tell us before you attend if you can, so we know the station and the case reference.
If you have been stopped or detained
You are entitled to know what you are accused of and to have a lawyer act for you. Ask for the case number and the name of the station. If you are able to make a call, use it to tell one person who can then instruct a criminal lawyer on your behalf. Do not sign any document you have not understood.
If a family member has been detained
Families usually contact us because they cannot find out where someone is. We can make enquiries with the police and the Public Prosecution to identify the station or facility, the case number and the nature of the allegation, and then advise on release. Have the person’s full name as it appears on the passport, their passport and Emirates ID numbers, their employer, and the date they were last in contact.
What not to do
Do not contact the complainant directly to argue or to offer money. Do not delete messages, call logs or account records. Do not post about the case. Do not attempt to leave the country before you know whether a travel ban has been entered against you.
What we need from you at the first call
Your name and Emirates ID number, the case or police report number if you have one, the station or prosecution office dealing with it, the date the complaint was made, the name of the complainant, and a short account of the background. If you have the return slip, the contract, the messages or the invoices behind the dispute, keep them together.
How a criminal case moves through the UAE system
Criminal matters in the UAE run through three bodies in sequence: the police, the Public Prosecution and the courts. Understanding which of the three currently holds your file tells you what can and cannot be done next.
The complaint and the police stage
A case normally starts with a complaint at a police station or through an official police channel. The police take statements from the complainant and from the person complained against, gather documents, and refer the file onwards. At this stage the matter is an investigation, not a charge.
Referral to the Public Prosecution
The police refer the file to the Public Prosecution, which is the body that decides whether a case is brought. If a person is in custody, the referral has to happen within a fixed period.
What the Public Prosecution does
The prosecutor re-interviews the parties, can order further investigation, and then either closes the file, keeps it open, or refers it to the criminal court. A great deal of defence work happens here, because a file that is closed at the prosecution stage never becomes a court case at all. Written submissions to the prosecutor, supporting documents and a clear account of the facts matter more at this point than most people expect.
The Court of First Instance
If the file is referred, it is heard by the criminal court at first instance. Hearings are short and often adjourned for documents, for an expert report or for a witness. The defence is usually presented in writing as well as orally, and the court may appoint an expert where the case turns on accounts, signatures or technical evidence.
Appeal and cassation
A judgment at first instance can be appealed, and a decision of the appeal court can in defined circumstances be taken to cassation, where the review is on points of law rather than a rehearing of the facts. Appeal deadlines are short and are counted from a specific date, not from the day you hear about the judgment.
Judgments given in your absence
If a judgment has been given while you were outside the country or were not present, there is a separate route for reopening it. This comes up often with people who left the UAE without knowing a case had been filed.
What a criminal lawyer in Dubai does at each stage
The role changes as the file moves. A criminal advocate in Dubai is doing something different at the police station from what they are doing in the appeal court.
At the police station
Advising you on what the allegation actually is, attending with you where that is permitted, making sure your statement records what you mean rather than a summary of it, and making sure any documents that support your account go into the file at the start rather than months later.
Before the Public Prosecution
Preparing and filing a written defence memorandum in Arabic, producing the documentary evidence, requesting that specific enquiries be made, and applying for release where you are in custody. This is the stage at which a file can be closed without a trial.
In the criminal court
Filing the defence pleadings, challenging evidence that was obtained improperly or that does not prove what it is said to prove, putting forward witnesses, requesting an expert where the case needs one, and making submissions on mitigation if the case reaches that point.
After judgment
Advising honestly on whether an appeal has a realistic basis, lodging it within the deadline, and dealing with the consequences that follow a judgment, including any ban, any civil claim attached to the criminal case, and any effect on residency.
Acting for the complainant
Not everyone who calls us is accused of something. We also act for people who have been defrauded, assaulted, threatened or targeted online, and who need a complaint filed properly and followed through. A complaint that is badly drafted at the start is often the reason a file goes nowhere.
Detention, release and bail
The question families ask first is how to get someone out. The honest answer is that it depends on the category of the allegation, on the stage the file has reached, and on the view the prosecutor or the court takes.
How release is usually arranged
Release before trial is generally arranged through a guarantee. In practice that can involve a person standing as guarantor, the deposit of a passport, or a financial guarantee set by the prosecutor or the court. We do not publish figures for any of these, because they are set case by case and any number written on a website would be wrong for most readers.
What a guarantor is asked to do
A guarantor takes on an obligation to produce the person when required. It is a real commitment and it should not be given casually or by someone who does not understand what they are signing.
If release is refused
A refusal is not necessarily the end of it. The position can be revisited as the file develops, particularly once documents that were missing at the start have gone in. We explain the bail position in more detail on our page about bail applications in Dubai.
Where the person is being held
Detention may be at a police station or at a separate facility depending on the stage. Families are often given inconsistent information about this in the first days, which is why locating the file is the first practical step.
Travel bans
A travel ban is one of the most common reasons people discover a case exists. Many find out at the airport.
Why a travel ban appears
A ban can arise from a criminal file, from a civil judgment, or from an enforcement action. The reason matters, because the route to lifting it differs.
Checking whether a ban exists against you
There are official channels for checking. What is available depends on the emirate and on the type of ban.
Getting a ban lifted
A ban attached to a criminal file usually comes off when the underlying file is resolved, withdrawn or closed, or on an application in defined circumstances. A ban attached to a debt normally requires the debt to be settled or secured. Our page on travel ban removal and absconding cases covers this in full.
The kinds of criminal case we handle
We act across the ordinary run of criminal work in Dubai, for residents, visitors and people who have already left the country.
Bounced cheque matters
The treatment of a cheque returned unpaid changed substantially with reforms that took effect in January 2022, and a lot of the advice still circulating online describes the position before that change. A returned cheque is not automatically a criminal matter in the way it once was, and in many situations the route is enforcement rather than prosecution. Because this affects so many people, it has its own page: bounced cheque cases in Dubai.
Fraud, breach of trust and financial crime
Allegations involving company funds, false documents, misuse of money held on behalf of another person, and disputes between partners that have been filed as criminal complaints. These cases usually turn on documents rather than on witnesses, and the defence work is largely reconstruction of the paper trail.
Cybercrime and online offences
Complaints arising from messages, social media posts, groups, images and online accounts. The UAE treats conduct online seriously, and a message sent in anger is a common route into a criminal file. See our page on cybercrime defence.
Defamation and insult
Written or spoken statements about another person, including in a work context or in a private group, can be the subject of a complaint. These cases are often resolved on the facts of what was actually said and to whom.
Assault and public order allegations
Physical altercations, disputes that escalated in public, and allegations arising from incidents at work or in a residential building. Medical reports and the sequence of events usually decide these cases.
Drugs-related allegations
Allegations concerning possession, use or supply. These are treated as serious matters and require careful handling from the first interview, including where the substance in question is lawfully prescribed elsewhere.
Absconding reports
An absconding report filed by an employer creates an administrative problem and can create a legal one. It affects status, movement and the ability to work. The route to dealing with it depends on whether it is well founded and on how quickly it is challenged.
Theft and property offences
Allegations of theft, of taking property belonging to an employer, or of damage to property, including where the underlying dispute is really a civil one that has been filed as a criminal complaint.
Where a complaint can be withdrawn
In some categories of case, a settlement or a withdrawal by the complainant ends the matter, and in others it does not. This is one of the most misunderstood points in UAE criminal practice and it is worth getting right before anyone pays anything.
Criminal lawyers in the UAE beyond Dubai
Criminal procedure is largely federal, so the shape of a case in another emirate is recognisable. What differs is the court administration, the registration position of the advocate, and the practical rhythm of the local courts.
Abu Dhabi
The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department administers the courts in Abu Dhabi and registration there is separate from registration in Dubai.
Sharjah
Sharjah moved its courts out of the federal system. Emiri decrees in October 2024 created the emirate’s own Judicial Council, Judicial Department and Public Prosecution, and Sharjah Judicial Authority Law No. 7 of 2025 added a Court of Cassation for the emirate from 1 June 2025. Much of the guidance still online describes the older federal position.
Cases that cross emirates
A complaint filed in one emirate about events in another is common, particularly in financial and online matters. The file stays with the authority where it was filed unless it is transferred.
Language and the court file
The language of the courts is Arabic, and the file, the pleadings and the judgment are in Arabic. Anything you submit in another language generally has to go in as a legal translation.
Statements you sign
Do not sign a statement in a language you cannot read without knowing what it says. If the content does not match what you said, say so before signing rather than afterwards.
Translation of your documents
Contracts, messages, invoices and reports usually need certified translation before they can go into the file. Getting this done early avoids adjournments later.
Languages we work in
We explain the case to you in a language you are comfortable in even where the file itself is in Arabic.
Working with our criminal law firm in Dubai
The first meeting
We go through what happened, what the allegation is, what stage the file has reached and what can realistically be done next. You will get a straight answer about the strength of your position, including when that answer is not the one you were hoping for.
Confidentiality
What you tell us stays between you and us. That obligation is part of the professional rules that apply to every licensed advocate in the UAE under the Code of Ethics issued as Cabinet Resolution No. 9 of 2025.
Checking that your lawyer is licensed
Only a licensed lawyer may use the title and appear for you. Licensing in Dubai is handled by the Dubai Legal Affairs Department, and federally by the Ministry of Justice, under Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2022 regulating the legal profession. You are entitled to ask any practice for its licensing details before you instruct it.
Keeping the family informed
Where we act for someone in custody, we agree at the outset who we update and how often, so that one person is not left calling around for news.
What to bring
Bring your Emirates ID and passport. Bring anything the police or prosecution have given you, including the case number, any summons, any receipt and any report. Bring the documents behind the dispute itself: the contract, the cheque and return slip, the messages, the transfers, the invoices, the employment papers, the medical report. Bring a written timeline of what happened with dates. If documents are in a language other than Arabic or English, tell us, because translation takes time.
What a criminal case costs
Criminal work is charged on the basis of the stage and the scope of the work, not on the outcome. We set out how our charges are structured, what is included and what is billed separately, on our legal fees page. Ask for the basis of charging in writing before you instruct anyone.
Questions people ask us
Do I need a criminal lawyer if I have not been charged yet?
The investigation stage is when it is most useful. A file that is closed by the Public Prosecution never reaches court, and the material that persuades a prosecutor to close it is usually available at the beginning.
Can a criminal case be filed against me after I have left the UAE?
Yes. A complaint can be filed and a case can proceed in your absence, and you may only learn of it when you try to return or when a ban appears. Cases in this position can often be dealt with without your being present, at least at first.
What happens if the person who complained agrees to withdraw?
In some categories of case that ends the matter and in others the prosecution continues regardless. Check which category your case falls into before agreeing terms with anyone.
Will a case show up on a police clearance certificate?
What appears depends on the outcome of the file and on the type of certificate requested.
How long does a criminal case take in Dubai?
It varies with the category and with how much evidence has to be gathered or translated. Adjournments are normal and are not a sign that something has gone wrong. We would rather give you a range once we have seen the file than a figure on a web page.
Can I speak to the police without a lawyer?
You can, and many people do. The difficulty is that a statement given without advice is hard to correct later, particularly where it concedes something you did not intend to concede.
Speak to a criminal lawyer in Dubai
If there is a case against you or against someone in your family, the useful step today is to find out what the file actually says and what stage it has reached. We can start that.
Call +971 50 747 9570 or email help@lawyerindubai.ae. Our office is at Empire Height Towers, Marasi Drive, Business Bay, Dubai. You can also use the form on our contact page.
Related pages: bounced cheque cases, travel bans and absconding cases, cybercrime defence, bail applications.
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