Question: I am a married Asian man and my wife is always trying to physically fight with me. What can I do to report her?
Answer: If you have the medical proof or witnesses or admission by your wife or any other kind of acceptable evidence, you may file for a criminal case at the nearest police station. She will face a criminal investigation before being transferred to the criminal courts. If she is found guilty, she could face a jail sentence or a fine. The courts also have the discretionary power to add deportation to the sentence in accordance with Article 121 of UAE Penal Code, Federal Law No 3 of 1987. The best time to file a criminal case is within the first three months of the act of physical violence.
Question: My husband left me without any income and is now living with a male friend. I have been left to bear all the expenses alone. He is also threatening me and saying he will create problems for me. How can I protect myself?
Answer: It is your husband's responsibility to fully cover your financial needs. These would include your housing, food, clothes and medication in accordance with UAE Personal Status Law No. 28 of 2005, Article No. 63, which stipulates the following: "1. Alimony includes food, clothing, dwelling, medical care, servicing charges for the wife, if she is performing such services within her family. "2. In assessing the amount of alimony, it shall be taken into consideration the possibilities of the debtor thereof, the circumstances of the beneficiary and the economic situation, in place and time, provided it does not fall below the sufficiency level. "3. In adjudging alimonies of all kinds, fostering and dwelling charges and all conditions on which depends adjudging all these, eye witnessing shall suffice."
Also, Article 74 of the same law, states that "the husband is under obligation to prepare for his wife, at his domicile, a convenient dwelling commensurate with their standing".
If your husband does not fulfill these obligations, you can file a personal status case against him, requesting the court to enforce this, with a backdated effect up to 36 months.
Disclaimer:
The above information might not apply if both parties are non-muslim. Starting from the 1st of February 2023, UAE issued specific family law to be applied between non-muslim expatriate residents in case none of them wanted to apply his/her home country's law in the UAE. To know more information about this law, please feel free to click this link.
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