DUBAI – Newspapers printed contradictory reports Tuesday on whether the United Arab Emirates was ending prison terms for foreign nationals living in the Gulf Arab state who write bad checks. The UAE's tough penalties for defaulting on checks were relaxed for Emirati citizens in October after a royal decree, but the threat of jail for the country's large expat population remains. The UAE has no bankruptcy laws to protect debtors and many have called for the decriminalization of bounced checks. New legislation aimed at simplifying the process of bankruptcy and allowing failing companies to restructure is expected in 2013. In the UAE writing checks that bounce is a criminal offence instead of a civil one. Post-dated checks are frequently used as a guarantee by businesses and individuals for everything from apartment rentals to multi-billion dollar deals. Officials were not available to comment on Tuesday, which is a national holiday. “In line with the directives of Sheikh Khalifa... and in the spirit of fairness and equality, the courts have stopped as of last month accepting collateral checks presented as a criminal tool against expatriate debt defaulters,” Ali Khalfan Al Dhaheri, head of the legal affairs department at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs was quoted saying by The National. – Reuters
