UAE legal Q&As: Can I divorce my wife without her agreement?

Domestic matters and a home tutor who is not being paid by her policeman sponsor are the subjects in this week's Know the law.

Q: I am a non-Muslim Indian and work in the UAE on a resident's visa. My wife is Canadian (also non-Muslim) and lives with me here. I want to file for divorce without her agreement but I cannot do it in Canada because both of us need to live there for at least one year before applying for divorce. If I apply for a divorce at a UAE court, will it be mandatory for her to accept this application and go through the divorce procedure? Or does she have the right to not accept the divorce, say she is a Canadian and that she did not give her consent? What alternative routes could I pursue?

A: The Federal Personal Status Law in the UAE, clause number 28 for the year 2005 is relevant here. It states that all Emiratis and expatriates, regardless of religion, can file for divorce by opening a file in court. In the first instance, the court will try to reconcile the couple but, if this fails either by both parties refusing to reconcile, or even just one, the divorce case will be dealt with by the court. Non-Muslims living in the UAE have the right to choose that the law of their home country is used in a UAE court during a divorce case, so you could revert to using Indian law. Otherwise, a non-Muslim can file for separation in a UAE court of law using the UAE’s personal status law, and the partner of the person seeking separation cannot reject the decision of court. Ultimately though, it is the decision of the court on whether the divorce is granted.

Q: I have been working as a home tutor and training to be a female driver for six months without pay in Abu Dhabi. My employer took me for the driving theory exam in September, which I passed, and then I started getting practical driving lessons. However, I’ve now gone eight days without a lesson and the driving instructor has not come back. I think my boss is not being genuine about paying me after I become a driver, so I told him I don’t need his job and I need him to take me back to the labour agent’s office. He said he will take me to the police, to scare me, just because he is a policeman. What can I do?

A: You have to visit your nearest labour office and submit a complaint that demands your financial rights, which are determined according to the labour law and to your employment contract. You should then be able to reclaim unpaid wages for a period of six months. As for the threats, if you have evidence or witnesses you can visit the nearest police station and report him for issuing threats and authorities will take the proper legal action. If investigations show that the threats were true, he would then be referred to prosecutors, then court, on charges of issuing threats, which is punishable by jail.

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