Most court cases in Ras Al Khaimah related to bounced cheques and unpaid wages

Of the 8,852 cases registered in the past year, 1,118 were resolved amicably

Ras Al Khaimah Courts regstered a slight increase in civil and criminal cases in 2021. Antonie Robertson / The National

Ras Al Khaimah Courts saw a slight increase in the number of cases in 2021, most of them related to bounced cheques and unpaid wages.

Judges in the emirate dealt with 8,852 cases in 2021, a 6 per cent increase from 8,280 in 2020.

Of the total cases last year, 3,224 were criminal and 5,628 were civil. The authorities said 1,118 cases were resolved amicably.

Legal proceedings are under way in 69 cases.

“We shifted to online court hearing during the pandemic and managed to issue final rulings in 99.2 per cent of the cases in 2021, with an estimated period of 33 days for each case,” Ahmed Alkhateri, president of Ras Al Khaimah Courts, said on Tuesday.

“The figures have been stable for years and the increase is minimal. Most of the cases were related to bounced cheques and unpaid wages.”

Forty departments at the emirate’s courts are dedicated to hearing civil cases and another 14 handle criminal cases.

Mr Alkhateri said courts aim for a speedy resolution and hope to achieve zero cases by resolving them out of the courtrooms.

“Dealing with this relatively low number doesn’t mean we should accept it. We should continue to work toward finding solutions that will lead to having no cases at all,” he said.