<strong>I was drunk on a flight out of the UAE and accidentally broke the screen on the seat. I was detained and, to my shock, was returned back to the UAE to face criminal charges rather than being dealt with by police at my destination. Why did they do this?</strong> In this case, I would have to assume that you were using one of the local airlines as both international law and local UAE law states that criminal cases should be dealt with in the country where the airline is based. Article 17/2 of the UAE penal code explains that the country’s code is applicable in all commercial airplanes owned by airlines based in the UAE. <strong>A friend of mine owes me money and, a long time ago, my lawyer told me that if I didn’t file a case soon, I would no longer have the right to file it as there is a time bar related to the date of the loan contract that would prevent me from doing so. My friend is now saying he needs more time to pay but could I sign a new contract with him to negate the time bar?</strong> Unfortunately, that is not an option as under article 487 of UAE civil law 5 of 1985, the time bar period cannot be amended by any kind of agreement. <em>If you have a question for our lawyer, please email it to newsdesk@thenational.ae with the subject line “Know the law”.</em>