UAE legal Q&As: What is penalty for giving out secrets?

A reader asks about the law regarding leaking confidential company information, while another asks about receiving amounts won through an arbitration court.

q A member of my family was working for a company and he forwarded confidential information to a third party. He did not know that it was a crime and now he has been arrested. What should he expect as punishment?

a Article 379 of the UAE Penal Code states that punishment by detention for a period of not less than one year and by a fine of not less than Dh20,000, or either of these two penalties, shall apply to anyone who is entrusted with a secret by virtue of his profession, trade, position or art and who discloses it in cases other than those lawfully permitted. However, there are options his lawyer could pursue. The information he disclosed must be deemed secret by the company and if it is not then no crime exists. Another argument could be posing the question: what benefit did he received from this act and what profit did he or anyone make from it? If there is none, this strengthens his position. Also, it would be worth checking if the company had authorised your family member to share confidential information as, if it has, this could again work in his favour. Taking into ­consideration that this matter falls under the criminal court’s jurisdiction, his lawyer would have the right to request to bring witnesses in to testify on his behalf.

I filed an arbitration case and won but what can I do to collect my money?

Articles 213, 214 and 215 of Civil Procedures Law 11 for 1992 and its amendments detail that you must file a ratification case (attestation case) to make your arbitration judgment recognised by local courts. Such ratification cases have to be filed under normal court procedures, where the other party has to be served a notice and given a chance to attend the court to submit his reply. After this, a judge can enforce that the payment is made.

If you have a question for our lawyer, email [e-mail] with the subject line ‘Know The Law’. The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Readers are encouraged to seek appropriate independent legal advice.