r/LetsTalkUAELaw

I’m looking for advice from anyone who has been through the Dubai Courts execution process.

Here’s my situation:

• I filed a commercial case against a company.
• I won the case, and after the appeal process the judgment became final.
• The execution order has already been issued.
• The debtor has now requested the court’s approval to pay the outstanding amount in monthly installments.

My lawyer says there’s nothing we can do at this stage except wait for the court’s decision. It’s already been about two weeks with no update.

My questions are:

• Is there really nothing the judgment creditor can do while the installment request is pending?
• Can I object to the proposed installment plan or ask the court to impose stricter terms?
• Has anyone had a debtor’s installment request rejected?
• Is it normal for there to be no update for a couple of weeks?
• If the court approves the installments, what happens if the debtor misses a payment?

It honestly feels like I won the case on paper, but whether and when I actually receive the money is now in the debtor’s hands. Is that how the Dubai execution process normally works?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through something similar.

Hi everyone, looking for practical/legal guidance in the UAE.

I want to keep the community/building name anonymous.

Incident 1 — When my wife was alone

A week or two ago, junk removal people came to our building/community. One of the security guards stopped them from entering and said a permit was required.

At that time, I was out of the country and my wife was alone. She contacted the building/community management and they told her multiple times that no permit was required. When she tried to explain this to the guard, he became very loud and started shouting at her. She was frustrated and said something like, “Will you shut up and listen to me?” The guard then also said “shut up” back to her and continued shouting/raising his voice aggressively.

After this incident, my wife called the community/customer care twice to raise a complaint. Both times, they only said that they would inform the management/supervisor. There was no clear response, no proper follow-up, and no clear action communicated to us.

Incident 2 — When I spoke to the guard later

After I returned, I went to speak to the same guard calmly about what had happened. I told him that if there was any permit requirement or instruction from management, then security and management should communicate it properly instead of shouting at residents or vendors.

During this conversation, I asked for his name. Instead of resolving the issue properly, he became confrontational. At that point, I took out my phone and said that if he was making these statements, he should confirm them clearly and I would record briefly for safety/evidence.

I did not take out my phone to post, circulate, shame, or defame him. I only wanted to record what he was saying because the situation was becoming threatening.

As soon as I took out the phone, he objected and said I could not record him / should not record him. He also started threatening me and saying things like he would break my phone or throw it away. And attacked me to which I had to step back.

The recording was very short, around 8 seconds. It was made only because we felt threatened and wanted evidence of what was being said.

After this recording issue, the argument continued and the situation became heated. At one point, because he was not letting me speak and was raising his voice, I said “shut up” in frustration. He then replied, “you shut up,” and raised his voice further.

Police and supervisor/community response

After today’s incident, we first called the police. The police said that since this is a community/building matter, we should first speak to the community management, and then they can do something if needed.

After that, we went to speak to the community supervisor/head. Instead of focusing on the guard shouting at my wife earlier and threatening me about the phone, the supervisor focused mainly on the recording issue. He said that we should not have recorded the guard because the guard was in uniform, that CCTV is always on, and that our recording could go against us.

We have not posted or circulated the video anywhere. It was recorded only briefly because we felt threatened and needed evidence.

My questions are:

1. Can recording a security guard briefly for safety/evidence go against us if the video was not posted, shared, or circulated publicly?
2. Is it correct that a resident cannot record a guard only because the guard is in uniform, even if the recording was only for safety/evidence?
3. Can a security guard threaten to break or throw someone’s phone because they tried to record briefly?
4. Since we already complained to community/customer care twice after the first incident and got no clear response, what should we do next?
5. Should we attend a meeting with community management, and should we insist that everything is recorded in writing?
6. Should we ask management in writing to preserve CCTV footage from both incidents?
7. If management does not take action and only focuses on blaming us for recording, should we file a police complaint?
8. We are worried that the supervisor may be focusing on protecting his team rather than addressing the guard’s behaviour. How should we handle this carefully without making things worse for ourselves?

Any practical advice from people who have dealt with similar UAE building/security issues would be appreciated.

Edit-1

I understand the sentiments of people pouring out, but it’s partially found. I have added a major edit which got missed due to ChatGPT hallucination and our oversight while posting -

The security guard swiped his hand at me aggressively trying to damage my phone - almost like punch. If I hadn’t taken a step back, it would have hit my chest and damaged my phone.

Is this also something allowed? So if someone come is coming to attack with the intention of hurting I am supposed to not record it, and rely on the mercy of CCTVs being around and functional.

Edit-2

All of his attacking swipe is recorded in the video - he can also be heard saying I am allowed to damage and break the phone