Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba
The father has the right to request the Sharia court to cancel custody of his children in her favour in the event of marriage of his divorcee wife. As Sharia keeps the interests of children in mind, the questioner might lose custody of her children if her ex-husband files a case in the Sharia court and asks the said court to apply UAE Sharia in the case. Then the said court will pass judgement in favour of the children. With regards to the possibility of the questioner retaining custody in the event of divorce from her new husband, in this case the questioner may maintain custody of her children.
With regards to the possibility of the court asking children to choose between the mother or father for custody, the court will not respond to this request and that by law, minor children often do not know their own interest and therefore it is only the court which estimates their interest and decides who deserves the custody. A reader in Dubai asks: I have been working with a company for three years. A month ago due to a problem between me and my company, they terminated my service. My manager told me the company terminated my service because I had contacted the customers of the company, which, as per him means I’m competing with year ban. I would like to advise the questioner that if he failed to persuade the Ministry of Labour that the said absconder complaint was malicious, he shall ask them to refer the case to the Labour Court, since the said ministry is not a judicial department to investigate these matters. Thus, in case of referring the case to the Labour Court, the questioner can prove to the court that his termination was without any reason (arbitrary dismissal) and that he was at work when the company filed the absconder complaint. Therefore, If the case is approved and the competent court is convinced that the absconder complaint is malicious and untrue, then the said court will issue a judgement in favour of the questioner. In this case the said judgement will say that the absconding complaint is untrue and also the amount of the end of service gratuity which is to be given to the questioner. When such judgement becomes final, the questioner shall provide a copy of the same to the Ministry of Labour and request them to cancel the malicious absconder complaint based on the judgement of the court. The ministry will investigate the court judgement and issue an appropriate decision in this regard for lifting the malicious absconding complaint.
Questions answered by advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba of Al Shaiba Advocates and Legal Consultants.