Good morning my dear friends and listeners. Back again with another episode of Monday legal. My name is Ahmed Elnaggar and I'm your host. This episode is dedicated again to the questions that I get from my listeners and my followers who are mainly Gen Z's. I got a lot of questions whether online or offline and I'm trying to categorize them and I answer as much as I can in every episode for our Gen Z followers who are 50% of our followers which is an amazing number by the way and thank you very much for all your questions. Thank you very much for sharing our content and if you like it, please subscribe and share with your colleagues or even with your parents and your friends and whoever finds any value in our content. Without further ado, I would like to go and take on your questions one by one. I've heard people getting in trouble for house parties. What are the actual laws around that? Well, um, basically house parties are a very common thing that happens a lot in cities like Abu Dhabi and in Dubai and even the uh, Russell Ka and so on. And a lot of the organizing uh, of these house parties are your generation guys and still our generation as well to some of them. Our generation probably learned the lesson with the experience and we had been falling in so many trouble before. So we know how to deal with it. But for your generation, I'm giving the advice. You need to be very sure who you invite to these parties because anybody you invite to your home or to your party is part of it. And let's say you can be painted with the same brush as anybody else in your circle or in your group. So if you have the wrong people within your network and you invite them to your house for this house party, you will be perceived as their friend or you will be perceived as in their circle. So if you invite people that you really don't know and suddenly one of them is doing uh regularly uh crimes or regularly involved in too many trouble, you'll be questioned as well. So in general, the legalities around house parties is that you need to make sure that you're not harmful and you're not noisy to your neighbors and you're not causing any trouble and not doing anything illegal during this party. So if this party has 20 30 people and you don't know what they do and you don't know where they hiding and you don't know what everybody in the party is doing at all times, you have to be very careful. Of course, no one can control such a thing. That's why it is important to know for a fact to know very well all the people that you are inviting into your house party and the other way around. So when you get invited in the party, you have to be very careful and very sure that this party is managed and controlled and let's say organized by people who are not doing any crimes or any wrongdoings during this party because if something goes bad, everybody is in trouble. Everybody who's there doesn't matter if you join this crime or not. It doesn't matter if you do what they do or not. You are there. you're one of them. So, be very careful. This is the most important legal tip I would give you. I have another question here. What if I repost a meme or a joke about the UAE government? Could that land me in hot water? Well, definitely you have to be very careful when you talk about the UAE in general. Whether you're talking about the government or you're talking about the culture or you're talking about the behavior of the people who are resident and who are the local people who are Imirati nationals because the UAE treats this kind of commence and with a very high sensitivity. I'm not saying that anything you say is going to be taken against you, but if you ever say anything that harms the image of the UAE or harms the um image of the people living here or talk badly about them or talk bad about the culture, you're going to be taken and held responsible of these words. Because if you have one bad experience with one person or in one situation, that doesn't mean that your experience is the mainstream. So you have to be very careful with whatever you post about the UAE and about what happens inside the UAE. You'll be held liable and responsible to whatever you say. Everyone I know uses VPN to access blocked websites and blocked apps. Is that actually legal here? Well, in fact, no. The telecommunication regulatory uh authority is very clear that downloading and using VPN applications that uh bypass the approval or the security uh for using uh certain apps or certain websites is strictly illegal and anybody who's using that or promoting the use of that will be held liable and legal under the uh cyber crime law. So you have to be very very careful and we're talking about two crimes here because whoever is accessing a website that was has been blocked that this use is illegal in the UAE that is a crime. Downloading and using the VPN to access it is a different crime. So you have to be very careful and understand the legality and the liability of your use. And if you don't know and if you have a doubt, you always need to reach to a legal consultant. Tell him very clearly and very openly what exactly are you planning to do and why are you trying to access an illegal or a blocked website or a blocked app? What should I do if I'm being harassed or bullied online? Are there real legal steps I can take in Dubai? Basically, yes. Of course, there are a lot of legal steps that you can take. It is very easy for you to approach any police station or any police department that closest to your place where you are living or operating or where you work and you have to give your statement. You will mention exactly what is happening. You provide a proof to them. They will connect you to the uh cyber crime uh police department and from there on your rights will be protected. If you feel that you're not able to feel safe or if you have any doubts that the person who is harassing you or bullying you, bullying you is trying to um I don't know maybe uh intimidate you by any means to do certain action or take money from you or something like that, you have to speak up. Do not expect to be protected without speaking up for your rights. you have to go and say something and do something about it. Is using a fake identity or a fake age on social media or any dating apps illegal in the UAE? Well, you have to understand that in general using a fake age to access certain services or certain applications or website puts you in legal liability. using a fake ID to reach out to places where you are not supposed to be or to use it for certain um um facilities that you're not supposed to get before a certain age puts you under a huge legal trouble. Not just breaking the law by accessing something that is not allowed for you, you're breaking the law by giving false declarations to a private or a public company. And as your question implies, you might be using a fake identification which is forging of official documents. And there is a hefty penalty and punishment for something like that. Do not ever attempt to forge an emirate ID or a passport or any document. And do not ever try to give a false declaration to any private or public government body cuz that puts you in a big huge legal trouble. Can my boss actually keep my passport or delay my salary? Is that even allowed? No, it's not. Your passport does not even belong to you. Your passport is a travel document that is given by the government of the country where you are citizen of. It's not your ownership. It belongs to you because it is your document. It's an identification or a travel document. You're not allowed and you should not allow anybody to keep it beyond your uh approval. Your employer is not supposed to keep your passport unless you ask them in writing that please keep my passport for safe custody or something like that. If you do not agree, they should not keep your passport. Sometimes the employers ask you to take your passport to process some certain government uh needed documents or steps like applying for your medical or applying for your visa or any of that uh procedures but it's not allowed by any employer to keep your passport. Likewise, nonpayment of salary is not allowed and it is regulated. The government of the UAE represented by Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization have regulated the payment of salaries through the WPs which is wages protection system. If your employer is not paying your salary, it automatically triggers the system of Ministry of Human Resources and Emeritization and it says that your salary is not paid. And if it doesn't trigger it or your employer does not have to pay the salary through the WPS system because it is a free zone company, for example, you have to take action and you go and make the complaint. If your employer is a freezone company, the freezone authority will be able to issue a letter addressed to the labor court so that you go and file a case against your employer for delay or non-payment of salary. You will be compensated and your salary is guaranteed. If I invest in crypto or NFTTS and got scammed, can I take legal action in Dubai? Absolutely yes. Not just crypto and NFTs. If you get scammed by anybody for anything in the UAE, you have to speak up and go to the police department, put your statement, file the uh report about the scammer. However, do you actually know who is the scammer? Did you do the KYC and due diligence? Did you have a copy of the scammer's Emirates ID? Do you know the real name? We've seen this a lot. A lot of people get in business and run to give crypto or even cash or make transfers to people who they don't know what is their real name. They don't know and they don't have a copy of their Emirates ID. Whenever you go and do an investment or do business with or any financial transaction with anybody, you have to understand very well who they are and what they are doing. So if something goes wrong, you have something to go to the police with and say this person. You cannot send them a photo and tell them he told me his name is Ahmed. That doesn't work. You need to have identification to the people you do business with. Well, that's a very interesting question. Can I report my own parents if they're being emotionally or physically abusive? Theoretically, yes. Of course, you can report anybody who is being physically or emotionally um abusive, whether they are your parents or your friend or your spouse or anybody, you'll just have to make sure that you have enough evidence and you have solid grounds for this kind of abuse. And another advice because this is also a repeated problem that happen from every every now and then that we find a lot of cases and occasions where people do not um complain on time. So they keep taking their abuse time after time after time and then they speak up only when it becomes very very harmful or when they get physical damage or a broken bone. You have to be early with this stuff. So you can speak up immediately once you get a physical abuse from anybody. You have to go to the hospital, ask for a hospital, a medical report about your condition. And with this condition, you speak to your lawyer and go and file a police report against whoever created or caused this injury or systematically applying any kind of abuse on you. What happens if I skip rent or leave the country without paying my bills? Can they still come after me? It depends on who. But yes, both of them can come after you. So, usually if you don't pay the rent, there must be a contract signed or you gave guaranteed checks or posted checks for the payment of these uh for these for these payments. And yes, the landlord have the right to chase you until you pay. Even if you're outside of the country and they know where are you're about whereabouts, they have the right to uh to file a case against you, get the verdict and if the amount is worth it economically, they can chase you there. Also, something very important you have to take care of. You might do that and face no legal consequences because no one is chasing you in your home country. But if you leave and try to come back again, you will come back and find there is a case against you for the rent or for an electricity and water bill that is not paid or maybe a telephone bill that is not paid. So you can leave 5, 7 years, 10 years and you don't know if there is any uh case against you and you come here or even stop by Dubai for a transit or the UAE in general. It doesn't need to be Dubai airport. You can be in any airport. But if you have a trouble and have a travel ban or put on the waiting list on in the UAE, you'll be stopped if you're transiting or if you're entering at any airport or any uh seapport even. So you have to be very careful and I never advise anybody to leave and just forget everything behind. If you're leaving the country for financial or for other reasons, you have to close every open tab you've left behind. I posted a bad review of a restaurant on Google. Could I get sued for the information in the UAE? Yes, you can. Whether what you put online is true or not, you have to be very careful what you post. The restaurant or any commercial entity have the right to sue you for defamation. Even if you're not actually saying something wrong until the file goes in front of a judge and they realize that you have said nothing wrong, you might be blocked to travel. So be very careful what you post online and its effect on you and on the business facility. If someone shares my private chats or screenshot without permission, can I take legal action? Yes, of course you can take legal action. Your information should be taken confidential. Your photos as well. And the intent is very important here. If they take the screenshot and try to blackmail you or use it to the for defamation, for example, to to to harm your image in front of any of your colleagues or any of your social circle, you have the right to take legal action against them. Can I sue someone if they promise me a job or investment and they ghosted me after taking money? Yes, of course. You have the right to sue anybody who promis you uh money, job or anything else against uh uh a specific amount. They got the money and they did not deliver based on your agreement. That would be considered as fraud. You can take them to court by filing um criminal complaint through the police department and later on with your evidence it goes to court and you can file the case for the criminal intent as well as for your civil rights which uh allow you to collect back the money that you spend. How do I legally protect an idea or brand I came up with before I launch it online? Well, first of all, there many ways to uh protect your business ideas in general. Um, first one is to sign an NDA, a non-disclosure agreement between you and whoever you're disclosing this information to. So if you want to talk to an investor or talk to one of your colleagues who you want them to join doing business with you or just want to share the idea with them for an opinion, you can prepare a non-disclosure agreement. Get it ready with you. Make everybody sign it. If you are uh willing to protect this idea or this commercial uh idea uh in general to uh to to to protect it and you don't want them to disclose it to anybody or to use it, you can write that down in the non-disclosure agreement. However, if you're talking about the occasion where you came up with a nice business idea and it was launched already and you want to protect the idea from being copied, that is something that you cannot protect. Basically, people can protect ideas when it comes to a brand or idea when it comes to a painting or the um I don't know a song or a book. So the proceeds of the idea, the product that comes out of the idea, this is something that you can protect. But if your business idea is easily uh copied, you cannot protect it and anybody can copy it. But after you launch, as long as they did not steal the idea from you after signing an NDA, they just saw it in public and it looked very nice and they have done it as well, copying the idea. This is something that is very hardly um possible to protect. Can I get into legal trouble for taking photos or videos at the gym or mall that accidentally include other people? Absolutely. Yes. If anybody who appears in the video um or in your photos that you posted complain, they have the right to make you take it down. And if that was uh harming them or harming their um their their interest in any way and they can prove it, they have the right to sue you for that. So be very careful who you include in your videos in the gym or by the beach or on the swimming pool or in in anywhere. Can I legally break a work contract if the company isn't treating me right or didn't meet their promises? Well, absolutely you can do that if whatever treatment you are talking about or whatever promises you are talking about is written. So if your employment contract or if the documents that they shared with you as a company policy uh writes down these promises they become contractual obligations. But if you've heard something during the interview or while recruiting you and they told you this this this will happen because that's the normal procedure that we have it in our company and then you work with them and you realize these were all promises that were not fulfilled. When you read your contract you realize none of these promises are written here. Then you have no right as well. You cannot assume that what you heard verbally is going to be uh a contractual obligation on the company. If you want to protect yourself and you want to include all these promises in writing, you have to include it whether in the courted contract or you have it written and sent to you by email because these are not promises now because these are written obligation on the company. the company confirmed 1 2 3 4 or will be given to you alongside all your legal benefits based on the contract then together becomes an agreement but whatever verbal and it was promised to you is not something that you can rely on and you can sue the company for. So, be very careful whenever you're signing an employment agreement. Include in it. Everything you've been promised, whether benefits or payments, everything. What should I do if I accidentally sign something I didn't understand like a rental or a job contract? How can you accidentally sign this? I don't understand. How can you accidentally sign a document without reading or without understanding or without even taking a copy of it? If you're asked or requested to sign any document, take your time to read. If you don't have the time, send it to a legal consultant to give you an advice. It's very obvious, guys. Do not sign anything without reading. And even if you read it, please get a copy of it with your signature because that's very important. And if you don't understand anything, don't sign. And if you don't understand anything, go and ask. If I witness something illegal like abuse or fraud, but I'm scared to report it, do I still have a duty under UAE law? Well, I think you have a moral duty before the legal duty to report any kind of abuse or any kind of of of fraud that might happen. Um, you are protected by the UAE authorities in general. If you go and report something and you can ask for uh protection, you can ask for your identity to be kept uh confidential. I I cannot imagine that there is any authority worldwide that would jeopardize the safety and security of someone who is trying to be uh a positive uh person in the society. So don't be afraid. You're doing the right thing. If you want to report abuse that you see, report it. If you want to report uh any kind of fraud that is happening, you should report it. actually have a moral obligation to report it to the public authorities or to anybody who is getting defrauded and they are not aware of it. If you have enough evidence, if you sure that something is going wrong, you have to speak up. You should speak up to a lawyer first and then you go to the authorities. I was in a taxi and the taxi driver told me the payment machine is not working. He insist that I should pay cash. It was difficult for me to find cash, but I found it. What happened if I did not have cash on me and the machine is broken? Well, basically what happened with you with you is not fair and is not correct. So, if the taxi u uh payment machine is not working, your trip should be uh for free. You should not pay for the trip. So, you have to know that very well. And this is part of you knowing your rights. I think if you ride in the right place in the taxi, there's a sticker with uh instructions of uh to to to the rider in the taxi and it says exactly that. If the payment machine is not working, your ride is for free. So, you should not be in trouble and the taxi driver should be in trouble for advising and pushing you to pay by cash because most probably this cash is going to his pocket. Be careful. Can I get in trouble at school or with the police for bringing alcohol and cigarettes even if I don't use it knowing that I am 14 years old? Well, yes, smoking in general and consumption of alcohol uh in the UAE cannot be done before the age of 21. So whether you're 14, 18 or 20, you're not allowed to uh to smoke or to drink alcohol in the UAE, let alone in school. This will put you in uh huge legal consequences and the people who allow you to get access to the cigarettes or to the alcohol. So, whoever sell you uh a product that is age restricted is going to be in trouble. So, first of all, you're going to put your parents in uh in in trouble because of you uh because you probably take their alcohol and their smoking materials. So, uh giving you access to that is going to put them in trouble. You're going to be in trouble with the school because you might be expelled. And legally if you encourage anybody else to consume alcohol with you or to smoke with you, they will have the right to sue you for such uh an occasion or bad influence. If I skip school or my attendance is low and my parents face legal consequences, it will not be legal consequences per se. So that you will not have a trouble with the police. But uh your uh attendance affects your um the the collective uh score of the school and your school might uh push disciplinary action on you by maybe not renewing your admission by the next year. It's not a legal question, but I know it because I have kids your age. Is it illegal to record a teacher or classmate without them knowing, like for a funny Tik Tok? absolutely illegal and absolutely put you in legal trouble. If you do that, you can be subject to a criminal offense. If they don't like whatever you post, you can be uh subject to a defamation case. What if I get into a fight at school? Can I get arrested or face legal action? Yes, of course. It depends what kind of damage did you cause to the other person in uh in the fight. So if you perhaps broke his bone, broke his nose, uh cause him any injury that will take more than 21 days uh of medication that will put you in uh in a big legal trouble and you might uh face legal consequences up to jail. Doesn't matter your age, you're going to be taken to jail. I'm playing a game with my friends that we go to a restaurant, we order food, we eat, and one by one we leave without paying. If we ever get caught, would be um taken to the police. Yes, that's kind of an act of theft. So you basically are harming this commercial establishment by stealing the money that is owed by you and the bill that should be paid. This is punishable by law and uh you and your friends could be taken to uh police and later on a case can be filed against you for compensation and for the amount. And it is not a crime that only the restaurant or the commercial establishment can just get compensated and that's it. There is a society right. So we as members of the society would like to see such crime stop. So the public prosecutor would be your u counterparty not just a restaurant. the restaurant there is a civil right which is the money that you owe to them but to the society is represented by the public prosecutor and even if the restaurant forgive you the public prosecutor may not and you'll be in in jail anyways or you may face huge legal consequences you and your legal guardian which means your parents is it illegal to bring pepper spray or a pocket knife to school for protection. Absolutely. Uh at your age, uh you are not allowed to be carrying weapons. Pepper spray is a weapon. A pocketk knife is a weapon. You're not supposed to be carrying it, let alone carry a light weapon at school. That is something that will be treated as a huge risk against everybody else who is in school beginning with the teachers to your colleagues and to other pupils who are younger than you. That's a huge risk and you'll be punished by the school as well as by the police department. Can I be expelled or reported to the police for cheating on an exam? Really? No. But don't do that. I was not involved in a fight at school, but I was a witness to I took the video and I shared it with one of my friends. Later on, this video became viral at school and I was taken by the police as well. So, definitely that's a big problem. You recording the video of someone bullying someone else or a fight of two people fighting and then sharing this video is a huge thing. It's not just because you did not punch someone that you are not doing something wrong. Sharing such content in the UAE is punishable by law. You can be taken to court. And I think this is a situation where you are now. You need a criminal specialized criminal lawyer to protect you and I guess you'll have a big trouble with your school. And instead of taking the video of two people fighting, I think you should be reporting it to the someone at school to stop the fight. That's what you should do. Not taking videos and definitely not sharing them. If I lend my phone to a friend and they use it to cyber bully someone, can I be held responsible? Yes, of course, you'll be held responsible. Even if you are able to prove that this was not you, part of the blame will fall on you. It is not an okay thing to let someone else pull someone. Whether you uh do it yourself or not, you are part of such crime. Can I be punished for sending or receiving inappropriate pictures even if it is between me and my friends? Yes, you can be held liable to something like this. If any of your friends complain about such pictures that is being sent to them, uh I can imagine that this this thing can happen between friends by sharing videos or or memes or jokes that are explicit or inappropriate. I would advise you to be very careful when sending anything to your friends because at this young age I believe that the friendships and the dynamics of the relationships always change very quickly. So it's better to be very careful not to be posting or sending something to one of your friends uh without knowing the consequences of such thing. What if someone posts a fake rumor about me online? Can we take them to court even if we're both minors? Yes, of course. Of course. Bullying online or sharing uh photos or uh saying anything fake uh is not uh does not get a a a green uh light or a pass because who is doing it is a minor. These uh minors can be taken uh to the police. Maybe they will not join the traditional jail where adults will be there, but they will join another jail where criminals of their age will be there. So, of course, what are my rights if I feel a teacher or coach is acting inappropriately or making me uncomfortable? Again, this is something that you need to speak up about immediately first to your parents and define exactly what is the what are the actions of that coach or that teacher and go and speak to a lawyer about it. You have to be very proactive and protect yourself, protect your body. You should not be in any place that make you feel uncomfortable. If I get caught shoplifting from a store near school, will it go on my record permanently? I know that this there is a game going on and it's not only your generation. This has been a game for a while. And even our generation, we have seen such silly games being uh encouraged by uh by by by friends that this is something that is fun to do. Let me tell you, it is one of the most dangerous things to do. Theft is not a game. And it's not because the item you're stealing or shoplifting is five dirham worth or $10 worth is not a big deal. It doesn't matter the value. Theft is theft. It's not just the right of the shop or the mall to um to to file the case. It is the right of the society to be protected from such behavior. So if anybody report you because you did shoplifting or you stole something from a shop and this file goes to the public prosecutor, it's not up to this shop because your parent will run and pay double or triple the amount for them to withdraw the case. This is a very ill behavior that the prosecutor and the court in the UAE is are going to take it very very seriously. You might be going to jail. Do you think that it is also easy for your parent to run to the shopping mall or to the uh shop to to pay them double or triple? No. These shops are suffering from huge losses every year because of such shoplifting. and they want to make an example out of you. And yes, it is going to stay in your record forever. Don't do that. Be very careful. Stay safe. And lastly, I would like to thank you very much. If you like the content and you find it valuable, please share, like, and subscribe. Share it with your friends. Whoever is a Gen Z or not, whoever is a parent or one of your colleagues or friends, share with them these uh episodes. And this is your dose from Monday legal. See you next week.