Criminal Case Legal Assistance in Dubai

Swiss clients expect process, notice, and discretion. A Dubai criminal case offers none of those by default, and that gap is where people get hurt. Once a complaint is filed, the police usually have about 48 hours to send the file to public prosecution, and what you say or sign in that window is hard to walk back. Say nothing of substance. Do not sign an Arabic document you have not had translated by someone you trust. Swiss consular staff can confirm your welfare and inform your family, but they cannot defend you or arrange release. Only a UAE licensed advocate can do that, and we stand with you from the police station to the prosecutor to the court. We move before the charge is fixed. We study the complaint, test how the evidence was gathered, and put your account to the prosecutor while the outcome can still shift. The triggers are often ordinary: a cheque that bounced, a commercial dispute turned complaint, a misread message, an incident on a night out. Delay costs you options. Take advice first, then let us speak. The opening two days shape the case far more than most people expect.

Interpol Red Notice and Extradition

Switzerland sits outside the EU, and that changes how an extradition request against you plays out. A Red Notice is not a warrant. It is a request circulated through Interpol asking member states to locate and hold you, and the UAE decides on its own whether to act. That decision is where your defence begins. The risks are immediate: stopped at Dubai airport, your passport taken, and an extradition case that can run for months. For Swiss clients, the notices we handle frequently arise from a commercial or financial dispute recast as fraud, or from a foreign proceeding that would not survive a fair hearing. We act on two tracks together. In the Dubai courts, we contest the extradition request, examine whether a valid treaty applies, argue dual criminality, and expose any political or improper motive, which bars surrender. In parallel, we petition the Commission for the Control of Interpol's Files in Lyon to have the notice deleted at its source. If you think a notice may carry your name, do not travel to find out. Speak to us first, and let us run quiet checks and prepare before it is ever used against you.

Divorce

For Swiss couples, a divorce is often less about the marriage and more about protecting structured wealth. Trusts, holding companies, and cross-border accounts do not divide as simply as a salary and a flat. For non-Muslim residents, the UAE now provides a civil personal status track that includes a no-fault divorce, and you may in some cases request that your home country's law apply instead. The real question is enforcement and reach. A Dubai order has to work where your assets actually sit, and a Swiss court will not automatically mirror it. Where wealth is held through structures, the settlement has to account for who controls what, not just whose name is on the door. We begin by mapping the full estate: property, accounts, entities, and where each is anchored. Then we advise where filing gives you the strongest and most defensible position, and we are candid when that is not the quickest route. Where children are involved, we act early on travel restrictions and account freezes before positions harden. Discretion matters here, and we treat it as part of the work, not an afterthought. You get an honest outcome read from the first meeting.

Investment

Swiss investors are careful by reputation, and Dubai rewards that carefulness while punishing its absence. Before you place capital in a fund, a company, or an off-plan project, the terms need testing against UAE law and against what you were actually promised, not the polished version in the deck. We pressure-test the structure, the exit, and whatever is actually meant to secure the money. We tell you whether your capital is genuinely protected, what happens if the operator fails or disappears, and where the fine print quietly moves the risk to you. A guaranteed return that lives only on a slide is marketing, not a guarantee. There is a reporting dimension too. Under the automatic exchange of information, a UAE holding rarely stays invisible, and how a structure is built affects both your protection here and your position with the Swiss authorities. We flag where you should coordinate with your adviser at home before committing. If a deal has already turned, speed decides how much you recover. We trace the money, secure what can be secured, and pursue the claim through the Dubai courts or the right regulator. Have it examined before you fund it, never after.

Business

Switzerland trades with the Gulf in gold, watches, pharmaceuticals, and commodities, and a large share of it is routed through Dubai. If you are establishing here, the structure you pick at the start will define your options for years. Mainland or free zone, ownership, and how control and profit are shared are set early and are costly to unpick. Swiss refineries handle much of the world's gold, and Dubai is a major bullion and luxury market, so the contracts behind that trade have to survive a UAE court, not just a relationship built at head office. We draft and review your agreements to hold up here, and we build the company to match how you actually operate rather than a free-zone brochure. When a deal breaks down, we send the formal notice, take the claim to the right forum, and move quickly to secure assets or stop the other side leaving before they settle. In high-value trade, the party who acts first tends to recover most. We also tell you honestly when a fight is not worth its cost, and when a clean, enforceable settlement is the smarter outcome. Precision on paper prevents most disputes before they start.

Real Estate

Swiss buyers tend to treat property as capital preservation, not speculation, and Dubai can serve that aim or quietly undermine it. The building is rarely the problem. The contract is: a handover that slips a year, a payment plan that loads risk onto you, a joint purchase where ownership was never properly recorded. Before any deposit is released, we go through the contract in full, confirm the developer and the title, and make sure the wording protects you. On a resale, we check exactly what you are acquiring and which liabilities travel with it. When a purchase turns, we step in. A developer refusing to complete, a broker who vanished with a reservation fee, a landlord withholding a deposit against invented damage. We take it to the right forum, RERA, the rental committee, or the courts, and press to recover your money rather than let it sit frozen. Because Swiss families often plan across generations, we also look at how the property passes on death, since UAE succession does not follow your home rules by default, and an unplanned estate here can lock the asset away from your heirs. Have it reviewed before you sign.

Frequently Asked Questions