Guide · updated 31.07.2026 · 12 min read · Lucent Legal team

How to Close a Criminal Case in the UAE: Reconciliation and Waiver

If a criminal case is open against you — or someone you know — in the UAE, and the other side is willing to settle, or you're the one ready to pay and make it go away, the question people search is simple: "how to close a criminal case in the UAE" or "withdraw case from Dubai court." The honest short answer: sometimes it's genuinely possible, but not with one phone call and not for every charge — the system draws a hard line between cases that can be closed through reconciliation between the parties and cases the state keeps prosecuting regardless of what the victim wants. Below is what mechanisms actually exist, where that line sits, and at which stages a case can still be stopped.

Waiver (tanazul): what it is and what it doesn't guarantee

A waiver is a written statement from the victim dropping their claim against the accused, filed with the police, the Public Prosecution, or the court depending on the case's stage. In practice it's often signed alongside a receipt for compensation paid, or a formal apology.

There's one limitation people miss most often: a signed waiver on its own is not an automatic case closure. The reconciliation has to be formally accepted and approved by the Public Prosecution or the court. Even after both sides sign a paper and shake hands, the case technically still exists until the competent authority formally terminates it — which is exactly why people end up with a signed waiver in hand and still can't leave the country, because the case hasn't been officially closed.

It's also worth checking exactly what your waiver covers: giving up a compensation or financial claim is not the same thing as consenting to end the criminal proceedings. These are different documents, and mixing one up for the other is a common source of disappointment.

Sulh: the formal reconciliation procedure

Separate from an informal waiver, the law describes a structured process: penal reconciliation (sulh). Under Article 349 of the Criminal Procedure Law, if the victim (or their heirs) hasn't already initiated reconciliation themselves, the prosecutor can offer the parties a chance to settle before the case goes to court, giving them 15 days with one possible extension. The reconciliation agreement itself is drawn up in writing before the Public Prosecution or the court.

The legal effect of a successful sulh is that criminal proceedings end. According to several legal sources, for charges on the list eligible for reconciliation, this procedure is available at any stage of the case — including after a verdict has already been handed down and become final. Worth being careful here: sources describe the exact boundaries of "after verdict" differently, so whether it applies to your specific charge and stage needs confirmation from a practicing lawyer, not a general article online.

Public right vs. private right: which charges can be closed, and which can't

This is the central distinction that decides whether there's any chance of closing a case at all:

• Private right (haq al-khaas) — the harm is done to a specific person, and the law allows that person to decide whether prosecution continues. Sources place things like theft, fraud, breach of trust, defamation and insult, and child-custody disputes in this category. For these charges, a victim's waiver followed by formal reconciliation can genuinely end the case.
• Public right (haq al-aam) — the state treats the harm as extending beyond one person to public order, safety, or morals generally. This covers serious violent crimes, drug offences, and crimes against state security and public order, among others. On these charges the Public Prosecution is obligated to keep prosecuting regardless of the victim's forgiveness — a waiver might, at best, be considered by the court as a mitigating factor at sentencing, but it doesn't close the case on its own.

The practical takeaway: before negotiating compensation on the assumption "the case will get closed," find out from a lawyer which category your specific charge falls into — it isn't always obvious from the name of the offence, and even the exact list of charges eligible under Article 349 is described inconsistently across different legal reviews.

Cheque cases: usually it's paying the debt, not a waiver, that closes it

The most common case in practice is a separate one: a bounced cheque. Since 2 January 2022, following the cheque reform (Federal Decree-Law No. 14 of 2020 and Federal Decree-Law No. 50 of 2022 — the Commercial Transactions Law), a cheque that bounces purely for insufficient funds is by default treated as an execution deed, not a criminal matter — the same standing as a court judgment. The holder goes to the Execution Court, not the police, and this kind of case is closed by paying off the debt, not by withdrawing a criminal complaint. The details of that process, plus the exceptions where criminal liability still applies to a cheque — a closed account, forgery, deliberate acts to avoid payment — are covered in a separate guide: bounced cheque in the UAE: criminal or civil?.

If a cheque case does show signs of fraud or forgery, it moves into the general fraud provisions of the Penal Code, and the public right/private right logic above applies — paying the debt no longer closes it automatically. For how to report fraud and what the real chances of recovering money are, see scammed in Dubai: how to report fraud.

At which stage can a case still be closed

The case's stage determines exactly where a waiver or reconciliation request needs to be filed:

1. Police case — the earliest stage, before the file goes to the prosecutor. A withdrawal is filed at the police station or online; the chance of closure is highest here, if the charge allows reconciliation at all.
2. Public Prosecution — once police have referred the file, a waiver or sulh agreement goes to the prosecutor, who decides whether to close the case, give the parties 15 days to reconcile (under Article 349), or send the case to court regardless of any agreement reached.
3. Criminal court — the case is already in trial. Reconciliation on eligible charges is formalised before the court, which approves the agreement and ends proceedings.
4. After the verdict — according to some sources, reconciliation on eligible charges remains possible even at this stage, up to sentence enforcement, but this is the least settled area: practice and interpretation differ across sources, and it isn't something to navigate without a lawyer.

You can check which stage a case is actually at right now yourself, through Dubai Police or Estafser's official services — the step-by-step is covered in how to check a case in the UAE.

Practical steps to close a case

1. Pin down the exact stage of the case (police / prosecution / court) and the specific charge.
2. Confirm with a lawyer whether the charge falls under private right (potentially closeable through reconciliation) or public right.
3. Agree on compensation and terms with the other side — in writing, not just a verbal deal.
4. File the waiver or sulh agreement before the competent authority (police / prosecution / court) — a private receipt between the two of you isn't enough.
5. Wait for official confirmation that the case is closed, and — if a travel ban was in place — get it lifted separately; that doesn't happen automatically the moment the case closes.

When a case almost certainly won't close

A case will almost certainly proceed regardless of any reconciliation between the parties if: the charge falls under public right (public safety, drugs, serious violent crime); the Public Prosecution decides the public interest outweighs a private deal; or the case involves a cheque with signs of fraud or forgery rather than a simple shortfall of funds. In these situations, compensation and an apology may still count as mitigating factors at sentencing, but they don't cancel the prosecution itself.

This material is for information only and is not legal advice. UAE law changes — a lawyer will assess how it applies to your situation.