Civil Transactions Law · Federal Decree-Law 25 of 2025
Article 338
Section Two: Effects of the Obligation > Chapter Two: Means of Performance > Part Three: Compulsory Performance
English translation
Notice to the debtor is not required in the following cases:
1. If the performance of the obligation becomes impossible or futile due to the debtor’s act.
2. If the subject of the obligation is compensation arising from an unlawful act.
3. If the subject of the obligation is the return of a thing known by the debtor to be stolen, or a thing they received without right, with knowledge thereof.
4. If the debtor declares in writing that they do not intend to perform their obligation.
Official translation, as published by the portal.
Official Arabic text
لا يلزم إعذار المدين في الحالات الآتية:
.1 إذا أصبح تنفيذ الالتزام غير ممكن أو غير مجدٍ بفعل المدين.
.2 إذا كان محل الالتزام تعويضًا ترتب على عمل غير مشروع.
.3 إذا كان محل الالتزام رد شيء يعلم المدين أنه مسروق أو شيء تسلمه دون حق وهو عالم بذلك.
.4 إذا صرح المدين كتابةً أنه لا يريد القيام بالتزامه.
What it means when you sign
Before a creditor can treat a debtor as late, formal notice to the debtor is normally needed. This article lists four cases where that notice is not required. These are: where performing the obligation has become impossible or pointless because of the debtor's own act; where the obligation is compensation arising from an unlawful act; where the obligation is to return something the debtor knows to be stolen, or something received without right and with knowledge of that; and where the debtor states in writing that they do not intend to perform.
For a contract about to be signed, this article is relevant to clauses that require notice before default, termination or a claim. It means a notice requirement is not absolute: the article names situations in which notice is not needed. A clause on notice and cure periods can be read next to this list, and a written statement by a party that it will not perform is one of the listed cases.
Not yet cited in a Fahm report; shown because it sits in the same chapter as one that is.
Related articles
- Article 339Cited in Fahm reportsIf the amount of compensation is not fixed by law or by the contract, the court assesses it at an amount equal to the damage actually suffered.
- Article 340Cited in Fahm reportsThis article deals with compensation that the parties agree in advance, in the contract or in a later agreement, subject to the provisions of the law.
- Article 18This article says which country's law governs property.
- Article 19Cited in Fahm reportsThis article says which country's law governs a contract's obligations, both its form and its substance.
- Article 20This article says which country's law governs obligations that do not come from a contract, such as those arising from an act that causes harm.
- Article 28This article deals with what happens once a foreign law has been found to apply.