Civil Transactions Law · Federal Decree-Law 25 of 2025
Article 389
Section Two: Effects of the Obligation > Chapter Five: Multiplicity of Parties to the Obligation > Part One: Solidarity
English translation
1. If the creditor enters into a settlement with one of the joint and several debtors and the settlement includes a release from the debt or a discharge of liability therefrom by any other means, the other debtors shall benefit from this settlement.
2. If the creditor enters into a settlement with one of the joint and several debtors and this settlement creates a new obligation on the other debtors or increases their obligation, this settlement shall not be effective against them unless they approve it.
Official translation, as published by the portal.
Official Arabic text
.1 إذا تصالح الدائن مع أحد المدينين المتضامنين وتضمن الصلح إبراءً من الدين أو براءة الذمة منه بأي وسيلة أخرى، استفاد باقي المدينين من هذا الصلح.
.2 إذا تصالح الدائن مع أحد المدينين المتضامنين ورتّب هذا الصلح في ذمة باقي المدينين التزامًا جديدًا أو زاد في التزامهم، فإن هذا الصلح لا ينفذ في حقهم إلا إذا أجازوه.
What it means when you sign
This article deals with what happens when a creditor settles with one of several debtors who are jointly and severally liable for the same debt. If the settlement releases that debtor from the debt, or discharges the liability by any other means, the other debtors benefit from it. If the settlement creates a new obligation for the other debtors, or increases their obligation, it does not take effect against them unless they approve it.
For a contract about to be signed, this article is relevant when several parties are bound together for the same debt, such as co-borrowers, co-guarantors or joint buyers. It means a deal one of them makes with the creditor can help the others if it releases the debt, but cannot make things worse for the others without their approval. A clause that gives one party authority to settle or compromise on behalf of all of the debtors, or that binds the others to a settlement made by one, is the kind of wording that may run into the second paragraph of this article.
Not yet cited in a Fahm report; shown because it sits in the same chapter as one that is.
Related articles
- Article 390Cited in Fahm reportsThis article covers how certain acts by one of several jointly and severally liable debtors affect the others.
- Article 391This article covers the effect of a court judgment on jointly and severally liable debtors.
- 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.