Civil Transactions Law · Federal Decree-Law 25 of 2025
Article 420
Section Two: Effects of the Obligation > Chapter Five: Multiplicity of Parties to the Obligation > Part Four: Transfer of the Obligation
English translation
1. The original debtor shall have the right to require the assignee to perform payment to the creditor, unless otherwise agreed.
2. The assignee may refrain from performing the debt to the creditor if the original debtor has not performed what they undertook towards the assignee under the assignment contract.
Official translation, as published by the portal.
Official Arabic text
.1 يكون للمدين الأصلي الحق في مطالبة المُحال عليه بالوفاء للدائن، ما لم يُتفق على غير ذلك.
.2 يجوز للمُحال عليه أن يمتنع عن الوفاء بالدين للدائن، إذا لم يقم المدين الأصلي بما التزم به نحو المُحال عليه بمقتضى عقد الحوالة.
What it means when you sign
This article sets out two rules that follow when a debt has been transferred to a new person who takes it over. First, the original debtor has the right to require the person taking over the debt to pay the creditor, unless the parties have agreed otherwise. Second, the person taking over the debt may hold back from paying the creditor if the original debtor has not done what they undertook towards that person under the contract that created the transfer.
For a contract about to be signed, this article is relevant when a payment duty is moved from one party to another, for example where a buyer or tenant arranges for a third party to pay what is owed. It means the arrangement between the original debtor and the person taking over the debt matters: the person taking over can withhold payment if the original debtor has not kept their side of that arrangement. A clause dealing with who pays, and on what conditions, can change the first rule, since it applies unless otherwise agreed.
Not yet cited in a Fahm report; shown because it sits in the same chapter as one that is.
Related articles
- Article 419Cited in Fahm reportsThis article deals with the transfer of a debt from the original debtor to another person who takes it over, called an assignment of the debt.
- 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.
- Article 29Cited in Fahm reportsThis article sets a limit on applying foreign law.