Insights and Commentary from Dentons

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1 dentons.com Insights and Commentary from Dentons On March 31, 2013, three pre-eminent law firms Salans, Fraser Milner Casgrain, and SNR Denton combined to form Dentons, a Top 10 global law firm with more than 2,500 lawyers and professionals worldwide. This document was authored by representatives of one of the founding firms prior to our combination launch, and it continues to be Growing with offered to provide our clients with the information they need to do business in an increasingly complex, interconnected and competitive marketplace. The role of government has never been more critical

2 January 2010 The Qatar Update Official Gazette 11 of 2009 Editor s comment Welcome to the first Qatar Update of 2010, which details new law published in the Official Gazette for November 2009, plus upcoming legal developments. Noteworthy this month is Law No. (19) of 2009, which amends some provisions of the 2008 Rent Law. The new law allows the rental committee to hear rental dispute applications filed by tenants irrespective of whether the lease is registered. Any application by landlords will not be heard unless the lease is registered. Previously applications from either party could not be heard by the rental committee unless the lease was registered. As registration is the landlord s obligation, this caused difficulties for tenants who had legitimate disputes which could not be heard because the landlord had failed to register the lease. Law No. (19) also extends the circumstances where a landlord may terminate a lease early. Now landlords may end leases where they, their wives, children, parents or other legal dependants require the property for living accommodation. Possession can be obtained only where the landlord has no other available accommodation, and the tenant must be given six months notice. Landlords now able to increase rents Keeping with real estate news, February will see the end of the two-year restriction on rental increases imposed by Council of Ministers Decision No. (9) of Since 15 February 2008 landlords have been prohibited from increasing rents for all leases entered into on or after 1 January The Decision also restricted rental increases permitted for leases entered into before that date. Both these restrictions will come to an end next month, and landlords will be able to increase rents, provided that the lease contract does not provide otherwise. The first change to the Rent Law is welcome news for Denton Wilde Sapte s Real Estate department. It had been a constant problem for our tenant clients where cases could not be heard by the rental committee because the landlord had not registered the lease. It is a comfort for tenants to have the security that their applications will be heard even where their lease is not registered. However, the end of the prohibition on rental increases is likely to create new problems for tenants where landlords attempt unfair increases. Real Estate is one of four key sectors for Denton Wilde Sapte, and the department in the Doha office has grown rapidly over the last two years. We advise a wide spectrum of local and international clients on sales and purchases, development, construction, leasing and real estate finance and have advised on many of Doha s major property transactions including those at the Pearl, Lusail, West Bay and the QSTP. Our clients include developers, investors, retailers, leisure owners and operators, lenders, government and public sector clients. Our Litigation team provides support and deals with a wide variety of rental disputes for both landlords and tenants. If you would like more information on an item of interest in this Update or would like to give us your comments, please contact louise.capon@dentonwildesapte.com.

3 2 Summary of the Official Gazette 11 of 2009 Law No. (19) of 2009 Organising the practice of private security services. Law No. (20) of 2009 Amending some provisions of Law No. (4) of 2008 Rent Law. Article (3) is amended to provide that the rental committee will not hear rental dispute applications filed by landlords unless the lease contract is registered (save as to evidence leases entered into prior to 15/2/08). Article (19) is extended to allow landlords to terminate leases on six months notice where they or any dependants require the property for living accommodation. Emiri Decision Nos. (70), (72) & (73) of 2009 Appointing extraordinary ambassadors delegated to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of Poland. Emiri Decision No. (71) of 2009 Regarding the Emiri aviation system. Decree Nos. (40), (44) & (45) of 2009 Appointing members to the Public Prosecution Office and appointing judges. Decree No. (41) of 2009 Ratifying a loan agreement between the Government of the State of Qatar and the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Decree No. (42) of 2009 Ratifying the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Decree No. (43) of 2009 Ratifying the convention on the work of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. Decision of Council of Ministers No. (34) of 2009 Expropriating some real estate for public benefit. Decision of Council of Ministers Nos. (35) (36) & (41) of 2009 Regarding the application of the provisions of the Retirements and Pensions Law No. (24) of 2002 for Qatari workers in the Qatar Company for Advertising, the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Doha Centre for Media Freedom.

4 3 Decision of Council of Ministers No. (37) of 2009 Establishing a permanent committee for the Marine Law Convention. Decision of Council of Ministers No.(38) of 2009 Reorganising the Claims and Compensations Committee at the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Decision of Council of Ministers No. (39) of 2009 Determining the value of contracting by practice or by direct agreement. Decision of Council of Ministers No. (40) of 2009 Forming the Bidding and Auction Committee at the Ministry of Defence. Prime Minister s Decision No. (14) of 2009 Forming a committee to undertake the procedures for establishing a Qatar Company for Ports Management. Prime Minister s Decision No. (15) of 2009 Forming the Permanent Disciplinary Council. Decision Nos. (120), (121) & (127) of 2009 Authorising some employees of the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Development and Qatar Electricity and Water Company to be law enforcement officers. Decision of the Central Municipal Council No. (1) of 2009 Appointing the administrative units of the Municipal Council and determining its scope of work. Miscellaneous Publication of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of Qatar Cinematographic Centre (Private Institution for Public Benefit). Publication of the Memorandum of Association of the Foundation of Friends for People with Special Needs.

5 Denton Wilde Sapte is the largest international law firm in the Middle East with an unrivalled network of offices in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Muscat and Cairo and associate offices in Amman, Kuwait and Riyadh. We have over 160 lawyers and other legal staff on the ground in the Middle East, of whom over 40 are bilingual English/Arabic speakers. Our experience, gained from operating in the region for over 40 years, means that we can provide a full range of international and local law advice to our clients throughout the region in a way that few other firms can. We operate as a full service office in Doha, and our lawyers have acted on most of the major energy, project finance, finance (Islamic and conventional) and corporate deals undertaken in Qatar in the past six years as well as providing advice and opinions on Qatar, QFC and English law. We have bilingual Arabic and English capability, plus a variety of other European and Asian languages. Furthering our key sector strategy, the Doha office has specialist lawyers in areas including: energy, transport and infrastructure, real estate, banking and finance and technology, media and telecommunications. In addition to these practice areas, we also have lawyers specialising in employment, public and administrative law. If you are interested in any of our services please contact partners: Leigh Hall leigh.hall@dentonwildesapte.com Julian Pope julian.pope@dentonwildesapte.com Martin Brown martin.brown@dentonwildesapte.com 4 Denton Wilde Sapte & Co 15th Floor, Al Fardan Office Tower 61 Al Funduq Street West Bay P.O. Box Doha State of Qatar T F CS /01/ Denton Wilde Sapte & Co. This document does not constitute legal or other advice. The information it contains is non-specific and by using it you agree to accept the terms and limits of liability you can access on Denton Wilde Sapte & Co is licensed by the QFC Authority and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales. The partners of Denton Wilde Sapte & Co are Denton Wilde Sapte LLP and Denton Wilde Sapte Middle East Limited. It uses the trade name Denton Wilde Sapte in Qatar. The term partner refers to a member of Denton Wilde Sapte LLP or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications or equivalent status in one of Denton Wilde Sapte LLP s affiliates.