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MENA & Jurisdictions
Victor covers MENA and jurisdiction-specific legal topics on the HAQQ blog, from country-by-country guides to how legal AI handles Arabic and local law.
Which jurisdictions, languages and task types the HAQQ MENA legal evaluation covers, how answer keys are built from primary sources, and where source coverage is still thin. Results follow the next run.
Is the interface in Arabic? Is Sharia covered? Is the gazette current? Where are prompts processed? A buyer's checklist for law firms in the Gulf, with a test for each.
A legal AI citation is worth the text behind it. A 10-minute test for any tool, plus where official laws live across nine GCC and MENA jurisdictions.
One real Arabic client instruction, a 1947 Lebanese statute, and every citation checked article by article. Justinian V2 scored 88. The highest-scoring general model reached 82.
Most summaries say it forces lawyers to declare AI use. It doesn't, paragraph 24 says the opposite. What the Qatar practice direction actually requires, and why the DIFC's older rule is stricter.
Egypt's "new family law" is a draft personal-status bill, not yet enacted. What today's law says, what the draft would change, and what it means for you.
What khul' is, how it differs from talaq and faskh, how to file it electronically through Najiz, and how it affects your money, mahr, and your children's custody and support. Grounded in Saudi Personal Status Law (Royal Decree M/73, 2022). General information, not legal advice.
Khul lets a wife in Egypt end her marriage by court ruling without the husband's consent, by returning her dowry and waiving her financial rights. The procedure, what you give up and keep, documents, cost, and timeline, in plain Arabic.
How divorce works in the UAE: the mandatory family guidance session, the referral letter, filing at the personal status or civil family court, the documents you need, the types of divorce, and what gets decided alongside it. Legal information, not legal advice.
Who gets custody in the UAE, how custody differs from guardianship, the ages custody transfers under the 2022 Personal Status Law, the court procedure, documents, and when custody can be lost. Legal information, not legal advice.
Who is entitled to custody after divorce, whether the mother needs a lawsuit to keep her children, when custody can move, the age a child chooses, plus child support, housing, and visitation. Grounded in Saudi Personal Status Law (Royal Decree M/73, 2022). General information, not legal advice.
Six legal AI tools ranked for MENA firms on our 50-point benchmark, with Arabic support, prices and data-law notes. Updated October 2026 for Legora's Arabic launch.
UAE divorce now runs on two tracks: the civil path under Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022, and personal-status law. Here is which applies, what talaq and khula mean, and where AI helps.
Setting up in Algeria: the 51/49 rule lifted for non-strategic sectors (100% allowed), no SARL minimum capital, strategic-sector caveats, and the CNRC + AAPI.
Setting up in Tunisia: the 49% onshore cap vs 100% offshore-exporting, SARL/SA capital, the negative list, and the RNE one-stop platform.
Setting up in Morocco: 100% foreign ownership in most sectors, no SARL minimum capital, the Office des Changes convertibility, and the CRI one-stop-shop.
Setting up in federal Iraq: the 2019 reversal to a 49% foreign cap, 100% via an NIC license / branch / Kurdistan, IQD 1m minimum, and the Companies Registrar.
Setting up in Lebanon: 100% foreign-owned SARL, restricted sectors, SARL/SAL capital, the mandatory lawyer, and the post-2019 banking reality.
Setting up in Jordan: up to 100% ownership (50% cap on retail/wholesale, prohibited list), the abolished JOD 50,000 minimum, and CCD registration.
Setting up in Egypt: 100% foreign ownership in most sectors, LLC vs JSC capital, the exceptions (agency/import), and GAFI's one-stop-shop.
Setting up in Oman: up to 100% foreign ownership under the Foreign Capital Investment Law, the negative list, eased minimum capital, and the Invest Easy portal.
Setting up in Bahrain: 100% foreign ownership in most sectors, no WLL minimum capital (Decree 28/2020), and registration via the Sijilat portal.
Setting up in Qatar: up to 100% foreign ownership under Law 1/2019, no LLC minimum capital, and mainland vs the Qatar Financial Centre.
Setting up in Kuwait: the 49% cap vs 100% via a KDIPA license, the WLL (KD 1,000 capital), and MOCI registration under Companies Law 1/2016.
Setting up in Saudi Arabia: 100% foreign ownership via MISA registration, the new Companies Law, capital expectations, and the Regional HQ program.
How to set up a company in the UAE: mainland 100% foreign ownership, no LLC minimum capital, mainland vs free zone, and licensing under Decree-Law 32/2021.
Yemen: end-of-service gratuity of 1 month/year (Art. 120), arbitrary-dismissal compensation capped at 6 months, notice by pay period, and the region-dependent dispute forum.
Libya: court-set unjustified-dismissal compensation (Art. 76), end-of-service reward for non-nationals (Art. 78), 30-day notice (Art. 71), and the conciliation/arbitration route.
Syria: unjustified-dismissal compensation of 2 months/year capped at 150× minimum wage (Art. 65), end-of-service gratuity (Art. 63), and 2-month notice (Art. 56).
Changing employer in Oman without an NOC since 2021: when a contract counts as ended, the transfer steps, 2026 licence fees under Decision 602/2025, and passport rules.
Bahrain's LMRA work permit and residence: sponsor transfer after one year, the self-sponsorship Flexi Permit, family-sponsorship income, and the passport ban.
Qatar after Law 18/2020: NOC abolished, exit permits removed for most, the residence-permit grace period (reduced to 14 days), and the passport ban.
Kuwait's Article 18 work-and-residence visa: the new residency law, sponsor transfer (3-year rule), the 2025 exit permit, and family-sponsorship income.
Saudi work permits and the Iqama after the 2021 Labor Reform: Qiwa sponsor transfer without consent, final exit, Premium Residency, and the passport-withholding ban.
Algeria's Civil Code after Law 07-05: a written lease with a certain date (Art. 467 bis), no right to stay past the term, and a 2-month notice to leave early.
Tunisian residential leases: free rent under the COC, court eviction only on the Article 796 grounds, notice rules, and old tenancies still protected by Law 76-35.
Morocco's Law 67-12: written lease, deposit capped at 2 months, rent up 8% at most every 3 years, 2-month eviction notice and a year's rent on repossession.
Federal Iraq Lease Law 87/1979: 5% annual rent cap, enumerated eviction grounds, automatic lease extension, and the 15-day notary cure.
Lebanon's 23 July 1992 split: COC 3-year protection for new leases, the old-rent phase-out (2014/2017 reform), and court-only eviction.
Jordan Owners & Tenants Law 11/1994: old vs new contracts (31 Aug 2000 cutoff), no self-help eviction, and succession protection (Art. 7).
Egypt's two rent regimes and the 2025 old-rent reform: zone-based recalculation, 15% annual rise, the 7-year phase-out, and fast-track eviction.
Oman RD 6/89 + new RD 12/2025: no increase for 3 years then 7%/yr, no termination before 4 years, and the new 90-day dispute committee.
Bahrain Law 27/2014: rent +5% after 2 years (Art. 27), no eviction in first 3 years (Art. 35), Article 38 grounds, and the Rents Disputes Committee.
Qatar Law 4/2008: no active rent cap, eviction grounds, 2-month deposit cap, and the Rent Disputes Settlement Committee (hotline 184).
Kuwait Rent Law 35/1978 as amended in 2024: when rent can be reset to market, the eleven eviction grounds in Article 20, notice periods and the Rental Circuit.
Saudi tenancy via Ejar/REGA: no national rent cap (Riyadh 5-year freeze), 5% deposit cap, no self-help eviction, and the Enforcement Court route.
Algeria under Law 90-11: dismissal only for serious misconduct (Art. 73), unfair-dismissal remedy of reinstatement or min 6 months' salary (Art. 73-4), notice and the 6-month deadline.
Tunisia's Labour Code: severance one day/month capped at 3 months (Art. 22), unfair-dismissal damages 1–2 months/year capped at 3 years (Art. 23 bis), notice and the 1-year deadline.
Morocco's Labour Code (Law 65-99): severance after 6 months (Art. 53 hours tiers), unfair-dismissal damages (Art. 41: 1.5 months/year, cap 36), notice and the 90-day deadline.
Federal Iraq under Labour Law 37/2015: restricted termination grounds, two-weeks/year gratuity, 30-day notice, and the Service Termination Committee vs labour court route.
Lebanon: NSSF end-of-service indemnity (1 month/year, paid on eligibility not on dismissal), arbitrary-dismissal damages (Art. 50: 2–12 months), notice tiers, and the impact of the currency crisis on payouts.
Jordan: Art. 32 indemnity vs Social Security coverage, arbitrary-dismissal compensation (Art. 25), notice (Art. 23), and filing via the Hemayeh platform.
Egypt's new Labour Law No. 14 of 2025: arbitrary-dismissal compensation (2 months/year, Art. 165), 3-month notice (Art. 156), and the new resignation-ratification rules.
Oman's new 2023 Labour Law (RD 53/2023): end-of-service raised to one month per year (Art. 61), notice (Art. 38), and arbitrary-dismissal remedies (Art. 11).
Bahrain's leaving indemnity (Art. 116), the 2024 SIO change for expats, and arbitrary-dismissal compensation (Art. 111: min 1, max 12 months) under Law No. 36 of 2012.
Qatar end-of-service gratuity under Article 54: three weeks' basic wage per year, the 21/30 divisor question, notice under Decree-Law 18/2020, and arbitrary dismissal.
How end-of-service indemnity and arbitrary dismissal work under Kuwait Labour Law No. 6 of 2010: the indemnity formula, resignation tiers (Art. 53), notice, and PAM disputes.
How end-of-service gratuity works under Saudi Labor Law: the half-month/full-month formula, what you get if you resign (Article 85), and unfair-dismissal compensation (Article 77).
When you resign or are terminated in the UAE: work-permit cancellation, the grace period to stay, moving to a new employer, labour bans, and passport rules.
Your rights when breaking a tenancy or facing eviction in Dubai: the 12-month notice rule, rent-increase caps (RERA index), early-termination penalties, and the Rental Disputes Center.
What you're owed if you're dismissed or resign in the UAE: end-of-service gratuity (21/30 days), arbitrary-dismissal compensation, and how to file a MOHRE complaint.
What a free AI legal consultation can do in 2026: explain laws, review contracts, draft documents in Arabic or English, and when you still need a human lawyer.
Saudi Arabia codified its civil law, digitized its courts, and grew MENA's deepest legal AI cluster. A practitioner's guide to tools, use cases and PDPL.
Dubai lawyers bill AED 500 to 5,000+ an hour and Doha firms QAR 800 to 3,000. Fee tables by matter type, a source on every row, and the UAE 25% success-fee cap.
We ran the same legal queries in English and Arabic. Arabic returned 9x more primary law plus silent wrong-country errors. The gap is retrieval, not content.
Gulf courts adopted AI before most US bars wrote rules, yet Arabic legal data stays scarce. Who's building, who's buying, and where the gap really is.
Most AI use cases in law firms do not produce competitive advantage. Here are 20 that actually move the needle, and why they fail without structured data.
Confirmed dates for legal tech conferences from late 2026 through 2027: ClioCon, GITEX Dubai, Legalweek, ABA TECHSHOW, Legal Geek and the Gulf events lists miss.