Defence and representation in criminal proceedings at every stage.
The firm conducts criminal defence work before the Public Prosecution and the criminal courts at every level, and represents victims and civil claimants. The substantive reference is the Penal Code issued by Law No. 11 of 2004; procedure is governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure issued by Law No. 23 of 2004.
Our practice covers financial and economic crime, cheque, breach-of-trust and fraud offences; computer offences under Law No. 14 of 2014 on combating cybercrime; matters connected to money laundering and terrorist financing under Law No. 20 of 2019; and professional or regulatory breaches that carry a criminal element.
Effective defence depends on acting early: attending with the client at the first investigation, controlling what is said on the record, applying for release and bail, testing the lawfulness of the investigation, search and seizure, and requesting the enquiries and defences that are lost if instruction comes late. We then represent the client on appeal and cassation and in the civil compensation aspects arising from the offence.
How we help
- Attendance at the first investigation
- Applications for release, bail and alternative measures
- Financial, economic and cheque offences
- Breach of trust, fraud and forgery
- Cyber and computer offences
- Money laundering and criminal compliance
- Representation of victims and civil claimants
- Appeal and cassation
In Qatar
Criminal liability in Qatar is defined by the Penal Code (Law No. 11 of 2004) and the procedure by which it is established is set out in the Criminal Procedure Law (Law No. 23 of 2004). A matter usually begins with a complaint or a report, passes to the judicial officers and then to the Public Prosecution, which decides whether to charge, and is tried before the criminal court with appeal and cassation available.
The Public Prosecution directs the investigation. That is the stage at which most of the case is in fact decided, because the statements taken, the documents seized and the expert examinations ordered form the file the court will later read. Advice taken before a first statement is given is therefore worth considerably more than advice taken after it.
The firm acts for defendants and for injured parties. An injured party in Qatar is not a bystander: a complaint, a civil claim joined to the criminal case, and representations to the Prosecution are all routes through which a victim's position is put on the record. Where a matter is financial, forgery, breach of trust or a funds-related offence, the accounting and documentary work is as important as the legal argument.