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Article 224 of the new Civil Code allows a court to reduce an obligation or rescind a contract where exceptional unforeseen circumstances make performance oppressive, and any agreement excluding that power is void. The equivalent provision for lump-sum construction contracts, Article 829(3), can be excluded, which means drafting that targets only the construction route leaves the general one intact.

A travel ban in the UAE can come from a civil court, the Execution Judge, the Public Prosecution or the Bankruptcy Court, and each carries different conditions and a different route to release. A civil ban for debt requires at least AED 10,000 and real evidence of flight risk, and the grievance period against an Execution Judge's order is seven working days.

A creditor can freeze a debtor's bank accounts, property and shares before any judgment exists, through an application to the summary judge made without notice. The order lapses automatically unless the substantive claim is filed within eight days, which is where most attachments are lost.