TENANTS and landlords may now file complaints before committees entitled to settle rental disputes as HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani endorsed a cabinet decision to form five such bodies yesterday.
The arbitration panels have been given the authority to settle all disputes arising between tenants and landlords, subject to the provisions of Law No 4 of 2008 (Rent law).
According to Article 1 of Cabinet decision No 36 of 2008, the five committees should be set up within the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning and each should have three members, including the chairman.
The committees, having judicial powers, were decreed as part of the new rent law that came into force on February 15 this year.
Article 17 of Cabinet Decision No 37 of 2008 says the committees shall decide on disputes within three months of receiving a complaint. However, the committee can seek an extension, provided that it does not exceed a period of six months of receiving the request.
The party that files the complaint shall pay a fee of QR100 to the committee. All the documents which are not in Arabic should have a certified translation.
Each committee shall convene at least once a week or when invited by its chairman. The meetings should be held at the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning.
The following are the other important articles of the new law that was issued yesterday.
Article 4: Complainants shall submit written requests for arbitration to the secretariat general (rent dispute solving committee offices).
Article 5: The chairman of the committee will set the date for hearing disputes and the general secretariat (office) should notify the two parties at least seven days before the hearing day.
Article 6: The chairman may ask the parties to produce documents which he deems necessary for deciding the case.
Article 7: The parties may choose an agent to represent them before the panel.
Article 9: The committee may seek the assistance of experts and ask for documents and information from any body related to the dispute.
Article 10: The committee may hear the testimonies of the disputing parties and summon others when it deems that their testimony is essential to decide the case.
Article 12: The committee may cancel the complaint in case the plaintiff or his representative failed to attend the sessions. 
Article 14: The committee may, at any stage, urge the disputing parties to settle the matter among themselves. If they reached an agreement, the committee may issue a verdict with this result and this should be final.
Article 16: The sessions of the committee shall be open and its decisions should be taken by the majority of its members.
Article 19: The committee may correct any mistake made in its decisions whether by its own initiative or based on a request by one of the two disputing parties.
The chairman of the committee or its members are not allowed to participate in settling any dispute in which he once gave opinion, or to which he is a party, or having any direct or indirect interest in the dispute, or if he is a relative of any of the parties to the dispute, or if he is an agent or guardian or representative of any of the disputing parties.

Source: The Gulf Times, Qatar