Radha Stirling, a British lawyer, says she has represented hundreds of Westerners who have been jailed in Dubai for behavior that is usually permitted there.

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“You go there and its facade is that all of this is legal, everyone is doing it, you think it’s O.K.,” said Ms. Stirling, who runs a British-based group, Detained in Dubai, that publicizes such cases. “But you offend someone and you’re the one who gets it.”

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Two recent cases, both handled by Ms. Stirling, have aroused widespread ire in Britain, which has more nationals living in Dubai than any other Western country.

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“The U.A.E. government is just a huge public relations entity,” Ms. Stirling said. “If they think a case is going to harm them, the government will speak to the police and get the charges dropped.”