Qatar
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Legal Resources for Qatar
E-Learning Resources |
Background
Qatar was ruled by the Al-Thani family before it came under the control of the Ottomans in the late 19th Century, although the ruling family continued to maintain considerable independence. However, the Ottoman control started to decline and in 1916, the Anglo-Qatari treaty was signed by which Qatar became a British Protectorate. With this, began the dual legal system where the local courts functioned on the principles of Shariah and the British administered English law through the civil courts established by them.
The British Protectorate ended with the independence of Qatar in 1971. As a result, the Amir established the Adlia court (civil court) to replace the civil courts established by the British.
The dual system continued until Law No. 10 of 2003 was enacted which unified the court system in Qatar.
The Constitution of Qatar was adopted in 2003 and came into force in 2005. The Constitution of Qatar states that it is an independent sovereign Arab State and that Shari'a law shall be the main source of its legislation. The State has adopted a democratic political system.
The Legal system
The legal system of Qatar is a mixture of civil law and sharia (i.e. Islamic law).
Article 1 of the Constitution recognizes Shari’a law as the main source of legislation. British common law-inspired legislation is also applied by the institutions of the Qatar Financial Centre.
There are three levels of criminal courts in Qatar:
Legal Aid
Legal aid is offered subject to satisfying certain requirements set by the Ministry. Individuals who seek such services must meet with certain income/asset criteria.
Some NGOs also provide legal aid services:
Number of lawyers (criminal/civil) if known:
Around one hundred and forty accredited lawyers are independently practicing legal profession in Qatar.
Source of Defendants Rights
The rights available to the defendant can be found in various documents such as the Constitution of the State, the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code of Qatar.
Rights of the Accused
No crime and no punishment save as prescribed by the law and no penalty save (except) on the acts committed subsequent to the enforcement of that law; and punishment is personal. The provisions of the laws (Criminal Code) shall have no effect save on the acts committed from the date of the enforcement of the said laws. These provisions shall have no effect on the acts which occurred prior to the enforcement of the said laws; however, it may be stipulated otherwise by a majority of two-thirds of Al‐Shoura Council in case of non‐criminal provisions.
Rights of Counsel
Means of Protecting and Enforcing Rights
Exclusionary Rule
The exclusionary rule can be found in the Criminal Procedure Code where it states that the judgment shall not be based on any evidence that was not presented or that was illegally obtained. Further, the judge may not rely upon any statements obtained from the suspect or the witnesses under duress or threat.
Nullity of Procedure
Judgments which are obtained by a procedural defect shall be null and void if the law expressly provides for it. An exception to this is if the purpose of the procedure is fulfilled. Examples of such procedural defects are concerning the constitution of the court, the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case, and matters related to public order.
Civil Actions
If any person suffers from personal damage on the commission of a crime, they may claim their rights under civil law. This claim may be made during the investigation, up until the stage of closing arguments.
Pre-Trial Procedure
Police procedures
- Complaint/information:
In the state of Qatar, criminal action can only be initiated by the Public Prosecution, except in certain situations prescribed by law. In regard to the category of cases in which initiation of criminal prosecution depends on a complaint or request by the victim, such complaint must be made by the victim or their representative orally or in writing to the Public Prosecution. The complaint must be made within 30 days of the crime or the perpetrator came to the knowledge of the victim, post which it will not be accepted.
- Arrest, Search and Seizure Laws:
Investigation of crimes and collection of evidence is the duty of the Judicial Commissioners who is comprised of members of Public Prosecution and the police force.
- Stops and Frisks: Article 33 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Qatar allows the investigating authority to conduct necessary searches during the collection of evidence.
- Arrests: According to the Criminal Procedure Code, a person can be arrested or detained only if an order is issued by the competent authority or as prescribed by law. The arrested person must be treated in a way that maintains human dignity and must not be physically or morally harmed. The detainee has the right to remain silent or to communicate to any person he wishes. There is a duty upon the Judicial Commissioner to inform the detainee of this right. Once arrested, the investigating authority must hear the statement of the suspect immediately and if there is sufficient evidence, within 24 hours, refer the suspect to the competent Public Prosecution. Within 24 hours of this referral, the Public Prosecution shall question the suspect and either release him or place him in preventive detention.
- Pre-trial detention: Precautionary detention of a suspect is allowed if the following are evident after the suspect’s interrogation or his escape: There is sufficient evidence to attribute the crime to the suspect; The crime committed is punishable by imprisonment of more than 6 months. Such a person must be immediately informed of the reasons of arrest or detention, the charge against him and be allowed to request the assistance of an attorney.
- Searches:
The investigating authority has the power, where the arrest is legally permitted, to conduct searches. The search could be of the suspect’s body, clothes, or personal belongings being carried in relation to the crime under investigation.
Female suspects may be searched only by a female officer. There is a general prohibition against entering and conducting searches in the dwelling place except under certain conditions i.e. necessity. The Code clarifies that entering a dwelling place to track a person against whom there is a warrant, will be considered to be a necessity.
Further, there is another circumstance when the investigating authority may search a suspect’s dwelling place. This is in cases of certain categories of offenses such as those against the internal or external security of the State, terrorism, and first-degree murder, if the offense is flagrante delicto and there is an indication of objects being hidden in the dwelling place.
In all other cases, the consent of the suspect or the owner of the dwelling place needs to be obtained before the dwelling place is searched and such search may only be carried out during the day unless in certain circumstances. - Enforcing the Rules (Exclusionary Rule, Nullity, and other procedures to protect against illegal police procedures): The exclusionary rule can be found in the Criminal Procedure Code where it states that the judgment shall not be based on any evidence that was not presented or that was illegally obtained. Further, the judge may not rely upon any statements obtained from the suspect or the witnesses under duress or threat.
- Interrogation The Criminal Procedure Code of Qatar allows the investigating authority to interrogate a suspect about the attributed charges. The suspect can be accompanied by their attorney during these interrogations whenever possible.
Court Procedures
Pre-Trial
- Initial Court Appearance: Once the referral order is issued by the public prosecution, the case will be referred to the criminal court that has the jurisdiction. Along with which, the suspect will be summoned to appear before the court.
- Charging Instrument: The suspect will be summoned to court by way of the writ of summons- The summons will contain all the details of the crime, including the charges, the provision of law, the penalty prescribed and place and time of trial.
- Preliminary Hearing: At the first hearing, the parties, witnesses and experts will be called. The suspect will then be asked about his name, profession, nationality and so on. Then, the charge against him will be read out. If the suspect confesses to the crime, the court may proceed by sentencing him without hearing the witnesses. If the suspect does not confess, the court proceeds to hear the prosecution witnesses.
Trial
- Defendant: After the prosecution witness, the defense witness will be heard. The witness can be examined, cross-examined by the suspect and the public prosecution, respectively. The court may direct questions to the witnesses at the stage of the case, as deemed fit by it. However, it shall not question the suspect unless agreed to by the suspect after consultation with their attorney.
- Lawyers: Defendants’ have the right to legal representation. If the defendant himself does not appoint a lawyer, the court shall then appoint a lawyer on their behalf.
- Expert Witnesses: During the collection of evidence, the assistance of experts may be taken, either orally or in writing. In certain investigations, an expert may be appointed. Once an expert is appointed by the Public Prosecution, they are required to submit a report within the time fixed by the Public Prosecution. Both the victim and the defendant may request the appointment of a consultant expert to examine the report made by the original expert.
- Judges: The Constitution of the State of Qatar regulates the judicial authority in Part IV. It recognizes certain principles such as the independence of the judiciary, prohibition of arbitrary removal of judges from office, and an open court system that requires court sessions to be conducted in public and for the public to have access to the courts. The judge has full discretion to decide the case according to his beliefs. However, the judgment shall not be based on any evidence that was not presented or that was illegally obtained. Further, the judge may not rely upon any statements obtained from the suspect or the witnesses under duress or threat. The judgment must be pronounced in open court.
- Victims: There are provisions for the protection of the rights of victims. Publishing the name or photograph of victims of rape is a punishable offense with imprisonment for up to a year. In cases where the victim of the crime is a minor or a mentally disabled person, the Public Prosecution or the court may order that the minor be kept in protective custody.
Sentencing
In criminal cases, the Court may impose the following punishments:
The suspect must be acquitted by the court if no crime is proven against him or if it is not punishable by law.
On the contrary, if a crime is proven, the court must decide the penalty and the procedure.
Appeals
The right to appeal is available to both the prosecution as well as the convicted person. Such an appeal must be made within 15 days of the pronouncement of the judgment if being appealed by the convicted person. Whereas, the Public Prosecution has a period of 30 days from the day of pronouncement to appeal.
The right to cassation of judgments exists in the Criminal Code of the State.
There are 3 situations when judgments issued by the Court of Appeal may be appealed by way of Cassation:
- If judgment under appeal violates any law, contains a mistake in its application or interpretation,
- There is a nullity in the ruling or the procedures,
- There are two contradicting judgments issued for the same crime.
Rights in Prison
Women
Where the death penalty is imposed on a pregnant woman under Sharia law, it is suspended until delivery and delayed for two years after delivery in the case of a retaliatory or had punishment; and in the case of discretionary punishment, it is commuted to life imprisonment.
Mentally ill prisoners
There are certain safeguards for mentally disabled suspects. The Code of Criminal Procedure prescribes the procedure for examining mentally disabled suspects. The Court or the Public prosecutor may order the suspect to be placed under observation for not more than 15 days consecutively, and not more than 45 days cumulatively for examination.
After examination, if it is proved that the suspect cannot defend himself due to a mental disability, the institution of the case or the continuation of the trial will be suspended.
Juveniles
According to the Juvenile Law and the Penal Code of the State of Qatar, children can be held criminally responsible from the age of seven. Any male or female who is older than seven but under 16 years of age comes within the definition of “juvenile” as per the law.
Under the Juvenile Act, 1994 children aged over 14 but under 16 who have committed a serious or major offence cannot be sentenced to death, imprisonment with hard labour or flogging. However, certain offences committed by and against Muslims are punishable under Sharia law and relevant penalties include flogging and amputation.
In case of offences punishable with death penalty or life imprisonment, the child must be sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment.
Further, Article 20 of the Penal Code states that a death sentence may not be imposed on a juvenile who is under eighteen years of age at the time of committing the offence. An exception to this, however, is retaliation offences when the alleged offender is Muslim. In such situations when a Muslim commits a murder, it becomes a retaliation offense and the Penal Code will not be applicable, rather Sharia law will be applicable. Therefore, the death penalty will remain so under Sharia Law.
Resources
- Legal System in Qatar: https://malmarzouqilaw.com/legal-system-in-qatar/#:~:text=Qatar's%20modern%20legislative%20process%20commenced,and%20social%20activities%20were%20promulgated
- A. Nizar Hamzeh, Qatar: The Duality of the Legal System: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4283616?seq=1
- Report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, A/HRC/29/26/Add.1
- The Constitution of the State of Qatar: https://www.gco.gov.qa/en/state-of-qatar/the-constitution/
- Inhumane Sentencing of Children in Qatar: https://archive.crin.org/sites/default/files/inhuman_sentencing_children_qatar_2016.pdf
- Law No. 11 of 2004 Issuing the Penal Code 11 / 2004: https://adsdatabase.ohchr.org/IssueLibrary/QATAR_%20Penal%20Code.pdf
- Efforts by the State of Qatar in the field of Protecting Children’s Rights in the context of implementing GA Resolution 74/124: https://www.un.org/development/desa/family/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2020/08/Qatar.en_.pdf.
- Guidance Information pack for British nationals arrested or detained in Qatar: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/qatar-prisoner-pack/qatar-prisoner-pack#Chapter-3
