United Arab Emirates
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Background
The United Arab Emirates is a federation founded in 1971, following the withdrawal of the British from the Arabian Gulf in 1968, after an agreement between the rulers of six of the Emirates (the seventh Emirate joined the federation in 1972) to create a sovereign nation. This union of 7 Gulf Kingdoms was made up of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain, Fujairah and Ajman, with Ra’s al-Khaimah subsequently joining. Prior to this, the British had arrangements with individual Emirates leading to the establishment of an area called ‘The Trucial States’. This arrangement generally involved the Emirates guaranteeing that they would only cede territory over to the United Kingdom and that they would not engage with other foreign governments without Britain’s prior consent. In exchange, the British promised to protect the coast from aggression and to come to the Emirates’ assistance if they faced an attack by land.
From 1962, when the first cargo of crude oil was exported from Abu Dhabi, the economy steadily progressed leading to rapid improvements in infrastructure throughout the state, advancing the education and health care systems in place. In Dubai, following the decline of the prominent pearling industry the state became a part of the shopping industry making up for that lost revenue.
In 1969, Dubai also began exporting oil, with revenues similarly going a long way at improving infrastructure and quality of life. The UAE now has the world’s seventh largest oil and natural gas reserves and the seventh-highest GDP per capita .
The President of the UAE comes from Abu Dhabi, the nation’s capital, and since May 2022 has been Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. While the prime minister and vice president is the ruler of Dubai: Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The prime minister and the cabinet are appointed by a Supreme Council of Rulers who govern the UAE. The seven emirates have a significant amount of independence from each other.
The Legal system
The UAE adopts a primarily civil law legal system.
Alongside this civil system, Islamic Sharia law coexist as a main and dual source of legislation, as enabled by the Constitution . It has its basis in Roman law, the French civil codes, Sharia law and Egyptian law.
All important legislation is included in the UAE’s civil law system meaning that the nation has comprehensive, codified laws which can be brought to the courts. Sharia has primary jurisdiction in the UAE for personal status law matters for Muslims in the UAE, while non-Muslims follow the civil law for personal status law. Thus, Sharia covers family disputes e.g. inheritance, custody, child abuse and guardianship. In each of the 7 states, Sharia courts operate in parallel to the civil and criminal courts. There is less room for judicial interpretation and precedent as that statute is heavily emphasised. The legal system is reliant upon the supreme council of rulers, the president and the vice president, the council of ministers, the federal national council, and the Judiciary.
There is some common law incorporated, as the Dubai International Financial Centre utilises a legal and regulatory system based on common law to ensure flexibility which is conducive to favourable business conditions.
Legal Aid
There is some provision of state sponsored legal aid in the UAE. Free legal representation is provided by the government for a limited range of criminal cases. Under Federal Law No.35 of 1992, a defendant has the right to be represented by a government provided lawyer if a case involves a punishment which constitutes death penalty or life imprisonment - this is irrespective of financial position, case merit or immigration status.
Indigent persons, i.e. those in extreme poverty may also receive legal aid for certain felony cases, in the form of government-provided lawyers according to the government’s discretion . The government compensates these lawyers, and they typically work for private practices .
Regarding civil matters, the Abu Dhabi Justice Department works to provide free legal services (advocacy services and assistance with the payment of expert fees) to indigent people, including both plaintiffs and defendants. To be eligible you must be an Emirati national. The Dubai government offers similar free legal services, but these are more limited as they take the form of just an initial consultation with an attorney . However, it is offered to both indigent and non-indigent applicants.
Source of Defendants Rights
NATIONAL SOURCES OF DEFENDANT'S RIGHTS:
INTERNATIONAL SOURCES OF DEFENDANT'S RIGHTS:
The UAE is a state party to the Arab Charter on Human Rights: ensuring ‘the right to information, freedom of opinion and freedom of expression, and guarantees the right to freedom of political activity, the right to form and join associations, and the right to freedom of assembly and association’ .
Rights of the Accused
According to the Bill of Rights for the Accused in the UAE Criminal Procedural Law ‘no one may be arrested, searched, detained or imprisoned except under the circumstances and conditions mentioned in the law’ .
According to the Chapter II, Article (240) of the UAE Penal Code: ‘Detention shall be the punishment imposed upon any public office holder or person in charge of a public service who arrests, detains or remands a person in cases other than those provided for in the law’ .
According to Chapter II on violation of freedom, Article (344) of the UAE Penal Code: Whoever illegally kidnaps, arrests, detains or deprives a person of his freedom, whether by himself or through another by any means without lawful justification, shall be punished by term imprisonment; however, punishment shall be life imprisonment in the following cases:
- If the act results from assuming a public capacity or pretending to be performing or in charge of a public service, or making false contact.
- If the act is committed by trickery, by force, by threat of killing or serious injury, or by inflicting physical or psychological torture.
- If the act is committed by two or more persons, or by an armed person.
- If the period of kidnapping, arrest, detention or deprivation of freedom exceeds one month.
- If the victim is a female, a minor, an insane individual or an imbecile.
- If the purpose of the act is profit, revenge, rape of the victim, a violation of his or her honor, causing injury to him or to her, or forcing him to commit a crime.
- If the act is perpetrated against a public office holder in the course of his duties or in pursuance thereof.
- If the act leads to death of the victim, punishment shall be the death penalty or life imprisonment. Punishment prescribed for the principal offender shall apply to anyone who becomes an intermediary to any of the crime.
Article 26 of the UAE Constitution states that ‘Personal liberty is guaranteed to all citizens. No person may be apprehended, frisked, detained or imprisoned except in accordance with the law. No person shall be subjected to torture or to degrading treatment’.
During detention, the UAE government is responsible for ensuring the basic medical needs of the accused are met . The prisons do not have mental health specialists so the accused would have to request an appointment to speak to the general prison doctor about such matters .
As Michael Page, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch states: “The UAE has an obligation to provide health care [...] to all prisoners in their custody without discrimination,” as denying, delaying, and interrupting treatment violates the right to health and potentially the right to life.
Federal Decree Law Number 28 co changed the law in 2020 to confirmed that a suspect must be informed of their crime upon detention .
Typically, following a statement being put forward to the police by the complainant, the police will contact the accused to take their statement, allowing the accused to inform them of witnesses who may testify in their favour .
The UAE Penal Code presumes that an accused is innocent until proven guilty. No criminal penalty may be imposed on anyone until his guilt is proved according to the law. No person shall be held accountable for the crime of another person.
Federal Decree Law Number 28 changed the criminal law in the UAE so that the right to remain silent is enshrined in law, without any presumption of guilt by doing so.
The Federal Supreme Court of the UAE has delivered rulings which confirm that ‘the right of a defendant to present his defence should be respected by the courts of the UAE’ .
The UAE Criminal Procedural law dictates that no one can be arrested, detained or imprisoned except as proscribed by the law.
‘Detention or imprisonment may take place only in places designated for that purpose and for the period specified in the warrant issued by the competent authority[and] Law enforcement authorities may not enter into any place of residence except under the circumstances specified in the UAE Criminal Procedural Law, or in case of a request for assistance from the resident who could be under a serious threat to his life or property’ .
Article 1 of UAE’s Federal Decree Law Number 2(2015) defines discrimination as ‘any distinction, limitation, exception, or preference among individuals or communities on the basis of religion, belief, sec, faith, creed, race, colour or ethnic origin’.
Article (25) of the Constitution, states: "All individuals are equal before the law without distinction between citizens of the Union because of race, origin, religion or social status" .
Article 6 of Federal Decree Law, Number 2(2015): Discrimination by any form by any means [thus including under the law] is a criminal offence and the person committing such a crime shall be liable to punishment.
According to Article 111 of the UAE Criminal Procedure Law: bail decisions are issued on the basis of a request from the accused or their lawyer and before the transfer of the case to the court, the Public Prosecution has the right to decide on bail in all stages of the investigation . The Public Prosecution can provisionally release the accused through bail unless the probable punishment is a death sentence or life imprisonment for the crime they have committed or the accusation they are charged with .
Article (27) of the UAE Constitution rules that a person may not receive punishment for an act or omission of an act committed prior to the relevant law being implemented . Thus, this means that a person in the UAE ‘cannot be charged retrospectively for an act or omission committed in the past that was not a crime previously but has now become a crime’ as there was no criminal intent while committing.
The UAE applies civil and Islamic laws that do not contain the right to jury .
- Right to a Speedy Trial:
To support the right to a speedy trial Reference Federal Decree No. 10 of 2017 amended the Civil Procedures Law to introduce the use of remote communication technologies . In Dubai the C3 Court, became the first in which the three courts (first instance, appeal and supreme court) hear each other concurrently- this ‘reduces the total time frame for the three proceedings for each case from 305 days to 30 days.’ - Right to an Impartial Judge:
Article 94 of the UAE Constitution states that ‘Justice is the basis of rule’ which entails that judges shall be independent and not subject to any influence or authority but the law and their conscience.
Article (12) of Law No. 23 of 2006 on the Judicial Department in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi states: "Arabic is the language of the courts, and a certified interpreter shall be present when necessary" .
The Federal Civil Procedure Code No. 11 of 1992 also states: "The language of courts shall be Arabic, and the court shall hear the statements of litigants, witnesses, or others who are ignorant of Arabic through an interpreter who has taken the oath, unless he swore the oath on his appointment, or on giving him a licence for translation".
According to a report by the International Commission of Jurists: ‘UAE law does not appear to establish a habeas-corpus procedure, and in particular does not set a timeframe within which a court must decide a detainee’s challenge to their detention.
This is inconsistent with Article 14(6) of the Arab Charter and the right to liberty. The absence of such a procedure, in the ICJ’s view, facilitates arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment and other serious human rights violations’
In rare cases, the death penalty can be applied if a panel made up of three judges agrees on a sentence to death and the UAE President also confirms.
These crimes have a maximum penalty of a sentence to death :
- Crimes affecting the security and interests of the State
- Crimes affecting the state’s internal security
- Perjury, false oaths and abstention from testifying
- Crimes perpetrated upon persons (e.g. premeditated murder, rape leading to death, adultery, violation of freedom leading to death)
- Drug trafficking or promotion
Article 230 of the UAE Criminal Procedures Law states that you can appeal a criminal verdict of the First Instance Criminal Court. The appeal can be requested by the accused, the prosecutor and/or the Attorney General .
Following a guilty verdict, the sentence is appealable by the accused, the prosecutor and the Attorney General . ‘The appeal shall not stop the enforcement of the first instance verdict unless the court that issued the verdict states otherwise or the accused obtains a stay order from the Court of Appeal’ .
For capital punishment cases, first-instance verdicts are automatically appealed and stayed .
Article 239 of the Constitution allows the Court of Appeal to hear its own witnesses not heard before in the First Instance Criminal Court and to fulfil other shortcomings in the prior court’s investigative procedures, e.g. through any investigation, hearing or witness . When the Court of Appeal upholds the appeal, it may cancel/amend trial court decisions in favour of the appellant .
Rights of Counsel
In the UAE ‘privilege’ in lawyer/client proceedings is not explicitly recognised but the Code of Ethics stipulates the duty of confidentiality regarding information a lawyer receives from their client in the course of the lawyer's duty.
The Legal Profession Regulations also state a duty of confidentiality by explicitly prohibiting the disclosure of confidential client information by attorneys. In particular, attorneys are prohibited by law to disclose any client secrets, verbally or in writing, which they learned of by virtue of their status as an attorney; and disclose any information relating to cases assigned to them.
According to the Legal Profession Regulations and the Code of Ethics there are the following exceptions to the duty of confidentiality :
Means of Protecting and Enforcing Rights
Exclusionary rules permit parties to refuse to disclose a document and/or prevent them from using certain types of evidence.
Articles 22 to 34 of the Evidence Law state grounds on the basis of which the admissibility of evidence can be challenged, and this includes the inauthenticity or forgery of a document.
Articles 5, 7 and 9 to 10 of the Electronic Transactions Law stipulate the rules of evidence in the UAE in respect of electronic records and lay out the procedure by which such records that do not meet the necessary conditions may be challenged .
Although Evidence Law does make a reference to the process for challenging the admissibility of evidence ‘a party is likely to submit such a challenge during the next hearing after receipt of the evidence in question’ .
As stated above, and subject to the exceptions listed, lawyers are barred from disclosing confidential information they have acquired in the course of their role as counsel .
According to Articles 166 of the Civil Procedures Law and 242 of the Criminal Procedures Law: ‘If the Court of Appeal deems that there is nullity in the judgement or procedures which affected the decision of the court of first instance, then it will cancel the decision’ , and may then rejudge the case.
Federal Decree Law No. 31 of 2021, on the Issuance of the Crimes and Penalties Law states instances that relate to contempt of court, though the term is not explicitly used: examples of acts mentioned include as perjury, forging fake documents, delivering false testimonies .
Pre-Trial Procedure
POLICE PROCEDURES
Complaint/Information
The initial step to set off criminal proceedings is a victim filing a claim against the accused before the police.
The complaint needs to set out the incident that occurred and sequence of events pertaining to the criminal offence [this] may be formal (in writing) and by way of an oral statement before the police which will be recorded in Arabic and signed by the complainant.
The complainant files the complaint where the criminal offence took place .
Arrest, Search and Seizure Laws:
ARRESTS
An individual can be legally arrested for 48 hours at a local police station . When you are arrested, the police should inform you of why you’ve been arrested and your rights, which include :
SEARCHES AND FRISKS
No one may be arrested, searched, detained or imprisoned except under the circumstances and conditions mentioned in the law according to the UAE Constitution.
A judicial officer can search the accused when their arrest is allowed by law, and the accused ‘may be frisked for what might be on their body, clothes or belongings, related to the crime or required for the investigation.
If the accused is female :
For the search of the accused’s home to be authorised there must be a search warrant from the public prosecution unless the defendant was caught red-handed and with strong hints that the defendant was hiding in his house, such objects or papers which might uncover the truth.
PRE-TRIAL DETENTION
You can be legally detained pretrial for 48 hours at a local police station, once transferred to public prosecution, you can be detained for 24 hours prior to the formal investigation, but this can be extended for a maximum of 24 days and the court can extend the detention period for renewable 14-day periods .
Interrogation:
Before a formal charge in court, after initial interrogation, police have 48 hours to refer the suspect to the public prosecution .
A prosecutor will review the case, refer the case to a section of the prosecution department, and then a date is set for the suspect to be interrogated by prosecutors.
Court Procedures
The United Arab Emirates procedures governing criminal cases in court are primarily outlined in Federal Law No. 35 of 1992, known as the Criminal Procedure Law. This law delineates the processes from investigation through trial, sentencing, and appeals.
| PRE-TRIAL | Following an arrest, the individual is typically brought before a public prosecutor within 48 hours. The prosecutor assesses the evidence and decides whether to press charges or release the individual. This decision-making process must be completed within 14 days of receiving the case from the police. If the prosecutor determines that sufficient evidence exists, formal charges are filed against the accused. The charges are documented in Arabic, the official language of the UAE's legal proceedings. The UAE legal system does not have a formal preliminary hearing stage akin to some Western jurisdictions. Instead, the prosecutor's assessment serves a similar function, determining whether the case proceeds to trial. The concept of discovery, where both parties exchange evidence before trial, is limited in the UAE. Prosecutors and defense attorneys may withhold investigative details from each other. Pre-trial motions are not a common feature of the UAE's criminal procedure. |
| TRIAL | Trials are conducted before a judge; the UAE does not utilize a jury system. Proceedings are public unless they involve national security matters or content deemed contrary to societal morals. Trials are generally public, except when confidentiality is deemed necessary for moral or security reasons. Proceedings are conducted in Arabic; non-Arabic speakers are provided with a sworn translator. The Public Prosecution presents its case, followed by the defense. Judges may question the accused, witnesses, and experts before delivering a verdict. In felony cases, a panel of three judges presides, while misdemeanour cases are typically handled by a single judge. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. They have the right to legal representation and, if facing serious charges without an attorney, the state may provide counsel. Attorneys must be licensed to practice in the specific court system where the case is heard. They must also be authorized through a notarized deed to represent clients in court. The court may call upon expert witnesses to provide specialized knowledge pertinent to the case. The use of such experts is at the discretion of the court. Judges oversee the proceedings, evaluate evidence, and render verdicts. They have the authority to determine the admissibility of evidence and ensure that trials are conducted fairly. Victims can participate in the trial process, often through providing testimony. They may also seek compensation for damages resulting from the crime. |
| SENTENCING | Upon a guilty verdict, the court imposes a sentence based on the severity of the offense. Penalties can range from fines and community service to imprisonment. For minor offenses, jail terms may be replaced with community service of up to three months.Public prosecutors oversee the implementation of community service and receive reports on the offender’s performance. |
| APPEALS | Defendants have the right to legal representation during the appeals process. In serious offenses, such as felonies, legal aid may be provided if the accused cannot afford an attorney. Lawyers must be licensed by the UAE Ministry of Justice or registered in the respective emirate’s legal directory. Decisions from the Court of First Instance can be appealed to the Court of Appeal. Grounds for appeal include breaches of jurisdiction, procedural invalidity affecting the judgment, or errors in the application of the law. Appeals can be filed on various grounds, including: Procedural Errors (violations of due process, such as improper admission of evidence), Legal Misinterpretations (incorrect application or interpretation of the law), New Evidence (emergence of evidence not available during the original trial), Disproportionate Sentencing (sentences deemed excessively harsh relative to the offense), Violation of Rights (infringements of fundamental legal rights during the trial).
|
Rights in Prison
The United Arab Emirates has established a framework to uphold the rights of prisoners, emphasizing humane treatment, medical care, and rehabilitation. However, various reports indicate discrepancies between official policies and actual practices within the prison system.
The UAE asserts its commitment to the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, ensuring inmates receive appropriate rehabilitation, medical care, nutrition, and communication with their families and legal representatives.
The UAE’s “Bill of Rights for Prisoners” emphasizes the humane treatment of inmates, prohibiting torture and ensuring dignity. It mandates that prisoners be housed according to gender and offense type, and promotes their social rehabilitation.
Migrant workers constitute a significant portion of the UAE’s prison population. While the law provides for rights such as communication with families and legal representation , there are reports of arbitrary detentions and deportations, especially among those accused of security offenses.
The UAE’s correctional facilities are mandated to provide medical care to inmates.
While the legal framework does not explicitly detail provisions for mental health care, the emphasis on humane treatment and rehabilitation implies such care should be available.
Nonetheless, specific information on the availability and quality of mental health services in UAE prisons is limited.
The UAE imposes restrictions on certain rights within its prison system:
- Freedom of Expression
Prisoners, especially political detainees, often face limitations on their ability to communicate freely. - Extended Detention
There are reports of individuals being held beyond their sentences under laws that permit indefinite detention for those deemed a “terrorist threat”.
- Women
Female prisoners are entitled to care provided by female staff.
However, detailed information on the conditions specific to women in UAE prisons is scarce.
- LGBT Prisoners
The UAE criminalizes homosexual acts, leading to potential discrimination and harsh treatment of LGBTQ individuals within the prison system. Specific data on their treatment in detention is limited.
- Mentally Ill Prisoners
There is a lack of detailed information regarding the treatment and accommodations for prisoners with mental illnesses.
- Juveniles
The legal framework specifies that juveniles should be detained separately from adults and provided with appropriate care. However, specific information on juvenile detention conditions is limited.
Resources
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