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:

The Constitution of the United Arab Emirates

The UAE Penal Code: dictates that a Defendant is innocent until proven guilty and that no person shall be held accountable for the crimes of another person .

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’ . It also contains other provisions for arrest, search, detention and imprisonment.

The UAE’s Federal Crime and Punishment Law which came into force in 2022 and amends the Federal Penal code. For instance, it stipulates that concealing or destroying evidence during the course of an investigation or legal proceedings with the intention to mislead will result in punishment with imprisonment or a fine.

Federal Decree Law Number 28 amended UAE criminal arrest laws to give suspects greater 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

Right Against Unlawful Arrests, Searches, Seizures and Unlawful Detention:
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:

1. 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.
2. If the act is committed by trickery, by force, by threat of killing or serious injury, or by inflicting physical or psychological torture.
3. If the act is committed by two or more persons, or by an armed person.
4. If the period of kidnapping, arrest, detention or deprivation of freedom exceeds one month.
5. If the victim is a female, a minor, an insane individual or an imbecile.
6. 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.
7. If the act is perpetrated against a public office holder in the course of his duties or in pursuance thereof.
8. 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.

Right not to be Tortured or Ill treated
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’. However, there have been repeated reports of torture by the UAE government. In July 2022, the UN Committee against Torture, conducted a review of the UAE, which stated “particular concern that reports received detail a pattern of torture and ill-treatment against human rights defenders and persons accused of offences against State security who, by virtue of the State security or terrorism charges against them, are subject to a legal regime with fewer and more restrictive procedural guarantees” .

Right to Medical Care:

Right to be Informed of Charges:

Right to Presumption of Innocence:

Right Against Self-Incrimination:

Right to Present a Defence:

Right to Due Process:

Right to Equal Protection of the Laws:

Right to Bail:

Right Against Ex Post Facto Prosecution:

Right Against Double Jeopardy:

Right to a Fair Trial:

• Right to a Speedy Trial:
• Right to an Impartial Judge:

Right to Language Interpretation:

Right to Habeas Corpus:

Capital Punishment:

Right to Appeal:

Rights of Counsel

Means of Protecting and Enforcing Rights

Exclusionary rule

Nullity of Procedure

Contempt

Pre-Trial Procedure

POLICE PROCEDURES

Complaint/Information

Arrest, Search and Seizure Laws:

STOPS AND FRISKS (Preventive Searches)

ARRESTS

SEARCHES

PRE-TRIAL DETENTION

ENFORCING THE RULES (Exclusionary Rule, Nullity, and other protections)

Lineups and Other Identification Procedures:

Interrogation:

Court Procedures

PRE-TRIAL
SENTENCING
APPEALS

Rights in Prison

Resources