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Amendments to Criminal Proceure Law In UAE

Amendments To Criminal Proceure Law In UAE

The UAE Government introduced new amendments to UAE Criminal Procedure Law i.e. Federal Law No. 35/1992 through Federal Decree Law No. 17 of 2018. The amendments were introduced for more than fifty articles; few of the significant ones are dealt below:

  1. Relating to penal order

Under the Article 332 of Criminal Procedure Law after amendment defines the penal order “a judicial order issued by Public Prosecution that decides criminal case on the basis of merits either dismissing it or referring it  to the competent Court for misdemeanors and violation.” Article 344 of Criminal Procedure Law lays down that Attorney General shall have power to amend or cancel it within 30 days the issuance of the penal or amend it as of the date of waiving the objection filed by the accused party. The Attorney General would issue the required instructions to execute the provisions regulating the penal order.

  1. Placement under electronic probation

This step is taken by the authorities against a party that instead of imprisonment there is a confinement to a specific place such as home/residence. The electronic probation under Article 355 of the Criminal Procedure Law is defined as deprivation of liberty of the accused/ convicted to leave his residence or other location. Article 361 of same law provides that the Public Prosecution may issue an order for the same.

  1. Penal reconciliation

The Article 346 has been added by amendments providing an option for the Public Prosecution/Criminal Court to execute the Penal Reconciliation as an agreement between the accused and the victim. 4

Article 347 also refers to specific crimes in which Penal Reconciliation is permitted

  1. physical assault
  2. fraud
  3. issuing a bounced cheque
  4. breach of trust
  5. threat and blackmail
  6. defamation
  7. recording conversations without approval
  8. taking pictures of someone without approval
  9. trespassing

The Article 347 mentions that Penal Reconciliation may occur at any stage of the criminal case despite the judgement is delivered.

The amendments are an attempt to introduce a speedy provision of justice in criminal cases where any delay is construed as justice denied.