Questions and Answers About the Crime of Not Reporting Crimes

Questions and Answers About the Crime of Not Reporting Crimes

Questions and Answers About the Crime of Not Reporting Crimes

What is the penalty of not reporting a crime to the authorities?
• Article 274 of the Emirati Penal Code, the Federal Law number 7 of 2016, determines the penalty as it states that:
“Whoever becomes aware of a crime and abstains from informing the concerned authorities shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding a year or by a fine.”

May the person, abstainer from reporting the crime to the authorities, be exempted?
• Yes, this is clarified by Article 274 which states that:
Exemption from such a penalty may be granted if the person concerned is a spouse of the offender or one of his descendants, ascendants, brothers, sisters or persons having the same degree of relationship by marriage.
What is the penalty of a public servant who neglects or delays reporting a crime?
• The penalty depends on whether the public servant is assigned to detect and seize crimes or not, and Article 272 mentions both cases:
Any public official or person in charge of detecting crimes and arresting the accused, who fails or defers to denounce a crime within his knowledge, shall be punished by detention or a fine.

A penalty of imprisonment for a period not exceeding a year or a fine shall be imposed upon any official who is not in charge of detecting or seizing crimes, and who neglects or delays to notify the concerned authorities of a crime which becomes known to him, in the course of or in respect of his job performance.

There shall be no punishment if submittal of a legal action in either of the cases provided in the preceding two paragraphs, is dependent on a complaint.
May the public servant who abstains from reporting the crime occurrence be exempted?
• The public servant assigned to detect or seize crimes may not be exempted if he neglects or delays reporting a crime known to him.
Exemption from the punishment may be granted to the public servant not assigned to detect or seize crimes and who fails or delays informing the competent authority with a crime became known to him, in the course of or in respect of his job performance. This is confirmed by Article 272 which states that:

“Exemption from the penalty provided in the second paragraph of this Article may be granted if the official is a spouse of the offender, or one of his descendants, ascendants, brothers, sisters or in laws having the same degree of relationship.”

What is the penalty of the physician who covers up a crime occurrence in the course of his job performance?
• This is clarified by Article 273 which states that:

” Anyone who, during practice of his medical or health profession, examines a corpse or gives first aid to a seriously injured person, and the body carries marks indicating that his death or injury was caused by a crime, or if it appears from other circumstances that the cause of death or injury is suspicious and he fails to inform the authorities, shall be punished by detention for at least one year and by a fine of at least twenty thousand dirham, or by either one of these two penalties.

Attorney/ Mohamed Al Marzooqi
Mohamed Al Marzooqi Advocates & Consultancy
Lawyer in Abu Dhabi, Dubai – UAE

“Questions and Answers About the Crime of Not Reporting Crimes”