Aggravating-circumstances

Aggravating circumstances according United Arab Emirate penal code the Emirati legislator give discretionary power to the judge to sentencing the accused with more aggravated sanction than provided by law for the crime or go beyond the maximum limit of the sanction established by law and that within specific conditions and circumstances which allow the aggravation, and these conditions stated in article 102 of federal penal code no.3 of 1987 which provided that:
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Aggravating circumstances according to United Arab Emirate penal code

the Emirati legislator give discretionary power to the judge to sentencing the accused with more aggravated sanction than provided by law for the crime or go beyond the maximum limit of the sanction established by law and that within specific conditions and circumstances which allow the aggravation, and these conditions stated in article 102 of federal penal code no.3 of 1987 which provided that:
Taking into consideration the cases in which the law specifies special reasons for aggravation, the following shall be considered aggravating circumstances:
a. Perpetrating a crime for a vile motive.
b. Perpetrating a crime by taking advantage of the weak state of mind of the victim, his inability to resist or in circumstances that does not allow for someone else to defend him.
c. Perpetration of a crime by using savage means or by mutilation of the victim.
d. Perpetration of a crime by a public servant through exploiting the authority of his position or of his capacity, unless the law provides for a special sanction in consideration of this capacity.
So the article stated the three conditions that considered from the judicial aggravating circumstances that the court shall tended to follow in the application of the sanction on the offender, taking in consideration the situations where the law indicate specific reasons for aggravation, and these conditions are:
• Perpetrating the crime for vile motive, for example the criminal who murdered an innocent person in order to steal a pittance that was in his possession.
• perpetrating a crime by taking advantage of the week state of mind of the victim, the victim’s illness or inability to resist or the inability to defend himself under any circumstances as rape of a female or a child or insane or feeble-minded.
• Perpetration of a crime by using savage means as torture the victim before killing him or by mutilated his body.
• Exploitation by the offender of his position or his authority in order to commit a crime, which is abuse of trust and authority that given to him, for example the servant who uses his position or his authority in order to embezzle.
as to augmentation of penalty, article 103 amended by law no.52 of 2006 provided that:

Where there is on the crime an aggravating circumstance, the court may impose the penalty in the following manner:
a. If the penalty original prescribed for the crime is a fine, its maximum limit may be doubled or a judgment of detention may be given.
b. If the penalty originally prescribed for the crime is detention, its maximum limit may be doubled.
c. If the penalty originally prescribed for the crime is temporary imprisonment which upper limit is less than fifteen years, the penalty may reach the upper limit.
d. If the penalty originally prescribed for the crime is temporary imprisonment that reached the maximum limit, the penalty may be exchanged for life imprisonment.
Therefore , with regard to augmentation of penalty , if the penalty prescribed for the crime is a fine , the maximum limit of the fine can be doubled or a judgment of detention can be given , and if the original sanction was the detention , the maximum limit of the detention can be doubled , and if the sanction was temporary imprisonment which upper limit is less than fifteen years , the sanction may reach the upper limit , and if the sanction was temporary imprisonment that reached the maximum limit, the sanction may be exchanged for life imprisonment , in addition if the crime was not punishable by detention , and the criminal committed it for profits , a fine sentence shall be added to the original penalty , and that stated in article 104 which provided that :
Unless otherwise provided by law, if a crime, not penalized by a fine, is perpetrated with a movie of profit, the perpetrator may be penalized, in addition to the penalty originally prescribed for the crime, to a fine not exceeding the profit realized.
Although the aggravating circumstances can be exist in the same case with extenuating excuses as the young age of the criminal or Perpetrating the crime for vile motive or committing the crime was based on serious provocations from the victim, and in this case the court will apply first the aggravating circumstances then the extenuating excuses followed by the mitigating circumstances, as stated in article 105 which provided that:
In case aggravating circumstances are present, in a single crime, with extenuating circumstances, the court shall first apply the aggravated circumstances, then the extenuating excuses followed by the extenuating circumstances. Should the aggravating circumstances vary in their effect with those of the excuses, the court may, however, give preponderance to the stronger of the two.
The purpose from the augmentation of the penalty in some cases on the offender is to enable the judge to achieve equality between his judgment, and factual circumstances of the case that requires augmentation of penalty, as the criminal intention of the offender increases the sanction will be aggravated, and the final objective is to achieve justice and to please relatives of the victim and the society.



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


Aggravating circumstances according United Arab Emirate penal code the Emirati legislator give discretionary power to the judge to sentencing the accused with more aggravated sanction than provided by law for the crime or go beyond the maximum limit of the sanction established by law and that within specific conditions and circumstances which allow the aggravation, and these conditions stated in article 102 of federal penal code no.3 of 1987 which provided that:
WhatsApp: +971555570005

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