Child Criminal Liability According to the UAE Penal Code

Child Criminal Liability According to the UAE Penal Code

Child Criminal Liability
According to UAE Penal Code

The criminal accountability requires availability of consciousness and will. Man is born without these two conditions but his perception and mental abilities grow with days until he reaches a certain age when he can distinguish between right and wrong. All legislations in the world have agreed on the absence of criminal accountability before a certain age. This is what Article (62) of the UAE Penal Code states:
Criminal action shall not be brought against whoever did not, at the time of perpetration of the crime, complete his seven years of age. Age shall be established by an official deed and, in case it is not available, the investigation or trial authority shall delegate a specialized physician to assess the age by technical means.
Upon Article 62, we conclude that no criminal action is taken against a child whose age is under seven when he commits the crime. This provision is explicit and categorical that criminal prosecution is not permissible for those who are under this age. The choice of seven years is in accordance with the Islamic Sharia which considers the age of seven as the age for mandate of prayer, as stated in the Sacred Hadith:
Command your children to pray when they become seven years old
Thus, law considers the child who is under seven lacks awareness and discrimination, and therefore not responsible criminally for the crimes he commits, and prevents the Public Prosecution from prosecuting him.
However, the investigation authorities and juvenile courts may order with taking the appropriate educational or remedial measures for this child, and this is also stated in Article 62:
Nevertheless, the investigation authority and the juvenile courts may, if it deems necessary, order taking the educational and therapeutic measure appropriate for the case at hand.
For juveniles who have completed seven years but still under eighteen, they are subject to penalties stipulated in the Juvenile Act, and this is what Article 63 of the UAE Penal Code states:
Whoever has completed seven, but under eighteen, years of age shall be governed by the provisions stipulated in the law on delinquent and homeless juveniles.
Determining the age of a juvenile is according to his registration in the Civil Status Register on the day of committing the crime not on the day of bringing him to trial or investigation, provided that his registration was made during the legal period prescribed for the day of his birth.
The conclusion is that the legislator considers the criminal accountability to be age bound and consistent with it. The legislator states that no criminal proceedings shall be instituted against who was under seven years at the time of committing the crime, but it considers the crimes committed by who completed seven years and is under eighteen years within the jurisdiction of juvenile delinquent and homeless law. This reflects all the rationality required to deal with the crimes committed by under age categories and they are still immature to estimate the seriousness of what they have commited.

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

“Child Criminal Liability According to the UAE Penal Code”