principal sentences United Arab Emirates law according emirate penal code The emirate penal code distinguished between the principal sentences and subsidiary penalties and its branches secondary penalties and complementary penalties, as for the principal sentences which is the focus of this essay, it has been identified by article 66 of penal code which provided that:
WhatsApp: +971555570005
The principal sentences in United Arab Emirates law according to emirate penal code no.3 of 1987 and its amendments
The emirate penal code distinguished between the principal sentences and subsidiary penalties and its branches secondary penalties and complementary penalties, as for the principal sentences which is the focus of this essay, it has been identified by article 66 of penal code which provided that:
Principal penalties are:
a. Dogmatic and chastisement penalties and blood-money.
b. Repressive penalties which are:
1. Capital punishment.
2. Life imprisonment.
3. Term imprisonment.
4. Incarceration.
5. Detention.
6. Fine.
Courts must sentence to the repressive penalties prescribed in this law in case the conditions set forth in the Shari’a for the application of the dogmatic and chastisement penalties as well as blood-money are not met.
It is clear that the principle sentences according to the mentioned above article is either Shari’a penalties which is Dogmatic and chastisement penalties and blood-money or repressive penalties and the court must sentence to repressive penalties, in case Shari’a condition to judge Dogmatic and chastisement penalties and blood-money were not fulfilled, as stated in article 66 of the penal code, but the subsequent articles identified the repressive penalties and how they could be implemented, as for the death penalty article 67 stated that the death sentence may not be executed except after ratification by the state president on the judgment rendered by the federal court, as the article provided that:
A death sentence rendered by a federal court may not be executed except after ratification by the state president.
As to the imprisonment sanction, article 68 determined its definition and its duration and distinguished between the life imprisonment and temporary imprisonment, so article 68 provided that:
Imprisonment is the incarceration of convict in one of the penitentiaries legally allocated for this purpose, for life if the sentence is life imprisonment, or for the period specified in the sentence in case of a temporary imprisonment. Unless the law provides otherwise, the term of the temporary imprisonment may not be less than three years and not more than fifteen years.
It is clear from the article, that the term of imprisonment is not less than 3 years and may not exceed 15 years but the term of detention sentence is not less than 1 months and may not exceed 3 years, as stated by article 69 which provided that:
Detention is to place the convict in one of the penitentiaries legally allocated for this purpose for the Term to which he was sentenced. Unless the law provides otherwise, the minimum period of detention is one month and the maximum may not exceed three years.
Regarding to fine sentence, article71 amended by federal law no.7 of 2016 determined its definition, and its amount which provided that:
The penalty imposing a fine is to compel the convict to pay to the treasury the adjudicated amount and the fine should not be less than one hundred dirhams and not more than a maximum of one million dirhams, in felonies, thirty thousand in misdemeanors, unless otherwise provided for in the law.
Therefore, the above article determined the amount of the fine, as the fine should not be less than one hundred dirhams and may not exceed one million dirhams in felonies, thirty thousand in misdemeanors, and the recovery of pecuniary penalties. The legislator distinguished between relative fine and the fine that imposed on each offender severally, in this case the court imposed a fine on several offenders with one judgment in the same case, as article 72 provided that:
Should several convicts in a crime, whether as principal authors or accomplices, be sentenced in a single judgment to a fine, the court shall impose the fine on each severally, unless it is proportional then the convict shall be jointly liable to pay it, unless otherwise provided in the law.
following that review which brought articles from the Arab united emirates penal code, we determined the content of the principal sentences concerning the imprisonment and detention or its value regarding to the fine sanction and its implementation, and the required permissions for the death penalty.
Attorney / Mohamed Al Marzooqi
Mohamed Al Marzooqi Advocates & Consultancy
Lawyer in Abu Dhabi, Dubai – UAE
