Our Correspondent
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued a number of presidential decrees amending some articles in the Personal Status Law, the Federal Penal Code, and the Federal Penal Procedural Law. This is in line with the UAE’s endeavours to develop its legislative foundations and its status as global destination for foreign investment and expertise.
The decrees detail changes in the laws concerning vital matters such as expatriates’ wills and inheritance, marriage and divorce, indecency laws, sexual and harassment crimes including ‘honour crimes’.
The new amendments in the Personal Status Code and the Civil Law give the expatriates living in the UAE the option to choose the law that would be applied to their inheritance in order to ensure the stability of the financial interests of the foreign investors in the country. They stipulate that the inheritance would be dealt with as per the nationality of the deceased person at the time of his death. As for the general terms of the will and other post-mortem terms, they would be dealt with according to the law of the country specified in the will. If that condition is not specifically mentioned in the will, the law of the country of nationality the deceased person at the time of his death will be applied.
For an expatriate’s will involving their real estate property in the UAE, the UAE laws will be applied.
New changes in the Personal Status Code stipulate that the laws of the country in which the marriage took place would be applied with regards to marriage terms instead of the previous provisions of applying the laws of each partner’s country of nationality.
Another amendment stipulates that the law of the country in which the marriage took place would be applied with regards to the personal and financial terms of the marriage contract, the divorce or the separation agreement instead of the law of the husband’s country at the time of the marriage, divorce or initiation of legal procedures.
Changes in the Civil Law now allow one partner in a venture to sell the entire venture, following a request to a judge, in case they are not able to sell their share in the venture to another partner. The price would be divided among the partners as per the value of each.
Regarding Penal Code number 3 of 1987, amendments now ensure that ‘honour crimes’ will be treated as murder. This is an important legal transformation that underlines the UAE’s commitment to protect the rights of women and ensure the supremacy of law.
Another law amendment stipulate that those who consume or deal in liquor in authorised places would not be liable for punishment, at the same time giving each emirate the authority to issue the regulatory rules in this matter. The punishment will be restricted to serving or selling liquor to a person younger than 21 years of age or those who bought liquor on behalf of a person under 21 years of age.
Punishment for those who commit an indecent act in public will be a financial fine instead of prison for the first offence.
There are also in punishment in sexual offences under duress, threat, or force. Consensual sex will not be punished by the law unless the victim, male or female, is under 14 years of age or if the victim is deprived of their will due to their young age, sanity or mental capabilities or if the culprit is a first-degree relative of the victim or responsible for their upbringing or has an authority of the minor victim.
A person convicted in a sexual relationship with a minor or mentally challenged person by force would be punished by the death penalty.
According to the amendments, the court can use discretion to send a person convicted of attempting suicide to a treatment institution instead of punishing them. However, a person assisting another person to commit suicide by any means will be punished with a jail term.
In Penal Procedural Law number 35 of 1992, the Presidential Decree obliges authorised judicial arresting officers to have an interpreter present if a suspect or witness does not know the Arabic language.
Another change stipulates that the authorised judicial arresting officers shall not reveal the personal information of a victim except to those concerned in cases that are of a sexual nature such as rape, abuse, indecency, prostitution; the case involves a minor’s physical, psychological, mental or moral safety or if the minor was exploited in begging, sexual crimes, pornography or labour under inappropriate or threatening conditions.
