Justice System in The United Arab Emirates - Research Paper Example

 Justice System in the UAE The Judicial System: In accordance with the Constitution of UAE, each Emirate is permitted to establish an independent judicial system. In the UAE, the judicial system is composed of Federal Courts and Local or Emirate Courts. (Fellas et al 1997). The Emirates that have tranferred their judicial systems to the UAE Federal Authority are Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice of the Federal Government to undertake the tasks of supervising and administering the judicial systems of the above mentioned Emirates. The judicial systems of Emirates of Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah are not part of the UAE Federal Judicial Authority because these Emirates have retained power of their judicial systems. Therefore, the Emirates of Dubai and Ral Al Khaimah have no Federal Courts and all matters arising within these Emirates are handled by the Local Courts. The Federal Supreme Court of Cessation based in Abu Dhabi can appeal against any judgement passed by the Federal Courts of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain. The Emirate of Ral Al Khaimah has no Federal Supreme Court of Cessation. The UAE Federal Law enacted by the UAE Supreme Council is applied at both the Federal Courts and Local Courts in UAE. Furthermore, the Courts also apply laws and regulations passed by the ruler. However, similar laws and legal procedures are applied in each of the Federal and Local Courts in Emirates but there are some differences. In cases where a conflict arises between Federal and Local Law then in such cases the Federal Law will prevail. The justice system of the UAE is very efficient and fair which is the primary reason why UAE has attracted businesses form around the world. (Price et al 1998). The System of Civil Law: The primary sources of law in UAE are the satutory codes because UAE has a Legal System which pertains to a civil law. The Egyptian legal system has influenced the UAE legal system to a great extent, thus the system enacted in the UAE can be regarded as a reflection of the system in Egypt. Interestingly, the Egyptian system has been infleunced by French and Roman legal systems; therefore the legal system of UAE is an amalgamation of the systems of France, Rome and Egypt. However, the major source of law is inevitably the Islamic Law codified in Shariah. The procedures and practices followed by the judicial system of UAE are based on Islamic Law. Therefore, it is inevitable that the UAE Civil and Commercial Codes are impregnated with Islamic Laws of Shariah. Apart from the codification of laws, the Civil Law System of the UAE also mediates the practices and procedures followed by the judicial system. Accordingly, the judges are not expected to hear oral arguments and the judiciary does not bind the precedents. (Price et al 2005). Dubai is an International Commercial Market therefore; many contracts and documents are drafted according to the principles of Common Law because the Local law roots are deeply affected by international law. The impregnation with International Law has created numerous problems in the implementation of UAE law because much of the principles of Common Law are not known to the local judicial authorities. For example, the local judicial authorities are not familia with the precedent, discovery of documents, injunctions of related relief and certain types of “force majeure” clauses. (Price et al 2005). Judges and Advocates: Interestingly, the majority of judges working in the UAE are not UAE citizens. Most of the judges in service are from other Arab countries and are either directly hired by the Federal Ministry of Justice or have been seconded to UAE after agreements between the UAE and their respective countries. Approximately 90% of the judges working in the UAE are from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Sudan. A few of the judges are from the other North African countries. The Ministry of Justice recommends the judges of the Federal Courts and the recommended judges are appointed by a decree of the Supreme Council. The appointed judges are only subject to the law and are independent of the Ministry of Justice. On the other hand, the mode of recommendation of judges in Dubai and Ral Al Khaimah is the same except that the judges are appointed by the decree of the local ruler. Once the judges are apointed to the Courts, they cannot be terminated until it is somehow proven that they are incompetent or their secondment term has reached an end. The UAE law limits the appearance through advocates before the Court only to the UAE nationals who have a valid license. However, some practising licensed Arab lawyers are permited to appear before the court through advocates. (Price et al 2005). Structure of the Courts: The three types of Courts in UAE are Civil, Criminal and Shari’a. The jurisdiction of the Civil Courts is self evident while, the jurisdiction of the Shari’a courts ecompasses family matters including the issues of divorce, inheritence, custody, child abuse and guardianship of minors. Certain criminal cases of rape, robbery, and drunk driving are also handled by all Federal Shari’a Courts except the ones in Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah. The Shari’a Courts of Dubai and Ral Al Khaimah deal with hearing minor civil cases regarding debt recovery and simple civil disputes. All civil and commercial matters regardless of their nature are handled by the Civil Courts of UAE. The UAE does not have any specialised civil courts. The Labour Office is entrusted with the task of handling labour disputes. The dispute if left unresolved by the Labour Office is referred to the normal Civil Court. The UAE law requires a bench of three judges to hear an action with a claim of UAE Dh. 100,000 or more. A single judge will hear a claim of less than Dh. 100,000. (Price et al 2005). Aruguments are presented to the Courts either in the written submissions or in the form of a memorandum. Before the case is reserved for the judgement, it is common for the case to be adjourned several times while the pleadings and documents are exhanged between the concerned parties. On the request of the either party, the civil court may call for witnesses. Upon request, the civil court may consider referring the matter to an expert in an effort to inquire on a technical or factual issue. The Court of Appeal has the right to appeal any judgement passed by the Civil Courts within 30 days following the date the judgement is passed. There are three judges on the Civil Court of Appeal and all the judgements are passed in accordance with what the majority of the judges’ state. The arguments can be sumitted in written form but the law does not put a ristriction on oral arguments. (Price et al 2005). Courts of Cassation: The Supreme Court of Cassation in Dubai has the right to appeal any Federal judgement passed by the Federal Courts of Appeal. On the other hand, the Dubai Court of Cassation is concerned with appeals of judgements passed by the Dubai Court of Appeal. However, the Emirates of Ras Al Khaimah has no Court of Cassation. The Court of Cassation does not only function as an appellate court but is also involved in drawing up procedures and principles which the lower courts are expected to follow. The UAE has a civil law therefore any law cannot be made by a court. However, in order to provide guidance and a basis for arguments, the Courts have to use the judgements of the Courts of Cassation. However, it has been seen though quite rarely that the judges of the Lower courts have contradicted the principles or procedures provided by the Courts of Cassation. The interpretation of the codified law and is application to a paticular matter can only be undertaken by the Courts of Cassation and no other court is empowered with a similar authority. The judgements delivered by any lower court can be overruled or amended by the Courts of Cassation. The overruled matter is referred to the Court of Appeal which is then entrusted with the task of reviewing the decision in accordance with the procedures and principles laid down by the Courts of Cassation. The usual composition if the Court of Cassation is five judges. The Federal Constitutional matters are determined only by the Supreme Court of Cassation. The Supreme Court of Cassation has the right to adjudicate upon disputes that may arise between two or more Emirates. (Price et al 2005). Dubai Police: The Dubai Police was established in 1957 and has been enlarged significant times since itscreation. Significant issues have surfaced with regard to safety and law maintenance due to the rapid urban development and construction in Dubai. (Ingleton 1957). The largely dispersed rural population has seen a drastic transformation over the last few decades and has been converted into a modern commercial centre which has rasied significant law maintenance issues. (Cordesman 1997). The Dubai Police has taken strict steps to resolve these issues and to prevent them from surfacing again. The Dubai Police is one the most vigilent and active of all the Arab Police Forces today. The personnel working in the Dubai Police are the owners of the highest educational standards. In the year 2006, a new centre was assigned to the Dubai Police Headquarters in an effort to provide an efficient organizational centre. The new organizational centre is well adapted to handles emergencies of varying scales with utmost determination. The Dubai Police facility is comparable in every aspectto the facilities at Finland, Normay, China, Greece and Germany because the Dubai Police is also equipped with a new command and control room. The new command and control room is empowered with the Barco Video Wall technology. The threast and vulnerabilities can be assessed by the visualations provided by the Barco Video wall. Prevailing and developing situations can be assessed by the analysing the images generated through aerial and satellite imagery. The aerial and satellite imagery provides a 3D model of landmarks, buildings, and streets which allows the police personnel to effectively analyse and deal with situations before they worsen. A highly sophisticated managemnet tool is provided by this integrated GIS technology and empowers the Dubai Police force with multiple targetting techniques and strategies. The main hall of the new building is big enough to accommodate 87 staff members and has designed in such a way that it can be easily expanded over the next 15 years. The coordination of operations down to minute details is made possible because the Barco Technology has provided the personnel with a detailed 3D model of the city of Dubai. The 3D model of the city of Dubai is an extremely powerful tool and has allowed the police to handle matters with additional scrutinization. In an effort to increase the efficiency of the system it is vigilently tested through simulation exercises and is linked to all the relevant agencies. Dubai Police has a set of strategies on which the system acts in order to maintain an efficient control over the law and order situation of the Emirate. The most important of all the strategies implemented is the readiness of the Police to deal with crises and disaster. In an effort to deal with crisis and disaster the Crisis and Disaster Management Department was established in the year 2007. The Crisis and Disaster Management Department comes under the Department of Public Operations of the Dubai Police. Among the missions of the department of Crisis and Managemnet is the reduction in the loss of lives, reduction in the damege caused to property and infrastructure in case of a disaster. However, the primary mission of the department is to protect the Emirates from all types of hazards. (Asimakopoulou et al 2010). References: Price, R., & Al, T. E. (1998). United Arab Emirates Court of Cassation judgments: 1989 - 1997. The Hague [u.a.: Kluwer Law International. Price, R., & Al, T. E. (2005). United Arab Emirates Court of Cassation judgments: 1998 - 2003. Leiden [u.a.: Brill. Asimakopoulou, E., & Bessis, N. (2010). Advanced ICTs for disaster management and threat detection: Collaborative and distributed frameworks. 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