UAE Justice for Foreigners - Research Paper Example

UAE JUSTICE United Arab Emirates is one of the richest Arab states that exist in the country today. They were a poor state once, but since of the discovery of oil in their country they have developed their infrastructure and along with a well-developed and well established tourist destination and a business hub. Companies all over the world plan to do business in the country as they know that they will be getting the best possible business opportunity and the best kind of exposure that is ever possible. Today in the United Arab Emirates is a home to billions of expatriates from all over the world who are living here either to earn their livings or to do business. Since the time United Arab Emirates modernized and developed itself into tourist spot as well, they have been swimming in the gold. There are more foreigners in the United Arab Emirates than there are locals and this is also becoming a cause of worry for their own governments. Having such heterogeneous cities with multitude of other people living from all over the world is a quite a difficult situation to be in. A country with such diverse population belonging to all kinds of race religion and nationality is like a pool containing thousands of colors of floating balls, all having a shade different than the other. It is very necessary to have a very strong legal and a sound administrative system. The rules and laws all have to be defined word to word so that people find no easy way out and discover no loopholes to get away with anything illegal. United Arab Emirates is a Muslim country and therefore has the Muslim law. There are some laws that are internationally established ones which have also incorporated into their legal system. The Sharia’h is the Islamic law and it is given precedence over all other laws. The punishments are all given according to the Islamic law and internationally some human right organization claim that the punishments that are awarded in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are against the human rights are very brutal punishments. It is said that the rules and regulations and the laws in the United Arab Emirates are very robust and have a very accommodating outlook that’s why the business are flourishing and many international companies are all willing to set up their business in the United Arab Emirates because of the fair laws and regulation that exist there. They have a very clear defined set of objectives, if these objectives might be a bit harsh on the outlook, business men are all very fine with them as they all see lucrative benefits in the place and they are willing to forego the little bit of strictness that exists. Today any and every business would like to open up their business in the United Arab emirates as it has become the cross roads for some most richest and the most famous people all over the world (Whelan, 2010). There are seven states in the United Arab Emirates federation they have a supreme and consolidated law for all the states. Except for Dubai, Dubai enjoys some special privileges, it has the basic laws similar to the general ones but it has been given the right to deal with the internal situations by itself and some other rights. These relaxations are only granted to the state of Dubai alone. The law of the United Arab Emirates has been designed keeping in mind the civil laws of the old times. It has major principle underlying of the Egyptian law and the rules and regulations are governed by the Islamic laws and practices. In Saudi Arabia, it is a bit different, in spite of the fact that they also have a large of foreign population and they have a near similar culture to the United Arab Emirates, but they have a complete Islamic system, and all of their legislations and legal proceedings are governed by the Islamic Sharia’h. Earlier they had a very simple law, but with the influx of foreign companies and the foreigners along with the companies they have had to modify their laws greatly, the Islamic punishments are still present but the laws have been given an international touch. With increase in globalization, the international specifically the western influence has increased greatly, and therefore they have tailored their laws a bit. The courts in United Arab Emirates are al under the same law, except for the Dubai court, which has its own hearings and proceedings. The Dubai court has its own rulings and hearings. They have a separate division for all kinds of situation. They have a civil division, a sharia’h division, an international division as well. The Shari’h law is generally used only when there are some family feuds or some other issues like family inheritance problems. United Arab Emirates is a country that is culturally in the transition stage. It is looking for modernization and at the same time not willing to give up on the thousand year old traditions. This point in which it is clinging to the age old traditions and also wanting to embrace modernity has caused a lot issues with its judicial system too (Whelan, 2010). The hotel and tourism economy side of Dubai is up and running because of the couples that come and stay here. Majority of the couples are unmarried and have been living together with each other without wedlock. Such couples when face some issues in the city and go and complain to the authorities about it they are not received well. Police treats them in an entire different light. They usually end up facing courts for living with the opposite sex without marriage and hence have to face the charges and the fines accordingly. People believe that it is sheer deceit and confusion on the part of the authorities and the legal system who have allowed hotels to book rooms for such couples but they have no legal coverage or protection later if they face any sort of issues. Their hotels and the clubs that they have opened up all over the city are all thriving because of such couples who come to enjoy their leaves and vacations. People believe that if they really have issues and they cannot allow it by their law for them to have any legal status then they should not at first place allow them to enter the country. In comparison if we look at the Saudi system, they do not allow any women to enter the country alone or without any legal guardian and if they find anyone living like that then they are punished according to the Islamic and the jurisdictions laid down in the Islamic law. In such cases it has been seen that the police themselves are very judgmental about such couples, they are all locals, and to them the Islamic law is above all and therefore they end up making such cases more complicated due to their own biases or the religious barrier that exists (Whelan, 2010). To overcome such situations, there has been a landmark development in the legal and judiciary system of Dubai specially and some other states of the United Arab Emirates. They have now created the concept of free zones. These free zones are areas where there are no rules and regulations. Ethics and morality are the rules. It is a general rule in the United Arab Emirates that no foreigner can own a business there. There has to be some local working in partnership with the foreigner, the divide would be 51 and 40. In the free zones even a foreigner can setup his own business; the only requirement is this that they have a physical facility setup in the free zone already. Now their judicial system is working to be able to incorporate the newly developed free zones. These free zones will allow international practices to flourish with them and will not be answerable to the law (Whelan, 2010). There are very strict laws in the United Arab Emirates with respect to carrying of drugs. If a person is found to possess heroin or some other similar drug then the person is charged with life time imprisonment. There is no concept of bail and therefore he has spent his whole life in imprisonment. Although there is lifetime imprisonment, but the person can be released if has been proven not guilty. Although they have allowed foreigners to live in their cities, have allowed them to establish their businesses, but it is not allowed at any cost for a foreigner to become a lawyer in the courts of United Arab Emirates. The lawyers and the judges will all have to be locals. The foreigners can work as legal guides or as legal consultants but they never can fight a case in the courts. They even have to give up their lawyer license and get some local to forfeit it to. The jails that they have made for punishments are quite dangerous ones and people tend to have serious fear related to the jails of the United Arab Emirates. They have a very discipline but very strict police. The main barrier is in the form of language, there are hardly any polis officers who are aware of English and hence it becomes complicated for the foreigners to communicate to the police officers. Their police force is really agile and alert and they respond very quickly to any situation that has gone out of hand (Whelan, 2010). Despite having such serious and strict judicial system with very much defined laws, rules and limits, it has been seen that the rules and regulations and punishments are for the poor and the tourists. Many locals have been able to get away for their crimes specially when their crimes their related to a foreigner. The locals can evade some parts of the law very easily, while the foreigners are stuck because of the language barrier mainly and the bias that exists. They claim to follow the Islamic law but Islamic law preaches equality, fairness and right delegation of punishments. Their royalty is hardly subjected to any kinds of law and they hardly even get punishments for the crimes that they have done. There have been many instances when their royalty was involved in an accident along with a foreigner, the foreigner used to get stuck into their laws and end spending years in jail. If the foreigner is from United Kingdom or the United States of America then might get delayed justice due to the well-established and a strong legal system, but poorer countries or not well to do countries have to leave their nationals at the mercy of the United Arab Emirates courts and plea for mercy only. In some cases people or their friends had hired international NGO’s to help them getting their friend or family out. Carrying of drugs into the United Arab Emirates is a heinous cri and there are hardly any chances that you will come of the situation alive. Stealing may lead to the cutting away of your hands. These punishments are all Islamic and they have a reason to be established. They do not follow the Islamic law themselves to the full extent. It has been brought may a times at the international level too, but no special heed has been paid to it since there are a lot of business in the United Arab Emirates and no country would want to spoil their relationships with such a rich country (Whelan, 2010). Being a Muslim country they have a heavy application of Islamic law. But even then there are a mixture of Islamic, civil and the international laws that are used in the United Arab Emirates. There is no proper concepts of equality though as there are hardly any punishments ever for the royalties. They have very strict labor laws; therefore, the workers who go to the United Arab Emirates for working have not an ounce to slip as they will suffer hugely for any small crime that they may end up committing. REFERENCES Whelan, J. (2010). UAE Civil Code and Ministry of Justice commentary. Thomson Reuters. Read More