Prosecution of Criminal Cases

Public prosecution is solely responsible for filing and pursuing the procedures of criminal cases except for cases specified by the law. The public prosecutor, by himself or through a public prosecution member, initiates a criminal action in the manner specified by the law.

In some cases listed in Article (10) of the Criminal Procedural Law, written or verbal complaint by the victim or his legal representative are necessary for filing a criminal action and the complaint will not be accepted after three months since the victim knew about the crime and the perpetrator unless otherwise provided by the law.

A complaint can be submitted to the public prosecutor or to a judicial officer (criminal investigation officer). If the accused was caught red handed, the complaint may be submitted to any public authority officer (i.e. police officer) attending the scene of incident.

If there is more than one victim in the crime, complaint from one of them is enough to initiate a criminal action. If more than one person was accused in a crime, and the complaint was filed against one of them, it also applies to others.

For victims of crimes who are less than 15 years old or mentally challenged, or if the crime was against their property, the complaint shall be submitted by their legal guardian. In case of a conflict of interest between the victim and those who represent him, or if the victim has nobody to represent him, the public prosecutor will act for him.

A criminal action lapses if the victim withdraws his complaint. In case of multiple victims, the withdrawal of complaint should be done by all victims who submitted the complaint. In criminal cases where more than one person is accused, withdrawal of the complaint against one of them takes effect for the others as well.

If the victim dies after submitting a complaint, the right of withdrawal passes to his legal heirs.

The criminal case also lapses with the death of the accused, issuance of a final Judgment, withdrawal of legal action by the party which has the right to do so, issuance of an amnesty or repeal of the law which penalises such acts.

Criminal cases also lapse after twenty years in felonies (serious crimes) punished by death sentences, 10 years in all other felonies, 3 years in misdemeanour, and one year in violations.

To know more about criminal procedures followed by UAE courts, please find the relevant link in the right column of the page.

Source:
Criminal Procedural Law – UAE E-Legal Portal. Further details on procedures for criminal cases can be found under the UAE Criminal Procedural Law – UAE E-Legal Portal.

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