The UAE Government has embarked on one of the largest overhauls in recent years of the legal system and a number of changes to the country’s legislation, which was announced on November 7, 2020.

The laws, effective immediately, reflect progressive measures to improve the standard of living in a country that continues to be a center of attraction for foreign direct investment and for people from all over the world living in the UAE.

The amendments to existing laws and the introduction of new laws aim to regulate essential personal and civil rights, with provisions allowing non-UAE citizens to manage their personal affairs in accordance with the laws of their home countries.

In the UAE, where more than 200 nationalities live, they try to take into account all their needs. The reforms will affect laws relating to divorce and separation, separation of wills and estates, alcohol, suicide, and the protection of women.

The changes also mean that the laws of a person’s country of origin can be used for divorce and inheritance, meaning that Islamic law or Sharia will now rarely be used when it comes to family law cases involving expatriates. A number of these measures have been discussed in the UAE for some time, and the entry into force of the new laws reflects an important milestone in the ongoing progress of the country’s judiciary.

Judicial procedure:

The new law provides for the provision of interpreters to defendants and witnesses during court hearings if they do not speak Arabic. The court must ensure that legal interpreters are available. In addition, new privacy laws mean that evidence related to “indecency” cases must be protected and cannot be publicly disclosed.

Suicide and “caring citizens”:

Suicide and attempted suicide will be decriminalized. Until now, someone who tried to commit suicide but survived could be prosecuted, although such cases were rare. The police and the courts will provide psychological support to these people. But nevertheless, anyone who helped a person in a suicide attempt faces a prison term without a specified term.

The law also ensures that “caring citizens” who intervene to help people cannot be held responsible for the results of those they help. According to a long-standing but rarely used provision, someone who came to someone’s aid – gave artificial respiration or provided other first aid – could be held liable for involuntary injury or subsequent death.

The new law states that “any person who performs an act of good intentions that may ultimately harm that person will not be punished.”

Pursuit and attack:

There are a number of amendments aimed at protecting the rights of women. There will no longer be an excuse for crimes known as “honour crimes” where a male relative can receive a lighter sentence for assaulting a female relative under the pretense of “defending honour”. Such incidents will be treated as crimes like any other attack.

There will be harsher penalties for men who subject women to harassment and harassment of any kind. The law is a continuation of a law passed earlier last year that provides for stricter penalties for harassment and also recognizes that men can be victims of harassment or harassment.

The punishment for raping a minor or a person with mental disabilities would be execution.

Alcohol consumption:

Drinking alcohol is no longer criminalized. Anyone who drinks, stores alcohol, or sells alcoholic beverages in permitted areas without an alcohol license will no longer be subject to fines.

To legally consume alcohol in the UAE, a person must be at least 21 years old, and anyone caught selling alcohol to a minor will be punished. Alcohol may only be consumed in private or in permitted public places.

In September, Abu Dhabi ended the alcohol licensing system for residents. Previously, a license was required to purchase or consume alcohol. Now the new federal law will be extended to all Emirates.

Divorce :

One of the most significant changes concerns divorce, the separation of spouses and the division of property in the event of a divorce. If a couple married in their home country but divorced in the UAE, one would expect the divorce process to be similar to that practiced under Sharia in a UAE court.

Now, instead, the laws of the country in which the marriage took place will apply. The new law mentions joint assets and joint accounts, and that a court can be called in to mediate if there is no agreement between the two parties.

Cohabitation for unmarried couples:

For the first time, the law allows legal cohabitation not with