Tim Elliot: Welcome to another edition of Lawgical, the U.A.E.’s first legal podcast. Lawgical comes to you from the Dubai-based law firm, HPL Yamalova & Plewka. My name’s Tim Elliot. I’m here at Dubai’s JLT, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, high up at the firm’s offices on the 18th floor of Reef Tower. As ever, I’m with the Managing Partner, Ludmila Yamalova. Good to catch up with you.
Ludmila Yamalova: Great to see you too, Tim.
Tim Elliot: In this edition of Lawgical, we’re considering punishments for juveniles, juveniles in the context in particular of crime. Now, Ludmila, I guess we should start with what constitutes a juvenile here in the Emirates.
Ludmila Yamalova: A juvenile is anyone who has not reached the age of 18. This is, in relevant terms, governed by, and by the way, all the other crimes committed by juveniles, are governed by the Federal Law Number 9 of 1976 Concerning Delinquent Juvenile and Homelessness. That is the official title of the law.
Tim Elliot: So, if you’ve not reached 18 at the time of an offense, you are considered a juvenile in the eyes of the law. But conversely, and correct me if I’m wrong, a criminal case can’t be brought against a juvenile offender who hasn’t reached 7 years of age. Is that right?
Ludmila Yamalova: Correct. Anyone that’s above the age of 18 is no longer a juvenile. Anybody who is below the age of 18 is a juvenile, but within the juvenile category, there are subcategories, if you will. As you rightfully said, anyone who has not reached the age of 7 yet, so a juvenile from 0 to 6, cannot have a criminal case brought against them.
Tim Elliot: Right.
Ludmila Yamalova: So, there could be complaints filed, and they could be referred to various social services, but they cannot be a criminal complain or criminal record for them.
Tim Elliot: Okay. Am I right also in stating that a juvenile may not be imprisoned if they were less than 16 years of age at the time they committed the crime?
Ludmila Yamalova: Correct. Those are the three categories within the juvenile category, if you will.
- 1. One is below 7, and there is no criminal record whatsoever.
- 2. Then one up until the age of 16, and in that case the punishment cannot be a prison sentence. Up until the age of 16, if they commit a crime, whatever the crime may be, there is no imprisonment.
- 3. Then there are those juveniles between the age of 16 and 18. That is the third category, a subcategory within the juvenile category.
For those who are between the age of 16 and 18, the maximum punishment that would be attached to any other crime, in those cases for those juveniles between the age 16 and 18 cannot be more than half of the regular punishment. Let’s say someone who is 25 years old commits a crime and in that particular case the jail sentence would be 10, if that same crime is committed by a juvenile who is between the age of 16 and 18, then the penalty would only be half of the 10-year sentence, which is 5 years. Also for anybody who, again within that same category, between 16 and 18, that would have committed a crime that would otherwise carry capital punishment as punishment for the crime, the juveniles cannot face that particular penalty. They can only be imprisoned, but it has to be a minimum of 10 years and up, but it cannot be capital punishment.
Tim Elliot: I’ve read that. I was going to ask that. Thanks for pointing that out. Juvenile child hearings are not public hearings, are they?
Ludmila Yamalova: No. They’re not public for obvious reasons. Furthermore, the hearings themselves, they can be attended by somebody other than the offender by himself or herself, and therefore, either by a guardian, by a witness, or by a lawyer, or by a representative of the Ministry of Social Services. It is true that for the juveniles themselves, there is no expectation for them to appear and present themselves before the judge. It can be done through a proxy.
Tim Elliot: Ludmila, It’s clear if you’re between the ages of 16 and 18, classified as a juvenile, how punishment works. But if you’re between the ages of 7 and 16, what happens in that place?
Ludmila Yamalova: Yes, for all juveniles who fall between the ages of 7 and 16, there is no prison sentence. Yet obviously we are talking about crimes that are committed by these individuals. They will not be imprisoned per se, but there are other types of punishments that are attached to those crimes. For example, certain facilities that are set up specifically for juvenile offenders so there could be rehabilitation facilities, they could be various social services type of facilities, monitored facilities. The idea is it’s not that these people are out there on the loose and free. They will be committed to some sort of confinement of freedom, if you will, but it will not be your typical prison. It will be other kinds of facilities that house the same kind of juvenile offenders and in theory at least that has some kind of social services elements and rehabilitation services attached to them, obviously with the objective of trying to help reform these juveniles and give them another chance in life and also perhaps some medical assistance if they need help, psychological help or otherwise to put them back on the right path. With that in mind, the judge also has the authority to send juveniles for treatment. It could be psychological treatment, psychiatric treatment, it could be other types of medical treatment. As part of the punishment that judges can attach to these crimes is some kind of professional, medical treatment on an ongoing basis.
Tim Elliot: One final question. This was interesting when I was reading around the subject. If a juvenile commits a crime and is then sentenced to a punishment as though they are above the age of 18, they have the right, I believe, to take it back to the court that issued the judgment to cancel it and to be sentenced as per the juvenile law. Is that correct?
Ludmila Yamalova: That is correct. Yes. The law does provide for recourse, if you will, in the event juveniles are in fact punished under a different law or under a law that applies to adults and not juveniles. The law does kind of give them a chance, a second bite at the apple, if you will.
Tim Elliot: That’s another episode of Lawgical, this time looking at punishment for juveniles in the context of crime here in the United Arab Emirates. Our legal expect here an Lawgical, as always, Ludmila Yamalova, the Managing Partner at Yamalova & Plewka, once again, thank you very much.
Ludmila Yamalova: Thank you, Tim.
Tim Elliot: If you have a legal question you would like answered in a future episode of Lawgical, or if you’d like a consultation with a qualified U.A.E. experienced legal professional, head to LYLawyers.com and click the Contact button.
