An amendment to the UAE Criminal Procedure Law (Federal Law No. 35 of 1992 Concerning the Criminal Procedural Law) provides for an amicable settlement opportunity to the parties in a criminal case, namely the victim and the accused under the aegis of the prosecution. This significant change in the new law is the acceptance of settlement in criminal cases between the victim and the accused, regardless of whether this settlement was signed at the court, Prosecution or even at the Notary Public. The settlement is applicable to cases of certain specified misdemeanours and violations of the Penal Code of the UAE.
Such a settlement could be either signed by a victim, his attorney or even the heirs. This new amendment introduces a very significant role of settlement in the handling of criminal matters by the prosecution. We believe, in our professional and practical experience, the approach to pursuing a settlement in specific criminal offences will have a positive impact on both victims and criminals. The settlement can be achieved in specific cases even after the judgement is passed.
Settlement in Criminal Cases
In Article 349 of the amended Criminal Procedural Law, the Prosecution has the right to offer both parties in a criminal case to settle the matter and grants them 15 days for such conciliation. This right has been given to a prosecutor to execute at his sole discretion and is not mandatory that conciliation takes place. If the settlement is not reached, the prosecutor has the right to extend the grace period once. However, once the period has expired and the victim or his heir refuses to settle or reach conciliation, the prosecutor may refer the case to the criminal court to proceed with the criminal charges.
The important question we have to consider here is: "Can the settlement in a criminal case be subject to any conditions or suspended for a certain period?"In other words, "Can the settlement in a criminal case be subject to any potential conditions for its invalidation or be inactive for an unspecified period, until there is a certain date for it to be recognized?".
The answer is - no. In accordance with Article 352 of the amended law, settlement in criminal cases shall be concluded with immediate effect. It cannot remain pending on subject or date. The settlement cannot be conditional or have a limited term. The law has adopted a very practical and humanitarian approach and allows a victim to settle a criminal case while reserving his right to file his civil case later. The law indicates that so long as the settlement in a criminal case does not include a clause "waving the right to claim civil compensation", the victim shall continue to have this right.
If there is more than one victim in the case and some of them accepted the settlement while others refused, Article 353 of the amended law advises that criminal reconciliation of settlement will not be accepted partially by a number of victims. It has to be agreed upon by all of them. If the victim has decided to drop the claims against (or to reconcile with) one of the accused, such reconciliation has to be extended to other accused as well. Settlement in listed types of cases could be reached even after the judgment is considered final. However, if the reconciliation was done at this stage, its impact will be only to suspend the execution of the sentence, but it does not remove the such sentence from the criminal record of the accused.
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