Federal and Local Judicial Principles Unification Authority judgment: Unification of Judicial Principles on the retraction of Criminal Judgments in the UAE
Dispute Resolution / UAE
Eslam HassanSenior Associate,Dispute Resolution
Dina AssarProfessional Support Lawyer,Dispute Resolution
The Federal Supreme Court’s Federal and Local Judicial Principles Unification Authority (FLJPUA) issued a significant judgment on application no. 4/2023 and 5/2023 on the 21 December 2023 regarding the reversal of criminal judgments issued by the cassation courts in the UAE. The judgment resolves a conflict of judicial principles between the Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation and the Dubai Court of Cassation regarding the reversal of criminal judgments of the high courts. The FLJPUA favoured the principle that criminal judgments of the high courts are reversable, based on the application of Article 190 of the Civil Procedures Law and Article 1(5) of the Criminal Procedures Law.
The FLJPUA, established by Law No. 10 of 2019, has jurisdiction to consider applications to unify conflicting judicial principles when issued by different UAE high courts.
The applications were filed to unify conflicting judicial principles on the same issue, namely the reversal of criminal judgments of the high courts in the UAE. The issue arose from the different interpretations of Article 190 of the Civil Procedures Law by the Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation and the Dubai Court of Cassation, which respectively allowed and rejected reversal applications in criminal matters. The applications were submitted by the Federal Public Prosecutor and the President of the Dubai Court of Cassation, who are authorized to do so under the Law regulating Judicial Relations between the Federal and Local Judicial Authorities. The applications sought the intervention of the Federal Supreme Court Federal and Local Judicial Principles Unification Authority (FLJPUA) to settle the conflict by either prioritizing one principle over the other or reconciling them in terms of their legal impact.
This application was filed on 5 September 2023, by the Federal Public Prosecutor (FPP). Application No. 4-2023 arose from a judgment by the Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation on 2 February 2022 (AD Retraction Application No. 4-2021 [Criminal]).
The court's decision in this case to reverse an earlier court of cassation judgment was based on Article 1 of Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2022, (the Criminal Procedures Law). This article specifies that in cases not explicitly covered by the Criminal Procedures Law, the provisions of the Civil Procedures Law shall apply. Additionally, the decision relied on Article 190 of the Civil Procedures Law, which defines the powers of the Court of Cassation to reverse its decisions, whether made in chambers or as final judgments. In contrast, the Dubai Court of Cassation on 1 August 2023, in Retraction Application No. 52-2023 [Criminal], ruled that Article 190 of the Civil Procedures Law only applies to the civil divisions of the Court of Cassation, excluding the criminal divisions. This was based on the legislative wording, thereby denying the applicability of these retraction provisions to criminal judgments.
The judgment confirms that Article 190 of the Civil Procedures Law, which allows the Court of Cassation to reverse its decisions or judgments in civil matters, also applies to criminal decisions and judgments issued by the high courts.
This application was also filed on 5 September 2023. This application was submitted by the President of the Dubai Court of Cassation (PDCC), because the Dubai Court of Cassation maintained its position that reversal was not possible in criminal proceedings, based on its interpretation of Article 190 of the Civil Procedures Law. This is evident in multiple applications (Nos. 45, 49, 86-2023) for various cases (Cassation Nos. 1194-2022 and 102, 263-2023 [Criminal]), The Dubai Court of Cassation also held that Article 190 of the Civil Procedures Law specifically states that “The Court of Cassation may retract its decision issued in chambers” and that this applies exclusively to the civil divisions of the Court of Cassation and not to its criminal divisions. The court reasoned that criminal appeals are not filed in chambers, and therefore, the procedural conditions set out in Article 185(1) of the Civil Procedures Law, referenced within Article 190, are irrelevant to criminal appeals. This interpretation strictly limited the application of retraction provisions to civil cases, effectively denying their applicability to criminal judgments.
The referral of this complex matter to the (FLJPUA) confirms the importance of maintaining uniformity across judicial practices in the UAE. The FLJPUA judgment unifies the legal stance on a procedural or substantive issues that may affect the administration of justice and the rights of the parties in criminal proceedings. It also clarifies the relationship between the Civil Procedures Law and the Criminal Procedures Law and the scope of their application in different types of cases. The FLJPUA aimed to resolve inconsistencies and uphold the principle of legal uniformity to ensure that the same legal standards apply across both civil and criminal judicial processes.
By majority vote by the FLJPUA in Applications No. 4, 5-2023, the FLJPUA favoured the legal principle that the retraction provisions of Article 190 of the Civil Procedures Law should apply to criminal decisions and judgments issued by the high courts. This includes the Federal Supreme Court and the Abu Dhabi and Dubai Courts of Cassation.
The Federal Supreme Court and the Federal and Local Judicial Principles Unification Authority (FLJPUA) judgment is crucial as it unifies a particularly sensitive principle. It resolved the issue of conflicting interpretations between the Abu Dhabi and Dubai Courts of Cassation concerning the reversal of criminal judgments. The judgment confirms that Article 190 of the Civil Procedures Law, which allows the Court of Cassation to reverse its decisions or judgments in civil matters, also applies to criminal decisions and judgments issued by the high courts. The court based its decision on the provision of Article 1(5) of the Criminal Procedures Law, which states that the Civil Procedures Law shall apply where no specific provision is made in the Criminal Procedures Law. This decision also considered the statutory provisions, justice considerations, the purpose of enactment of the reversal principle, and the comparative legal systems that support the reversal of criminal judgments by the high courts. As a result, the court thus favoured the judicial principle issued by the Federal Supreme Court and the Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation over the principle adopted by the Dubai Court of Cassation. This decision not only ensures that procedural gaps are effectively addressed by applying civil procedural norms to criminal matters but also aligns with international legal practices, promoting fairness and the rectification of errors in the criminal justice system.
For further information,please contact Eslam Hassan Ali and Dina Assar.
Published in June - July 2024
