Title: Some observations on the 2021 New Penal Code of the United Arab Emirates

Authors: Adham Hashish

Addresses: College of Law, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, 15551, UAE

Abstract: On January 2nd, 2022, the United Arab Emirates started enforcing its new Penal Code that was issued according to the Federal Law No. 31/2021. This new Penal Code replaced the previous one that governed crimes and punishments in the UAE since it was founded in 1971. As the country celebrated its 50th anniversary, it has introduced the largest legislative reform in its history. This reform addressed a variety of topics such as commercial companies, trademarks, personal data protection and electronic transactions. However, this article focuses on the new Penal Code and presents an overview on its background and main features.

Keywords: Penal Code; crimes; punishments; United Arab Emirates; UAE; Hudud; Islamic law; reform.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2024.137774

International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 2024 Vol.10 No.2, pp.145 - 154

Received: 20 Oct 2022
Accepted: 16 Nov 2022
Published online: 05 Apr 2024 *

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