Slide 3: Criminal Proceeding Termination

• Criminal proceedings end when a cause for termination happens.
• Reasons for termination are in two categories: general and specific.

General Causes for Termination

• These apply to all crimes.
• Examples include the death of the accused.
• Another example is the issuance of a conclusive judgment which cannot be appealed.

Specific Causes for Termination

• These apply only to certain crimes.
• An example is criminal reconciliation.

Death of the Accused

• Criminal lawsuits are personal so they can only be initiated or pursued against the crime's perpetrator
• A criminal case is ended if the accused dies.

Statute of Limitations

• Termination of a criminal lawsuit can happen after a specific time has passed since the crime, but before a conclusive judgment.
• This applies to all crimes except for certain exceptions including:
• Crimes punishable by death penalty or life imprisonment
• Terrorism-related crimes
• Crimes against internal or external state security
• Qisas and Diyya crimes
• Crimes of money laundering, terrorism financing, and funding illegal organizations
• Crimes of embezzlement, damage to public funds, and bribery
• The statute of limitations varies with the severity of the offense:
• Felonies: 20 years from the date of the crime
• Misdemeanors: 5 years from the date of the crime
• Violations: 1 year from the date of the violation

Difference Between Statute of Limitations for Criminal Lawsuit and Penalties

• The statute of limitations criminal penalties is longer:
• Felonies: Penalties expire after 30 years
• Misdemeanors: Penalties expire after 7 years
• Infractions: Penalties expire after 2 years
• Certain penalties are excluded from the statute of limitations and do not expire:
• Penalties for Qisas and Diyya
• Penalties for felonies with final judgments of death or life imprisonment
• Terrorism-related crimes
• Crimes against internal or external state security
• Crimes of money laundering, terrorism financing, and funding illegal organizations
• Crimes of embezzlement, damage to public funds, and bribery

Rationale for Terminating Criminal Proceedings Due to Time

• Stability of legal situations
• Difficulty in collecting and examining evidence
• Encouraging diligence in justice systems

Commencement of the Statute of Limitations Period

• It begins when the crime is committed.
• Determination of this moment depends on the crime:
• Instantaneous crimes:
• Result-based: period starts from the occurrence of the result like death in a murder.
• Conduct-based: period starts from the commission of the criminal act like endangering others' lives.
• Continuous crimes: period starts from end of continuous state like illegal possession of an unlicensed weapon.
• Habitual crimes: period starts from date of last act constituting habitual crime like usury or lending at excessive interest rates per Article 459 of the Penal Code.

Interruption of the Statute of Limitations Period

• It is calculated from the moment the crime is committed.
• If any action specified by law is taken like arrest, search, or interrogation, the time elapsed prior to the action is not included in the calculation of the limitation period
• Instead, the limitation period restarts that day.
• In cases where multiple actions are taken, the calculation begins from the date of the most recent action.
• Actions that interrupt the statute of limitations include investigative, accusatory, or trial actions even if they are not directed against the accused
• Pre-investigation actions do not interrupt the statute of limitations unless they are directed at the accused or officially communicated
• Criminal settlement procedures interrupt the statute of limitations period.
• If the statute of limitations is interrupted for one accused person it’s also interrupted for all co-accused individuals.

Impact of the Statute of Limitations on Criminal Lawsuits

• The statute of limitations' expiration ends society's right to punishment.
• The court should say the criminal case is terminated.

Conclusive Judgment

• This is a natural cause for criminal proceedings termination.
• It refers to the exhaustion of all legal appeals, including ordinary and extraordinary appeals.
• The possibility of appealing through a motion for reconsideration does not prevent the judgment from being considered conclusive.
• Final judgment refers to the exhaustion of all ordinary means of appeal.
• Conclusive judgment refers to the exhaustion of all means of appeal, whether ordinary or extraordinary and cannot be appealed through objection, appeal, or cassation excluding reconsideration motions.

Legal Basis for Termination of Criminal Proceedings by a Conclusive Judgment

• Article 268 of the UAE Criminal Procedure Law establishes the legal basis.
• Criminal proceedings are terminated after a conclusive judgment of acquittal or conviction.
• If a judgment has been rendered on the merits of the criminal case, the case cannot be reconsidered except by appealing through the legally prescribed channels.
• The stability and finality of legal positions require ending disputes over differing opinions regarding a person's guilt or innocence.
• No one can be tried for the same crime more than once.
• An individual can plead non-acceptance of a case if it has already been adjudicated by a conclusive judgment.

Settlement (Reconciliation)

• While a settlement is a form of criminal case termination, a criminal lawsuit is considered a matter of public interest to be pursued by society.
• Settlement between the victim and accused is recognized in some cases and can be a reason to end the criminal lawsuit, per the UAE legislator's provision in Article 349 of the Criminal Procedure Law.
• These crimes subject to criminal settlement are stipulated in Article 382 of the Criminal Procedure Law and Penal Code. -Failure to pay alimony or fees for custody, breastfeeding, or housing Article 382 -Intentional assault that does not result in permanent disability or death Article 390 -Offences of unintentional harm to physical safety Article 394 -Misdemeanors of threatening others (Articles 403 and 404) -Offences of insult and defamation (Articles 425, 426, and 427) -Offence of violating the sanctity of private life (Article 431) -Offences of opening letters, eavesdropping on phone calls, and disclosing them to unauthorized persons without permission (Article 433) -Misdemeanor of breach of confidentiality (Paragraph 1 of Article 432) -Offence of using a car, motorcycle, or their equivalent without the owner's consent Article 447 -Offence of breach of trust (Article 453) -Offence of appropriating lost property (Article 454) -Misdemeanor of destroying or damaging property owned by others Paragraph 1 of Article 464 -Offences related to land surveying, leveling, or boundary demarcation (Article 468) -Offense of injuring an animal or livestock (Article 473) -Offense of violating the sanctity of others (Article 473) -Offense of failure to hand over children to those entitled to request, custody, or care of them Articles 379 and 380
• Proof of settlement between the victim and the accused must be documented in an official document authenticated by a competent notary public, before the Public Prosecution, or the court.
• Conditional settlement that is conditional upon a specific requirement is not accepted.

Withdrawal of the Complaint

• If a crime requires a complaint to start a criminal lawsuit and the complaint has been submitted by the rightful party, the withdrawal of it by the complainant before a conclusive judgment is issued results in the termination of the criminal lawsuit.

General Amnesty

• It is is an amnesty granted for a crime, issued by the legislative authority that removes the criminal nature of a specific act
• Legal basis in Article 21 of the Criminal Procedure Law.
• The criminal lawsuit terminates upon the death of the accused, issuance of a conclusive judgment, waiver by the party entitled to it, general amnesty, or repeal of the law punishing the act. -The Penal Code addresses general amnesty in Article 148.
• If the amnesty is issued before a conviction is made, the criminal case is terminated
• If the general amnesty is issued after a conviction, the conviction is nonexistent.