Slide 2: Public Prosecution Authority Restrictions

Restrictions on Public Prosecution's Authority

• Public Prosecution generally holds exclusive authority to initiate, file, and pursue criminal proceedings.
• Criminal proceedings are public, initiated by the Public Prosecution as an agent of society.
• Legislators can restrict the Public Prosecution's authority in specific cases.
• These restrictions require specific actions by individuals or entities as identified by law.
• Restrictions exist for the Public Prosecution to regain legal freedom and authority.

Rationale Behind Restrictions

• Restrictions balance the interests of society and the accused.
• Certain individuals/entities have the discretion to decide on initiating criminal proceedings.
• Considerations include protecting victim interests via a 'complaint' or ensuring entities' independence via 'authorization'.

Forms of Restrictions

• A complaint made by the victim in crimes like theft, fraud, breach of trust, or concealment, especially if the victim is the spouse/descendant of the perpetrator.
• A request made by a designated entity, such as in tax crimes under Law No. 28 of 2022, requiring a written request from the Director General of the Federal Tax Authority.
• An authorization given by a specific authority, particularly when proceedings could impact an entity's independence.

Court's Role

• Courts must reject cases initiated without fulfilling legal restrictions.
• Judgments in improperly initiated cases are null due to lack of jurisdiction.

Investigative Procedures

• Restrictions do not prevent pre-investigative procedures for crimes.
• These actions must be limited to verifying identity/nature of charge to determine the need for a complaint, request, or permission.

Legal process

• Once complaint, request, or permission is submitted, the Public Prosecution regains authority.
• Submission does not obligate the Public Prosecution to initiate the case, as the state may refrain from doing so.

Complaint Definition and Effect

• A complaint is an action by the victim or their legal representative, showing intent to remove procedural obstacles, such as to make the Prosecution file the suit.
• The UAE judiciary defines a "complaint" as restoring the Public Prosecution's authority to initiate and pursue proceedings.
• Filing a complaint restores Prosecution's authority until judgment.

Distinguishing Complaint from Report

• A complaint removes restrictions.
• A report informs the Public Prosecution of a crime's occurrence to allow the Public Prosecution to perform its duties.
• Anyone, even non-victims, can report a crime.

Rationale for Requiring Complaints

• Some crimes affect the victim's interests over society's, so the legislator gives the victim power over Prosecution over whether to file suit or not
• The victim is better positioned to assess legal action, for crimes with close familiars or harming reputation.

Offenders & Complaints

• The offender's identity does not have to be known when filing a complaint, for it to be valid.

Consequences of Complaint Requirement

• It is not permissible to initiate or file a criminal lawsuit if its subject to a complaint requirement.
• Any procedure by Public Prosecution is considered null if said requirement is neglected.

2022 Criminal Procedure Law - 1 of 2

• Article 11 defines the crimes that are restricted to the Publice Prosecution by requiring a validated complaint:
• Theft, fraud, breach of trust, and concealment of items obtained therefrom, in the event that the victim is the spouse, ascendant, or descendant of the perpetrator, and where such items are not judicially or administratively attached or encumbered with a right of a third party.
• Abstention from handing over the child to the person who has the right of custody over him / her, and taking the child away from the custodian or guardian

2022 Criminal Procedure Law - 2 of 2

• Article 11 defines the crimes that are restricted to the Publice Prosecution by requiring a validated complaint:
• Failure to pay the alimony, custodial or breastfeeding fees, or housing costs awarded by the Court.
• Insult and defamation.
• Other crimes explicitly stipulated by law to be subject to the complaint requirement, such as the offence of consensual sexual intercourse, as provided under Article 410 of the Penal Code of 2021.

Filing a Complaint

• The victim is the rightful party or their legal representative.
• Law grants specific individuals the right to file for consensual intercourse, the husband, wife, or guardian may file a complaint.
• If the victim has not completed fifteen years of age or has a mental disability, it falls on the legal guardian to do so
• If the crime is committed in connection with property, the trustee or curator can file the complaint
• The prosecution may act as guardian if no legal guardian exists or a conflict of interest, like theft of a son's property where is son is under 15 years old.

Victim Rights

• If crimes have multiple victims submitting a complaint restores Public Prosecution's authority without others filing one.
• Rights are under Acticle 13, an instance arises when stolen property belongs to several people, one of them is the ascendant of the perpetrator.

Complaint's End Date

• The right to complain is not inheritable, if the victim dies, the Prosecution can or pursue the case, even if heirs file post-mortem.
• The death of a filer filing a complaint does not affect the progression of the case, as the victim's heirs are permitted with withdraw the complaint

Filed Complaints

• Complaints are filed with the offender of the crime, and if there are multiple, a complaint against one is considered as filed against all under Article 13 of the Criminal Procedure Law
• Complaint restrictions apply to spouses, children, or servants stealing from their husbands
• The prosecution prosecutes servants even if the husband has not filed a complaint

Complaint Submition

• According to Article 12 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the complaint needs to be submitted to the following:
• Competent authorities of judicial entities.
• Public Prosecution.
• If the crime has been caught taking place, a complaint can be submitted towards any public authority figure

Filing Lawsuits

• Filing a civil lawsuit is not an equivalent replacement to submitting a complaint
• The act of giving a complaint toward an adminstrative authority does not meet qualification of submitting a complaint.

Formal Requirements + Rules

• The law does not need the complaint to be written to remove the restriction, it can be submitted orally.
• There is no legal form for submitting one, to have the Prosecution start a case is enough for them ot have authoirty
• The complaint needs to be conditonal, for if an event, the complaint is not condisered as validl.

Forfeiture

• Under article 1 of the act, a victim must give filing within 3 months of crime and prepertrator, for if they delay, then the right towards complaint is forfeited.
• The three month waiting period is from the date the victm knows of the crime

Crime Awareness

• For the victim's complaint for delayed crime awareness to remina vald, the crimainl case must become time-barred by the law statute
• Examples are, if a husband commits misconduct such as adultery, but his wife finds out 9 years after, so she is unable to report the crime.

Time Limit

• The act of setting a time limit to the complaint's submition date is to prevent it from beign used indefinitely
• This stops the complaint from being used weapon used by the victim inudefinitely.

Complaint's Withdrawl

• According to article 17 of the Law, those unde 11 can wthdraw their complaints prior to case closure
• In cases of deaths, rights are transferred to the victim's hiers
• Removing the complaint results in terimnation of case and does not affect civil cases for recovery

Withdrawing Parties

• If multiple parties have claims, those involved mut give consent to withdraw claims
• If multiple defedanys are involved, removing the complaint from one extends to remainding deants, but it does not apply to those witout legal action to start the process
• Withdrawls do not require specific forms, and can be written oral, or implicit
• Conditonal removes are not permitted unless the condition is fulfilled
• The remove of file removes related to requirments the criminl act, and this is for other crimes that connected to it.
• If the remove is made following judgement, the prosecution must postpone sentence and release criminal.