The notes from Dr. Hesham Fawzy, Legal Advisor at the Federal National Council of the UAE
On item .2 without violating the provisions of Article 15 of this law: “The Ministry is authorized to impose a fine determined by a decision of the Council of Ministers, not exceeding ten thousand dirhams for any violation of the provisions of this law.”
Dr. Hesham Mohammed Fawzy: (Legal Advisor at the Council)
Thank you. In addition to what Dr. Mohammed mentioned, in fact, Article 28 states: “The accused is innocent until proven guilty in a legal trial.” You have reversed the process, making the accused guilty until proven innocent. This means that I am already considered guilty and subject to a fine, and I must now seek to prove my innocence in court. The principle is that a person is born with the presumption of innocence, free from sin, until proven guilty by a court ruling. But according to what you’ve stated here: “The ministry expects the fine,” from the very first moment, this person is considered guilty, and he must seek to prove his innocence.
Moreover, if the deadlines for appeals are missed or not mentioned, imagine a person who is fined ten thousand dirhams without having done anything wrong. They would be forced to convert it into something called physical acknowledgment, valued at one hundred dirhams per day. This means, do you want to imprison someone based on a decision of His Excellency the Minister of Environment? This outcome is not acceptable.
Regarding the regulatory statutes in the Constitution, where the Council of Ministers issues “regulations,” not “judgments,” a regulation has a general and abstract nature. General means that the text addresses specific individuals by description. Whenever a crime is committed, a certain penalty is applied. Abstract means that it applies to an unspecified number of cases. If everyone commits an offense, all citizens and residents will be penalized. This is the generality and abstraction. Sometimes you give it to the Council of Ministers due to exceptional circumstances and necessity, but you do not allow it to act as the judiciary for any individual. This is what is meant.
Thank you.
President:
Thank you. Now, gentlemen, to avoid prolonging the discussion, the government’s viewpoint, as explained by His Excellency the Minister and the Honorable Advisor, is that the text they have is constitutionally justified according to their interpretation of the matter. The committee, after consulting our advisors, has been convinced of their opinion that the amendment they introduced in this item of the law aligns with the spirit of the Constitution and is closer to the spirit of previous laws that we have amended. Therefore, they believe that this amendment is closer to the spirit of the UAE Constitution than the item presented by the government.
