Community service for 84 offenders
abu dhabi — a total of 84 people convicted in various offences were ordered to perform community service during 2017, according to the top official at the abu dhabi judicial department (adjd).
counselor mohammed al shibli, director of community prosecution, said: “the community service work is aimed at benefiting the public in addition to reforming the convicts and change their behaviour.”
officials said most of the people, who were handed community service, were convicted in traffic-related cases, including reckless driving, driving a car without a number plate, performing road stunts, racing on the roads and not stopping after causing an accident.
authorities said that the introduction of community service penalties also led to a significant decrease in the number of drivers being prosecuted for reckless driving. only 20 motorists were prosecuted over reckless driving during the first six months of 2017 compared to 35 during 2016.
the community service introduced in march 2017 by the adjd had announced the rules and guidelines for the type of work that people had to perform — cleaning streets, public squares, beaches, parks and natural sanctuaries, offering care to special needs people, transporting patients, cleaning and maintaining mosques, public parks etc.
a series of changes made to the laws and the abu dhabi’s judicial system since 2017, has improved the legal system and also made the process more inclusive to expatriates and non-muslim residents. the amendment in the rules and introduction of new services has improved the emirate’s judicial system, eased services for the people and has helped reduce cases of people being prosecuted for certain offences, especially those related to traffic.
the adjd started issuing court notifications in other languages, making the justice system more accessible to non-arabic speaking residents. according to authorities, court summons are now issued in arabic, english and urdu.
Non-Muslim wills office
in may last year, laws governing wills were changed to allow nonmuslim residents to dictate where they wanted their assets to go to when they died.
in august 2017, the adjd set up the non-muslims wills office at the abu dhabi courts to look into matters of inheritance for non-muslim residents. previously, only the sharia law was applied.
with the initiation of this wills registration office, non-muslim expatriates can now dictate where they want their assets to go when they die. this will ensure there is no dispute or confusion over a deceased’s belongings and custody of children, according to judicial officials.
counsel yousef saeed al ibri, undersecretary of abu dhabi judicial department, said: “the registration of wills offers flexible legal options to assist non-muslim families in the event of the death of the father or mother; in order to protect assets and properties,” said al abri.
the special office registered 157 inheritance wills in 2017.
Video chat service
a new visual electronic system was introduced by the adjd for children to communicate with their parents serving terms in abu dhabi prisons.
officials said they launched the system for providing services to children of the inmates through modern means of communication ,while taking into account the legal limitations. the new system was launched in cooperation with the department of rehabilitation and punitive facilities in abu dhabi.
The community service work is aimed at benefiting the public in addition to reforming the convicts and change their behaviour.” Mohammed Al Shibli, director of community prosecution
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Motorists were prosecuted over reckless driving during the first six months of 2017