DRUG CASES

Is drug abuse outside the country a crime under UAE law?

State courts are not competent to hear criminal proceedings if the accused is found to be guilty outside the State

The offense of drug abuse is a temporary crime and is not continuing

What if drugs are taken outside the UAE

What UAE law provides for in the fight against narcotic substances and psychotropic substances:

“the crime of drug abuse is temporary crime not continuing crime because its material element is achieved at a specific moment of time and ends with the end of the act of abuse. This is not affected by the continuing effect of the crime of drug abuse since the effect of the act is not to be considered in its legal adaptation

Article 142 of the Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that ” Jurisdiction shall be determined by the place where the crime occurred.”

Article 146 of the same Act stipulates that”Should the court notice, at any stage of the proceedings, that it lacks jurisdiction to examine the case, it shall decide its incompetence even without any request to this effect”.

The Court of Cassation has also ruled that “article 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 of the Penal Code and article 142 of the Penal Procedure Code  jointly refer to” Unless otherwise stipulated in a special provision”

The courts of the State are not competent to adjudicate offenses committed outside the territory of the State. This does not change the fact that the legislator has expressed in article 16 of the Penal Code “A crime shall be considered perpetrated in the territory of the State if any of its constituent acts occurs therein”. , as the goal of including this provision in the chapter of the law application in terms of place, it means that the matter is related to  the jurisdiction place of the State courts and the courts may not consider the crimes committed outside the territory and therefore not apply the provisions of domestic law to that kind of crimes. If courts come to adjudicate a crime matter assigned to the accused party although these crimes approved that they occurred abroad, in cases other than those excluded, the courts will violate  the rules of territorial jurisdiction.

(Appeal No. 2000/27, Penal Circuit: Date 08-04-2000 – rule 19, issued in edition No. 11, 2000, Page No. 1193 – Judgments of Court of Cassation)

• It is decided also by the court of cassation that:
• The crime of drug use or psychotropic substancesuse are a temporary crimes  which begin and end at the time of abuse. This description is not affected by  the continuing effect of the use of narcotic drugs, The Court of Cassation has ruled that “the crime of drug abuse is temporary crime not continuing crime because its material element is achieved at a specific moment of time and ends with the end of the act of abuse. This is not affected by the continuing effect of the crime of drug abuse since the effect of the act is not to be considered in its legal adaptation”
• (Appeal No. 1998/15, Penal Circuit: Date 20-06-1998 – rule 19, issued in edition No. 9, 1998, Page No. 1079 – Judgments of Court of Cassation)