Legally speaking, murder is said to be the killing of a human being by another person who intends to do such an act without the permission of the law or authority. In the UAE, Federal Law Number 3 of 1987 of the UAE Penal Code covers crimes such as murder. Federal Law Number 3 introduced the UAE Penal Code, which lists all penalties that can be imposed on criminals for crimes that threaten the life and safety of people within the UAE. There are many expert criminal lawyers that make the UAE free and safe from criminal activities. In this article, we will focus on the different categories of murder, a detailed discussion on attempted murder, and the punishment for these crimes as per the legal provisions in UAE.
The UAE Penal code under article 26 of the Federal Law Number 3 of 1987, divided crimes into three categories which are felonies, infractions, and misdemeanors. Crimes are classified on the basis of the punishment that comes with committing such a crime, as mentioned in the Penal Code. In the Emirates, murder is classified as a felony, and the penalty is life imprisonment.
The legislator specified in Article 332 of the UAE Penal Code, the punishment for murder:
The death penalty in cases of premeditated murder associated with or related to another crime comes as a result of the multiplicity of crimes within a short period of time, where the offender does not hesitate to commit two crimes.
As per Article 38 of the UAE Penal Code the moral element of the crime will also be taken into consideration, whether the crime was committed by the perpetrator with intent or by mistake. As for the difference between unintentional murder and premeditated murder, it is represented in the moral element only, which is in the crime of premeditated murder with criminal intent, i.e., the offender’s free will to commit the crime of murder, and he is fully aware of the results of his action. However, unintentional murder is the result of the offender’s negligence, lack of attention, carelessness, or non-compliance with regulations and laws.
Article 342 of the Penal Code sets out the penalty for whoever caused by his own mistake the death of a person, as it says:
In addition, Article 336 states that if a person assaults another person with no intent to kill him, but the assault ends in him being killed, along with other crimes, the killer shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years depending on the extreme circumstances. If any of the circumstances mentioned in paragraph two of Article 332 are available, this shall be considered an aggravating circumstance.
In deciding the punishment for the offender, Shariah law plays a vital role. Accordingly, a court ruling of conviction or non-conviction can only be made after consulting the blood relatives of the deceased. The relatives of the deceased have three options:
If the accused is found guilty, the sentence has two aspects. One is based on Shariah, which is decided by the family, and the second is the criminal sentence, which is decided by the judge in court. Thus, a killer who gets a full pardon from the family will still have to face a criminal sentence, usual imprisonment for a certain number of years, because of the criminal aspect of his actions. On the other end of the scale, a killer sentenced to death at the will of the family often receives a prison sentence from the court, although the death penalty renders such punishment practically irrelevant. Judges may also choose more lenient prison terms for killers if the family demands blood money.
Likewise, Articles 34 and 35 of the UAE Penal Code define attempted offenses such as murder as the initiation of a crime or the commission of an act with the real intention of doing so but not completed due to extenuating circumstances beyond the offender’s control. Article 35 sets out the penalties for attempted crimes.
Therefore, the penalty for attempted murder is life imprisonment because the penalty for the complete crime is death. However, in awarding the punishment for attempted murder the punishment is not fixed, the court will have to look at the different circumstances in each case, thereby enhancing, reducing, or dismissing the sentence of imprisonment.
In UAE, the courts have awarded different penalties to offenders of attempted murder, considering the circumstances of each case: