- Crimes of Hadd, Qisas and Diyya. Subject to the provisions of Islamic Sharia’a.

- Imposition of the penalty of Diyya as the original punishment and prescribed compensation for the murder crime and not an alternative of another punishment.

- The Court, at any stage of the lawsuit, shall settle the penalty of Diyya even if it was disregarded by the contested judgment, and this shall not be considered as violation to the rule of harm of the Appellant as the peremptory provisions in the Islamic Sharia’a prevail over the public order.

- Diyya of the deceased, whether a man or a woman, shall be two hundred thousand Dirhams. The grounds of the same?

- The contested judgment ruled to compel the Appellant in cassation to pay legitimate Diyya at the amount of one hundred thousand Dirhams for each of the victims. Miscarriage of justice. It shall be reversed.

Whereas, in the facts - as apparent in the contested judgment and the documents - the Public Prosecution attributed to the Appellant that on 12/02/2019 at Sharjah Directorate:

1- He caused by mistake the death of the victims .............. and ................... This was due to his negligence, carelessness, lack of caution and violation of the Law, which led to the occurrence of the accident and injury of the victims as stated in the enclosed medical report, which claimed their lives.

2- He caused by mistake the injury of the victims .................., ........................, ......................... and ......................... This was due to his negligence, carelessness, lack of caution and violation of the Law, which led to the occurrence of the accident and injury of the victims as stated in the investigations.

3- He caused by mistake the destruction of the movables stated in details in the minutes and owned by others, which made them invalid for use as stated in the investigations.

4- He did not abide by the traffic signs, rules and morals set to regulate traffic and he drove the vehicle on the public road without taking the utmost precautions, causing his sudden deviation and occurrence of the accident as stated in the investigations.

It requested his punishment according to the provisions of the Islamic Sharia’a and Articles 38/3, 43, 342, 343/3 and 424/1 of the Federal Penal Code and its amendments, and Articles 2, 4 and 57/1 of the Federal Law on Traffic and its amendments.

At the hearing of 3/3/2019, the Court of First Instance ruled in the presence of the parties to punish the Defendant (Appellant) with imprisonment for a period of 6 months and payment of a fine of AED seven thousand for the accusations assigned thereto for relation. It ordered the suspension of the Defendant’s driving licence for six months with effect from the date of execution of the judgment. The Defendant shall pay legitimate Diyya to the heirs of the victims ............., ............. and .............., amounting to two hundred thousand Dirhams per every deceased person, so the total amount to be paid would be four hundred thousand Dirhams. The Defendant (Appellant) shall fast for two consecutive months for each deceased person as penance for involuntary manslaughter, so that he would fast for a total of four months. The civil right of all injured persons shall be preserved to claim compensation for the injuries they sustained from the date of the accident until full recovery. The civil right of the heirs of the deceased persons shall be preserved to claim compensation for the damage, heartbreak and distress they suffered as a result of losing their legators. The right of the owner of the vehicle shall be preserved to claim compensation for the damages of the vehicle that the Defendant (Appellant) was driving and the Defendant shall pay the criminal case fees according to Federal Law no. 13 of 2016.

The losing party (Appellant) and the Public Prosecution appealed this judgment by the appeals no. 702+804/2019. At the hearing of 23/4/2019, the Court of Appeal ruled to accept the appeals in the form, and in the merits to amend the judgment by imprisoning the Appellant (Appellant in cassation) for two months for the first, second, third and fourth accusations assigned thereto for relation, and to suspend his driving licence for three months and compel him to pay the legitimate Diyya amounting to 100,000 for each of the victims 1- ............. and 2- .................... to be paid to the heirs so that the total amount to be paid is AED 200,000. He shall also fast for two months as penance and preserve the civil right of the victims injured by the accident, preserve the civil right of the victims and preserve the civil right of the owner of the damaged vehicle, compelling him to pay the fees. The Public Prosecutor appealed this judgment by the current appeal in cassation.

Whereas the Public Prosecutor objects to the contested judgment for violation of the provisions of Islamic Sharia’a and miscarriage of justice as he reduced the amount of the legally prescribed Diyya to the heirs of the first victim below the value stated in Federal Law no. 17 of 1991, as amended by Federal Law no. 9 of 2003, by an amount of AED two hundred thousand, which shall be reversed and corrected.

Whereas the objection is valid, as it is prescribed, as stated in Article 1 of the Penal Code that “the provisions of Islamic Sharia’a shall apply to the crimes of Hadd, Qisas and Diyya”. Article 1 of Law no. 3 of 1996 on the competence of the Sharia’a Courts, stipulated that “the Sharia’a Courts shall alone add to their other competencies, the consideration of the following crimes and all that is related thereto, derived therefrom or preceded by the same “1- Crimes of Hadd; 2- Crimes of Qisas; 3- Crimes of Diyya”. Article 2 of the same Law stipulated that “the provisions of Islamic Sharia’a shall apply to all the crimes set forth in Article 1 of this Law, as Hadd and Tazir”, which means that the provisions of Islamic Sharia’a shall apply for these crimes, including the penalty of Diyya considered an original punishment and compensation prescribed for involuntary manslaughter, and is not a substitute for another punishment. The perpetrator shall be bound thereto and it shall be ruled because the Diyya is a punishment that the ruling thereof does not depend on the privates’ request. Furthermore, the Court, at any stage of the lawsuit, shall settle the same if it was disregarded by the contested judgment, and this shall not be considered as violation to the rule of harm of the Appellant as the peremptory provisions in the Islamic Sharia’a prevail over the public order.