Who to call and when to call
While detained at the police station, after police questioning, a suspect has the right to call anyone he thinks can help him legally – usually a lawyer or his embassy, but sometimes friends or family. Some embassies inform their citizens to call them if they are in any kind of trouble.
Lawyers’ costs
There are no regulations governing how much lawyers may charge for their services. Some lawyers may charge Dh5,000 in a case where others would charge Dh50,000. Some lawyers are known to have taken payments of up to Dh5 million to represent suspects in major criminal cases.
Civil and personal cases
When a person wants to file a personal or civil case, such as divorce or disputing business matters, they are first referred to alternative dispute committees or family guidance counsellors.
Those committees try to reach a solution that satisfies both sides before the case is forwarded to court and no fees are imposed if the issue is resolved at this point.
But if the issue cannot be resolved, the case is forwarded to one of four courts: civil, personal, commercial or administrative.
The first hearing is by a court of one judge and two citizens. They can issue a ruling or decide to forward more complicated cases to a higher court with three judges.
Prosecutors
Prosecutors have areas of special expertise. General prosecutors are jacks of all trades, but there are also family and juvenile prosecutors and even media prosecutors.
The media prosecution deals with crimes that involve reporters or media outlets.
Right to stay silent
Most defendants are unaware of their right to remain silent until a lawyer is present.
This often leads to cases where defendants claim to have been tricked by interrogators who tell them that if they confess they will be released.
Lawyer Ali Al Abbadi said that throughout his career he had met only one woman who exercised her right not to speak until a lawyer was present.
“It was 15 years ago. Police caught a British woman in the company of a group of locals who were consuming drugs,” Mr Al Abbadi said. “She refused to talk with the police or prosecutors until a lawyer was present.”
After the RAK prosecutors dutifully appointed her a lawyer, she was cleared of a charge of using drugs.
* Haneen Dajani
