Abu Dhabi courts hear more than 80,000 criminal proceedings remotely

Fast and efficient online legal hearings to be a legacy of the pandemic, say officials

Abu Dhabi Judicial Department moved services online when the pandemic began.

Almost 120,000 legal hearings – including more than 80,000 criminal case sessions – have taken place remotely in the past six months, Abu Dhabi Judicial Department said on Sunday,

New figures show all hearings, trials and proceedings so far in 2021 have been dealt with using video link.

This has comprised 83,249 hearings for criminal proceedings and 34,006 for civil, commercial and labour-related cases.

Judicial services were moved online last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and have continued to be used – even as case numbers have fallen and the number of fully vaccinated people nationwide has reached 70 per cent.

In total, 54,896 cases were received by the Public Prosecution department in Abu Dhabi.

In addition, more than 10,000 investigations were handled entirely remotely. This gives an indication of how many offences are now related to the online sphere, said officials.

“The rapid response to the challenges imposed by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on various aspects of life, has shown a remarkable efficiency of the Judicial Department in managing the crisis and a great capacity to continue to providing its legal and judicial services,” said Youssef Saeed Al Abri, undersecretary at Abu Dhabi Judicial Department.

Notary public and authentication services are now dealt with online, and more than 49,000 notary transactions – often in the form of an official stamp or approval of a legal documents – were handled remotely.

Officials used video conferencing to dealt with 3,252 procedures for marriages and handled 956 wills for non-Muslims.