UAE legal Q&As: what medicine can I bring into the country?

A reader asks where to find out which medicines can be brought into the country and another asks if his drunk friend can be jailed if he owns a liquor license

I want to bring some medicines into the UAE from my home country. I do not know if they are authorised or not. How can I find out?

The UAE has a very strict drugs and medicines policy which includes prescription medicines as well. The list of unauthorised drugs is given on the website of the UAE Ministry of Health & Prevention (http://www.mohap.gov.ae), under the Awareness Centre Tab, which lists all the medicines that are unauthorised for being brought into the UAE.

My friend was arrested for being drunk of the street. However, he has a liquor license. Can he be jailed?

A liquor license allows an individual to purchase alcohol for personal use. It is still a criminal offence to be under the influence of alcohol in a public place and you can be arrested for it. So your friend can face jail as he was under the influence of alcohol in a public place.

We are working on getting a suspect extradited from the UAE. What documents are required by the UAE for the extradition request?

The required documents you need to attach to the request to return the suspect to their country must be submitted in Arabic and authenticated by the authorities, which means in most cases they would need to legalised and attested. The documents are:

• Details of the suspect (ID, passport, features)
• The relevant law to be applied for the crime committed by the suspect
• Where the suspect already has investigations against him for the crime. A copy of the investigation and crime should also be submitted (including details such as where the crime happened, what the crime consisted of, how the crime was committed)
• Where there a judgment has been passed against the suspect. Details of all the suspect's convictions must be submitted

We have an urgent case for a suspect that we believe will flee the UAE and we need to submit an urgent application. What is required for an urgent extradition request from the UAE?

Where the suspect is required urgently, the UAE can temporarily keep the suspect in custody.

The conditions that apply are:

• The nature of the crime. The crime must be serious, it can be a felony or misdemeanour as both punishments are charged by a sentence of imprisonment. The seriousness of the crime is at the discretion of Public Prosecution
• The duration of custody. The period of custody is 15 days though this can be renewed. Under the General Convention a suspect can be kept in custody for 40 days altogether. Nevertheless, where there is a personal convention between two countries the custody period could be up to 60 days in total. It should be noted that only the head of Public Prosecution or the Prosecutor delegated by him can authorise the extension of the custody period

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