Federalism and Family Law in the United Arab Emirates: Untangling Conflict of Laws and Conflicts of Jurisdiction

While multiculturalism is a main characteristic of society in the United Arab Emirates, the federation of seven emirates cannot be described as an immigration country per se. Rather, the United Arab Emirates form a multicultural society by necessity. The country’s immigration system is primarily oriented to immigration of a temporary nature, as labor migration is not designed to be permanent. Instead, foreigners are generally expected to return to their home countries once their employment has come to an end. Nonetheless, the multicultural and multinational makeup of the United Arab Emirates and the country’s historically developed legal pluralism give rise to multiple challenges both in domestic family law and in Emirati private international law. A clear division of family and succession law along religious lines (as regards substantive law and, more recently, jurisdiction of the courts) and the heterogeneous demographic setting of the United Arab Emirates result in the application of various family law regimes, largely depending on both the nationality and the religious affiliation of the parties. At the same time, the reality of multinationalism has not yet been fully embraced by all fragments of society. This can be seen in the debate surrounding interreligious and binational marriages as well as in the country’s private international law regime.

For Islamic family law, the 21st century started with groundbreaking reforms. In January 2000, the Egyptian parliament passed Law No 1 of 2000 governing procedure in personal status cases, article 20 of which henceforth permitted women to seek judicial divorce without any fault on their husband’s part and without his consent. The Egyptian legislature’s reinterpretation of the traditional Islamic divorce procedure of ‘mukhālaᶜ’ allows the wife to dissolve her marriage against her husband’s will so long as she is willing to ransom herself by paying him financial consideration. These Egyptian reforms were quite famously termed ‘the dawning of the third millennium on shariᶜa’ (Arabi 2001). At the same time, roughly 1,300 miles to the southeast, i.e. in the small Arab Gulf monarchies of Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as in Saudi Arabia, family law appeared less dynamic. Rules governing Muslim personal status remained uncodified and questions of family and succession law were guided by the individual judge’s own interpretation of the multitude of differing opinions that make up Islamic law. Hence, in the Arab Gulf, women in particular were ‘in the anomalous position of enjoying one of the highest standards of living in the world and yet being subject to a law which was developed over a thousand years ago’ (Hinchcliffe 1986). In 2005, however, the idea of comprehensively codifying Islamic family law was eventually picked up by the UAE, followed by Qatar in 2006 and Bahrain in 2009. Currently, even Saudi Arabia is debating a draft code of Muslim personal status. Codification as a means for the state to shape family relations has taken root in the Arab Gulf.This chapter first explores the legal setting prior to the codification of family law in Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE (part II). The focus will be laid on the influence of European notions of codification and Egyptian law – the birthplace of the majority of jurists working in the region – on the development of the legal regimes in the Arab Gulf following their independence. In addition, the family court systems and the few legislative steps already taken by the three governments in the area of family law before the comprehensive codifications were introduced will be assessed. Part III is devoted to the codification process itself; both the actors and the debates surrounding the first-time codification of family law will be explored. Finally, part IV will trace the approaches to codification and legal reform in the new family codes of Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE by using selected examples from among the many new statutory rules.The two main questions that the chapter sets out to answer are as follows: First, how did the three Arab Gulf States approach family law codification approximately ninety years after the very first codification of the field in the Muslim world (ie the Ottoman Law of Family Rights of 1917) and, second, did the three legislatures create a ‘modern family law’ in the sense that it accommodates the current socioeconomic realities of the Arab Gulf monarchies?

THE United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation established in 1971 of the seven Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain. (1) Abu Dhabi is the Federal capital of the UAE. The UAE has approximately eight percent of the world's proven oil reserves and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi commands one of the wealthiest sovereign investment funds in the world. The UAE has one of the highest incomes per capita in the world. Concerns about regional security have made the UAE a major purchaser of defense technology. By one estimate, the UAE is the fourth largest importer of arms in the world. (2) Because of the UAE's very strong financial standing regionally and internationally, it has attracted businesses from around the world to do commerce there. As a necessary part of doing commerce, all parties to the transaction are served by an agreed forum to hear and resolve disputes that may arise if they cannot resolve those disputes themselves. There is a strong need for a mechanism that is governed by rules that are known and understood and that can lead to a binding and, perhaps most importantly, enforceable result. Foreign arbitration clauses are probably the most common means of achieving these ends, and contracts between foreign defense contractors and UAE counterparties, for example, often include foreign arbitration clauses. If an arbitration clause is invalid in the UAE (and enforcement abroad is not an option), the only option is to seek enforcement in the courts in the UAE. If a party has concerns about the prospect of an existing arbitration clause being deemed unenforceable, it could (i) seek to amend the clause by mutual agreement with the other party, or (ii) file suit in the local courts. I. Brief Overview of Local Court System The UAE Constitution provides for a Federal court system, but permits each Emirate to opt out of the Federal court system and maintain an independent court system. Currently, the Emirates of Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain participate in the Federal court system. The Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah each maintain separate court systems. (3) Rules of evidence and court procedure are governed by Federal laws, which apply in all seven Emirates. The UAE is a civil law jurisdiction, and the doctrine of binding judicial precedent is not followed. (4) Court decisions are often indicative of how other courts may act in the future, but are not binding on such courts. Moreover, not all court decisions are published. There are no juries, and cases are heard by a single judge or a three-judge panel, depending on the nature of the dispute. Cases proceed on the basis of written pleadings submitted by advocates at a series of hearings conducted in Arabic. All evidence submitted to the court must be in Arabic or be translated into Arabic by a translator certified by the UAE Ministry of Justice. Laws in the UAE are made both at the Federal and individual Emirate level. The existence of different court systems means that the interpretation of UAE Federal law may vary. For example, the courts in the Emirate of Dubai may interpret UAE Federal law differently than the Federal courts or the courts in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. II. Important Elements in any Foreign Arbitration Clause When incorporating a foreign arbitration clause into a contract, there are certain essential elements that should exist in every clause. The language of the arbitration is important. One of the reasons foreign companies want to avoid the local courts in the UAE is the fact that all proceedings there must be in Arabic. Thus, any arbitration clause should include an agreement on the language by which any arbitration will be conducted. Parties are also free to select the venue of such arbitration. Generally, the parties will agree on a venue that favours neither party; i.e. neutral territory. Recognize, however, that the parties will bear the travel expenses of the arbitrator selected by the arbitral body to hear the case in that location. …

Law: Modern Family Law, 1800-Present: Gulf States

This article provides a preliminary commentary on the new civil family law regime introduced in the emirate of Abu Dhabi in November 2021 which, since February 2023, applies nationwide through the adoption of a federal statute on civil personal status. Abu Dhabi’s Law No. 14 of 2021, its accompanying Procedural Regulations, and the more recent Federal Law No. 41 of 2022 have introduced legal concepts, such as civil marriage, no-fault divorce, and joint custody, as well as potentially adoption, which have previously been non-existent for both the local and the large foreign population in the United Arab Emirates. The new statutes thereby stand in sharp contrast to the family law system to which the local Muslim population is still subject. This article assesses the new provisions against the background of the federal Muslim family law regime, established patterns of family law jurisprudence in the country, and early case law in the newly established Civil Family Court in Abu Dhabi.

The study mainly aimed to identify the distribution pattern of robbery crimes in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates during the period (2012-2019), and to identify the social, economic and personal motives for committing theft crimes from the point of view of the perpetrators of the inmates of reform centers in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. To achieve its objectives, the study used the descriptive survey methodology to determine the patterns of the crime of theft and its trends in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi for the period (2012-2019). The study sample consisted of (288) inmates who were inmates in the correction and rehabilitation centers in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi from the perpetrators of theft crimes, in order to identify the motives. Socio-economic and personal to reform the crime of theft. The results of the study revealed a general trend of decreasing the number of robbery crimes in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi during the period (2012-2019). The results related to the detection of patterns of theft crimes in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi based on the percentage index and means according to the variables: gender, marital status the educational level, religion, employment status, and the type of crime for the prevalence of the male pattern, the married class, the level of secondary education and the Islamic religion, and the pattern of the crime of house theft in Abu Emirate. The results showed that the general level of social, economic and personal factors driving the perpetration of theft crimes among the inmates of the reform and rehabilitation centers in The Emirate of Abu Dhabi was medium, and the results showed that the economic motives leading to committing theft crimes have achieved the first rank at a high level, and the social factors driving theft crimes came in the second rank, with a medium level, and in the third and last order the area of ​​personal factors and a medium level.

Simple SummaryFoot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); however, FMD virus (FMDV) genotyping in small ruminants or cattle has never been reported. This study focused on FMD outbreaks that occurred during 2021 in two different regions in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, where cases affected sheep, goats, cattle, and Arabian oryx. VP1 sequences from different isolates were characterised, and phylogenetic analysis revealed epidemiological connections between FMDV sequences collected in the UAE and neighbouring countries, which highlights the importance of implementing measures such as vaccination, animal movement controls, and biosecurity to limit the spread of the disease.Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an endemic disease in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in both wild and domestic animals. Despite this, no systematic FMD outbreak investigation accompanied by molecular characterisation of FMD viruses (FMDVs) in small ruminants or cattle has been performed, and only a single report that describes sequences for FMDVs in wildlife from the Emirate has been published. In this study, FMD outbreaks that occurred in 2021 in five animal farms and one animal market in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi were investigated. Cases involved sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx). Twelve samples were positive for FMDV via RT-qPCR, and four samples (Arabian oryx n = 1, goat n = 2, and sheep n = 1) were successfully genotyped using VP1 nucleotide sequencing. These sequences shared 88~98% identity and were classified within the serotype O, Middle East–South Asia topotype (O/ME-SA). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Arabian oryx isolate (UAE/2/2021) belonged to the PanAsia-2 lineage, the ANT-10 sublineage, and was closely related to the FMDVs recently detected in neighbouring countries. The FMDV isolates from goats (UAE/10/2021 and UAE/11/2021) and from sheep (UAE/14/2021) formed a monophyletic cluster within the SA-2018 lineage that contained viruses from Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka. This is the first study describing the circulation of the FMDV O/ME-SA/SA-2018 sublineage in the UAE. These data shed light on the epidemiology of FMD in the UAE and motivate further systematic epidemiological studies and genomic sequencing to enhance the ongoing national animal health FMD control plan.

Reforms to Islamic family law have been carried out by many Muslim countries. The aim of this reform is to produce legal products that suit the needs of modern society in the country. One of the countries that has reformed Islamic family law is the United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates is reforming Islamic Family Law by re-interpreting the texts of the Al-Qur'an and Hadith and based on the principles of family law in the Maliki school of thought. This research aims to find out the dynamics of Islamic family law reform in the United Arab Emirates. This research is a type of library research. Data was collected using documentation techniques, namely collecting written data in the form of scientific articles resulting from research and books related to research. The results of this research found that the United Arab Emirates first codified family law in 1985. Then in 2005 it reformed its family law by issuing Federal Law Number 28 of 2005 concerning Personal Legal Status. In carrying out family law reforms, the United Arab Emirates uses the talfiq and ijtihad methods. The elements of reform in Federal Law Number 28 of 2005 concerning Personal Legal Status include; marriage, marriage agreements and registration, the age of consent to marry and kafa'ah, the relationship between husband and wife, divorce, and khuluk.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among females in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with an estimated incidence of 7.4 per 100,000 persons per year. In March 2008, the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi launched a free school-based campaign to provide all female Emirati students aged 15-17 years in the emirate of Abu Dhabi with the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPVV). Despite the proven efficacy of the HPVV in clinical trials, there has been limited research exploring the acceptance of this vaccine within a conservative Islamic society. The media plays a key role in changing beliefs and attitudes toward specific public health initiatives, such as vaccination programs. The primary aim of this study was to explore the content and communication style of the UAE newspapers (both Arabic and English) before, during, and after the HPV vaccination program. A systematic literature search was conducted on six national newspapers with the highest circulation figures in the UAE (Arabic: Al Ittihad, Al Khaleej, and Emarat El Youm; English: Khaleej Times, The National, and Gulf News) to retrieve articles related to cervical cancer prevention from January 2000 to May 2013. One bilingual researcher (Arabic-English) utilized content analysis to study the subject matter of communication in each article. A total of 79 newspaper articles (N = 31 Arabic) were included in the study. Content analysis coding revealed five main themes: (i) "HPV Screening or Vaccination Programmes in the UAE" (N = 30); (ii) "Cervical Cancer Statistics in the UAE" (N = 22); (iii) "Aetiology of Cervical Cancer and HPVV Efficacy" (N = 12); (iv) "Cultural Sensitivity and Misconceptions Surrounding HPVV in School-Aged Females" (e.g., promoting promiscuity) (N = 8); and (v) "Cost-Effectiveness, Efficacy, and Safety" (N = 7). The UAE media is playing an important role in raising public awareness about cervical cancer and specific governmental health initiatives such as the HPVV program. Governmental health authorities may want to consider collaborating with the UAE media to develop a communication strategy to reduce the fears and misconceptions surrounding HPVV. Improved parental and adolescent knowledge on the HPVV may lead to increased acceptance and uptake in the UAE society.

Worldwide monitoring of ambient outdoor air quality is critical for planning mitigation measures and controls for public safety. Several airborne pollutants are measured and continuously monitored by multiple government environmental agencies. Such pollutants include particulate matter (PM) levels, both PM10 and PM2.5, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead, and volatile organic compounds. However, scientific studies related to air pollution and the temporal variability of PM levels in the United Arab Emirates are limited. This study comprehensively analyzes the spatiotemporal variations in PM10, PM2.5, and the PM2.5/PM10 ratio over the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates during 2017–2018. The PM levels are high during April–September, peaking in July each year, likely because of intense dust and sandstorms; the same levels are low during October–March. Industrial areas have higher annual average PM10 levels (162 μg/m3) compared to urban core areas (132 μg/m3) and suburban areas (131 μg/m3). In general, the values of the PM2.5/PM10 ratio are low ranging between annual averages of 0.29 and 0.49 across the industrial, urban core, and desert/suburban areas. This is a characteristic particular to arid and semi-arid environments owing to the prevalence of high quantities of PM10 leading to a low PM2.5/PM10 ratio. In addition, this low ratio indicates that, within the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, air pollution is primarily driven by natural processes related to sand particle uplift, movement, and deposition rather than by human activities.

<h3>Background and Aims</h3> Road traffic injury (RTI) is a leading cause of death and injury in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Mortality from RTI is higher in the UAE compared to similar countries in the world (MoH, 2018). Wearing seatbelts reduce deaths among drivers and front seat occupants by 45–50% (WHO, 2018). The enforcement and regular observation of seatbelt are essential to control deaths from RTIs. This study aims to estimate seatbelt use in Abu-Dhabi emirate, UAE. <h3>Methods</h3> A cross sectional analysis, using direct observation of drivers and front seat passengers at petrol stations in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, the two large cities in Abu Dhabi emirate, was undertaken during January-March 2020, to assess compliance with the seatbelt law in the UAE. <h3>Results</h3> A sample size of 706 motor vehicles was approached, and the response was 87.4%. Overall, 45.5% of drivers and 50% of front seat passengers wore seatbelts. Women (55.7%) were more compliant with seatbelts compared to men (p&lt;0.04). Local citizens were less compliant with seatbelts compared to nonlocals (39.1% vis-a-vis 44.2; p&lt;0.05). <h3>Conclusions</h3> The results showed a slight improvement in seatbelts use in Abu Dhabi emirate, compared with previous estimates by Barss et al. (2008), where 10% of local citizens and 40% of nonlocal citizens were reported using seatbelts (2008). More efforts are thus needed to maintain the improvements made. The new data will help directing the public attention to increase awareness and enforcement of seatbelt use among the population in the UAE.

The working population of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the private sector is characterized by a majority of expatriates and comparatively few UAE nationals. The UAE government encourages firms to hire Emirati nationals in the private sector through various incentives and policies. This article investigates UAE nationals’ preferences for material and non-material incentives in the workplace. The study is based on questionnaires distributed to Emirati nationals in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The findings of the research are expected to provide policymakers with insights into Emiratis’ preferred work incentives. In addition, it will, it is hoped, aid in developing appropriate nationalization policies for the UAE in general and UAE private organizations in particular.

BackgroundSeveral genital pathogens affect fertility. The study estimated the seroprevalence of Treponema pallidum, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Mycoplasma hominis and identify specific factors associated with exposure to at least one of these pathogens in patients seeking fertility treatment in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. MethodsA seroepidemiological survey was conducted in a major fertility clinic in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Serum samples were screened for eight immunoglobulins (IgG, IgM, and IgA) against T. pallidum, U. urealyticum, and M. hominis using enzyme-linked immunoassays. Factors associated with seropositivity to at least one of the pathogens were investigated. ResultsThe study surveyed 308 patients seeking fertility treatment (mean age: 36.1 ± 6.8 years). Most patients were female (88.0%), 24.9% had at least one chronic comorbidity, 19.3% had a previous genital infection, and 68.1% had been diagnosed with infertility for ≥ 6 months. Ig seroprevalence of T. pallidum (IgG: 3.0%, IgM: 3.2%), U. urealyticum (IgG: 2.6%, IgM: 2.0%), and M. hominis (IgG: 33.9%) was 6.4%, 4.6%, and 49.0%, respectively. Nearly one quarter (23.0%) and one decile (9.2%) of the patients exhibited evidence of ongoing infection (IgM seropositivity) or recent infection (IgA seropositivity) with M. hominis, respectively. Overall, 53.0% of the patients were seropositive for at least one of the screened immunoglobulins. Patients with an education level of secondary schooling or below (66.2%) or those who were unemployed (61.1%) had a higher seroprevalence of IgG antibodies compared with patients with college or higher-level education (48.4%) or those who were employed (48.1%) (p < 0.05). ConclusionExposure to T. pallidum or U. urealyticum was relatively low, whereas that to M. hominis was common in the surveyed patients. Enhanced awareness and screening programmes for genital pathogens are crucial to prevent and control the transmission of infections and reduce the growing burden of infertility.

This study was conducted to describe demographics, clinical features, and outcomes of 3827 confirmed cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 between March 12 and April 22, 2020 in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).Data were extracted from the Infectious Diseases Notification Surveillance System of the Department of Health. The descriptive analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences v26 and reported according to Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement.We analyzed 3827 cases; 82% were men, 18% women, 14% UAE citizens, and 86% were of other nationalities. Most cases (72%) had lower exposure to low-risk occupations of infectious disease as per the classification of the department of health while high exposure risk occupations, which included healthcare worker accounts only for 3%. While 43% of cases were asymptomatic, 57% displayed symptoms, which were mostly mild. Only 12% of patients had comorbidities, which were significantly higher in men (9%) than women (3%). Among those who have comorbid conditions; hypertension (27%) and diabetes (21%) were the most common comorbidities. Viral pneumonia (11%) was the most common sequela documented in records. Only 51 patients (4%) required admission to the intensive care units, and 4 patients died (0.1%).The significant number of asymptomatic patients was identified by active case finding and contact tracing from the early period of the epidemic. A small percentage of severe, critical cases, and death reported in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi which may have been due to public health measures implemented for early detection, contact tracing, and treatment.

Objective A major marketing tool used by pharmaceutical companies in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates is direct-to-healthcare professional marketing utilizing promotional drug information brochures. The aim was to investigate whether the information in promotional brochures presented to healthcare professionals in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi by pharmaceutical representatives complied with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) criteria for brochures. Methods The Health Authority – Abu Dhabi Poison & Drug Information Center evaluated these brochures from July to November 2010 using FDA criteria based on accuracy, balance of risk and benefits, prescribing information consistency, and whether the information was supported by strong clinical studies. Some 117 brochures for prescription-only medications were screened. Key findings Twenty-nine per cent of the screened brochures fared well in the four criteria, while 71% of the brochures fared well in three or fewer. Subgroup analysis was compared 81 branded products with 36 generics. The results showed 39 branded products passed in all four criteria compared with two items for generics (P < 0.0001) in the balance of risks and benefits criterion. The other three criteria were not statistically significant; however, a comparison of all branded versus generic product brochures was statistically significant (P = 0.003). Conclusion This study highlights the need for healthcare professionals in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to remain cautious about promotional material presented by pharmaceutical representatives. In addition, the practice warrants regulatory oversight to ensure that prescribing practices are not influenced by inappropriate drug information.