In its case, the Federal Supreme Court has upheld a legal principle that “crimes committed through WhatsApp are not applicable to the IT law, if it is between two or more persons, and if it is in closed rooms that are not accessible to third parties” .

The Federal Court decided to retry a man who was sentenced to imprisonment and a fine, and closed his account on the program «Whatsapp», because of filming his wife, and send the video to her mother.

The case was referred to the Court of Appeal for further consideration, explaining that what he did was not a violation of private freedom, and the IT Crimes Act did not apply.

The Court of First Instance sentenced the accused to six months imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 dirhams, and deported from the country after the implementation of the sentence, and to close his account on the program «WhatsApp», and the network used by the phone of the accused, who committed the crime subject of the first charge, and the confiscation of the phone It contained the video in question and referred the civil action to the Civil Court for adjudication. The Court of Appeal ruled that the measure of deportation against the defendant was canceled and the first sentence upheld otherwise.

Two laws stressed the importance of this principle in promoting the principles of justice that characterize the UAE judiciary, and achieve the interest of the accused in the trial, by recognizing the lightest punishment for those convicted of crimes committed through the program «WhatsApp», including crimes of libel and defamation, according to the Penal Code, not a technical law Information that requires foreigners to be deported for such offenses is expected, and this principle will contribute to reducing some of the exaggerated reports and claims that have recently been abounding about the content of messages exchanged between individuals through the program.

In detail, the legal advisor, Dr. Yousef Al-Sharif, said that since the launch of the WhatsApp program, as a modern means of conversation between individuals, the state courts have considered several cases about crimes committed through this program, where the defendants were punished according to the Federal Information Technology Act, which tightened the penalty Defendants should be sentenced to imprisonment and a fine, as well as the convict must be deported.

He added that the court, in its last principle, recognized the punishment of the defendants under the Penal Code for whatsapp crimes, which do not have publicity in outer space, which would reduce the punishment of persons in such cases. Public defamation, explaining that defamation and insulting in general are punishable by law, and that the provisions of innocence in such cases must be louder than conviction.

In response to a query about the possibility of reviewing previous cases similar, Sharif explained that the criminal legislator listed two ways through which the cases can be reviewed after a final verdict, and there is no way to challenge them by ordinary methods, the first way: seeking reconsideration, and the behavior of this road cited The legislator is limited to five specific cases, which cannot be measured or expanded according to Article (257) of the Federal Criminal Procedure Law, indicating that the conduct of this road is not feasible regarding the inquiry in question.

The second way, which can be based on that principle, to reconsider similar cases, is the way to appeal in the interest of the law, if the conditions are in accordance with the provisions of article (256) of the same law, stating that «the Attorney General, on his own If the appeal is based on a violation of the law or a mistake in its application or interpretation, in the following two cases: Judgments that the law does not permit The litigants have the right to appeal, and the judgments in which the litigants have missed the date of appeal, a They lodged an appeal against it, or filed an appeal against it, which ruled it was inadmissible. This appeal shall be filed in a newspaper signed by the Attorney General. The Court shall hear the appeal after the litigants call. The judgment issued pursuant to this article shall have no effect unless it is rendered in favor of the convicted person or the person in charge of civil rights.

For his part, the lawyer, Ali bin Tamim, said that the legal principle approved by the Federal Supreme Court, will benefit the defendants in similar cases, which are still in circulation, but if the case is over, and become the ruling of the order, it may not appeal or appeal Discrimination may not be retried.

Bin Tamim explained that the criminal judge always looks at the law that is in the best interest of the accused, pointing out that WhatsApp cases are considered as crimes of complaint in which the victim must make a written or oral complaint at the police station or the Public Prosecution. Any other party.

In the long run, this principle would reduce the number of WhatsApp cases after people know the punishment, he said.

Messages containing insults, slander and videos exchanged between people via WhatsApp caused suspects to be held accountable under the Information Technology Crimes Act, which punishes the sender with imprisonment and a fine of no less than 250,000 dirhams and no more than one million AED, or one of the two penalties.

The crime of insulting

The Law on Combating Information Technology Crimes has dealt with the offenses of insulting using the Internet or information technology means, when it provides for the punishment of insulting others, imprisonment and a fine of not less than 250 thousand dirhams, and not exceeding 500 thousand dirhams, or one of these two penalties.

It also stipulated that the court should deport the foreigner convicted of the crime of insult.

The Federal Penal Code stipulates that imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, or a fine not exceeding 20,000 dirhams, shall be punishable by one of the public's means, an incident that would render it subject to punishment or contempt. These penalties, if defamation of a public official, or in charge of public service occurs during - or because of or on occasion of - the performance of a public service or function.