The Federal National Council approved, on Tuesday evening, in its first "precautionary" sessions held "remotely" through the technique of "video conference", on a federal draft law on witness protection, by unanimous approval of all members through the electronic voting system.
The session, which was held through the technique of "video conference" - to become the first of its kind in the history of parliamentary work in the country - was attended by the headquarters of the Council in Abu Dhabi, Speaker of the Council Saqr Ghobash, and the team was attended by His Highness Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister The Ministry of Interior, and a number of senior security leaders in the country, and the Minister of Health and Community Protection and the Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, Abdul Rahman Al Owais, in addition to all members of the Council (without absence or an apology).
The Witness Protection Bill provides legal immunity to seven categories, most notably (a witness to a crime and his family, the victim and his family, and his family) when reporting or disclosing one of 12 types of crimes within the state.
In detail, the Federal National Council held, on Tuesday evening, its seventh session of its first regular session of the seventeenth legislative session, "from a distance", headed by Speaker of the Council, Saqr Ghobash, and the presence of government representatives, after a "precautionary" stop that lasted for about 63 days in line with A series of preventive measures taken in the country to counter the emerging corona virus (Covid 19).
During the session, the Council discussed a federal draft law on witness protection, which included 29 legislative articles guaranteeing protection for witnesses in criminal cases, and works to encourage witnesses and confidential sources to make their statements, and provide the necessary guarantees to achieve protection for them, and ensure that those affiliated with the force fully perform their duties to reduce the proportion of The crime, and in what is achieved with it, activating the role of community participation in detecting crimes, and to meet the requirements of international agreements to which the state is a party.
According to the final report of the draft law - which was approved two days ago by the Defense, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee - a decision and a program for the protection of witnesses will be established by a decision of the Minister of Interior, or the head of the local authority concerned with security affairs, and the executive regulations for this law shall determine their competencies. Legislative immunity of 7 categories, including: the witness, his family, the victim and his family, the reporter and his family, the expert and his family, the secret source and his family, the person whose life or safety may be at risk because of his close relationship to the protected person, and finally whoever the judicial authority decides to protect.
The provisions and articles of the draft law also apply, in terms of the legal protection umbrella, to communications submitted in 12 types of crimes: terrorism, drugs and psychotropic substances, weapons, ammunition, explosives and military hardware, money laundering, financing illegal organizations, human trafficking, IT crimes , Crimes against the security of the state and its interests, crimes related to the public office, crimes punishable by a felony penalty, in addition to any other crimes the judiciary considers to include the person in the protection program, and finally the crimes determined by a decision of the Council of Ministers ».
5 criteria for “protection”
The draft law specified five criteria for admission to the witness protection program, beginning with "the seriousness of the threat to which the person sought protection is exposed," the second, the seriousness of the crime in which the person cooperates, and the third, the importance of the testimony of that person, and the fourth, the lack of evidence other than the testimony of the wanted person Its protection, and finally any other criteria determined by the competent authority.
5 terms of reference
The draft law also granted five powers to the authority concerned with the witness protection program, the first of which is to receive requests to join the protection program, and the second determines who should be covered by the program (the witness, the victim, the amount, the expert, the confidential source and their family members and closely related to them), as well as preparing a report clarifying the security conditions surrounding the protected person and the severity of the risk On his life, or the lives of his or her family members closely related to him, in addition to preparing a report clarifying the ability of the person being protected to adapt to the protection program, and finally the protection program for the covered person and recommending the application of his budget.
Imprisonment and a fine for violators
According to the punitive articles of the draft law, a penalty of imprisonment for a period of no less than six months and a fine of no less than 50 thousand dirhams and no more than 100 thousand dirhams, or one of both penalties, shall be disclosed for any information or data entrusted to it according to the provisions of this law, and the penalty shall be imprisonment if inflicted The protected person or a member of his family prejudices the integrity of his body as a result of the disclosure of this information or data, and the death penalty is if the disclosure of information or data leads to the death of the protected person or one of his family members.
Also he shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of no less than six months and a fine of no less than 30 thousand dirhams and no more than 100 thousand dirhams, or one of these two punishments. Anyone who is protected will deliberately disclose himself, and a penalty of imprisonment for a period of no less than six months and a fine of no less than 10 thousand dirhams and not more than 30 thousand dirhams, or one of these two penalties, whoever falsely and in bad faith submits a communication, certificate or experience report, with the intention of obtaining the benefits of the protection program.
7 government letters
During the session, members of the Council reviewed seven letters from the Minister of Health and Community Protection. The Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, His Excellency Abdul Rahman Muhammad Al Owais, including four messages regarding the approval of the Council of Ministers on requests to the Council to discuss four general topics: the subject of “the Sheikh Zayed Housing Program Policy”, the topic of “the role of the Ministry of Energy and Industry in the matter of developing the national industry”, and the topic of “ Family cohesion and its role in achieving sustainable social development, and the topic of “the efforts of the Ministry of Justice regarding the development of the legal profession” to refer it to the specialized committees.
The Council also viewed three letters on the interpretation of Articles 75, 86 and 87 of the country's constitution, and on the Council of Ministers' decision to hold public sessions of the Federal National Council, and on the Cabinet’s decision on the recommendations of the Federal National Council regarding the subject of “the policy of the Ministry of Energy and Industry”.
47 federal decrees
The Council reviewed 47 federal decrees by ratifying international agreements and treaties concluded by the government with a number of countries, in accordance with Article (91) of the Constitution, which states that “the government shall inform the Federal National Council of international treaties and agreements that it undertakes with other countries and various international organizations, with appropriate A statement, and the decision of the President of the Federation determines the international treaties and agreements that the Federal National Council must discuss before ratifying them.