The rule of law in the UAE faces significant challenges in ensuring judicial independence, transparency, and equal access to justice for all citizens and residents. Systemic human rights violations, particularly regarding freedom of expression, thought, and association, remain major obstacles to fully upholding the principles of the rule of law.
A notable example of this is UAE’s second-largest unfair mass trial which took place on 10 July 2024. Here at least 44 individuals of 84 human rights defenders and political opponents have been convicted following an unjust trial. The unfair mass trial has been pursued in secrecy and Emirati authorities have prohibited defendants’ lawyers to access case files and court documents.
Other process violations included limited access to case documents and information, insufficient or missing legal support, judges influencing witness testimonies, breaches of the double jeopardy principle, abuse and mistreatment, and coerced confessions.
The Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court handed down sentences ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment accusing the defendants of managing a terrorist organization known as the ‘Justice and Dignity Committee’. Those serving long prison sentences include the human rights defenders Mohamed Abdullah Al-Roken, who completed his prison sentence in 2022 but remains in detention and now faces new charges, and Nasser Bin Ghaith, an academic who is due to complete his sentence in 2025 but also faces a possible additional lengthy prison sentence.
This was possible because the UAE’s 2014 Counter-Terrorism Law prescribes penalties of up to life imprisonment or even the death penalty for anyone who leads or manages an organization or who takes part to peaceful government critics.
These accusations were used by UAE authorities also in December 2023, while hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), when a new mass trial charged 84 defendants for their involvement with the Justice and Dignity Committee. The convicts did not have the right to appeal and many of them had already been condemned for similar offenses. This violates the principle of double jeopardy which establishes that a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime after receiving a final verdict.
Many of the accused have consistently faced harsh conditions of detention, including physical abuse, medical neglect, forced nudity and they have been held in incommunicado solitary confinement. Additionally, the counterterrorism law permits courts to impose travel bans and surveillance on individuals deemed a terrorism-related threat and to prevent them from residing or visiting certain areas.
This level of broad discretion is particularly concerning due the current judicial system in the UAE which still faces challenges. Observations conducted by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers identified several concerns regarding court and case management, public prosecution, the legal profession, equal access to justice, and transparency in proceeding.
ECDHR calls on the UAE’s government to amend the 2014 Counterterrorism Law which represses freedom of expression and assembly and stresses the need for judicial reform to enhance transparency in charges and independence in the judicial system. Also, ECDHR calls on the international community to urge the UAE to establish an independent body to investigate allegations of torture, incommunicado detention, and unfair trails and held the perpetrators accountable.