Role of Lawyers and Judges in the UAE and Dubai Legal System
A nation without law and order is always looked down upon by many people. The people in that country are always afraid of what may happen at any time. It is vital to have a constitution that governs the people in the right direction. Apart from a promising constitution, the need for a legal system that facilitates the rights of the people as desired should be considered. A legal system is one that consists of various laws for example by laws, written constitution, statutes code of law and many more. There are many legal systems in the world. For example, the international law is one legal system that is used to govern different states (Legal systems, n.d., para 1). It may be initiated at a sovereign level or through agreement by various nations. These legal systems also have people who direct them. For example lawyers and judges who are acquainted with different laws that govern a society. Theses lawyers are learned people who are in position to help a country whenever necessary. According the United Arab Emirates (UAE) legal system, the need for a legal system was adopted in 1971. This system was designed by the Federal Supreme Council in conjunction with The Federal National Council. This drafted Legal system is entitled to help the government towards ruling the people in UAE.
Dubai as one of the seven UAE states is considered as a commercial hub of the emirates. Many forms of business in Dubai attract people from various countries. With the existence of such, there needs to be some policies that will help guard the interest of the people and the state. The people involved in the creation of these policies, rules and regulation include the judges and lawyers (Latheef, n.d., p.1). Concisely, it means they have several roles to play in the well-being of the state.
Lawyers are usually responsible for the well-being of the people. They stand in to fight for justice through interpretation of the law. Lawyers and judges have one thing in common which is seeking for justice. They do this by use of words as per the written constitution or by refereeing to the different laws present (What is a lawyer, n.d., para. 1). In Dubai, lawyers and judges have various roles and responsibilities in protecting the people. Being a Muslim populated nation, there are various laws that UAE highly appreciates. The primary law of the emirates is generated from shariah law and conventional law. As earlier said UAE is populated with Muslims who are so conservative. However, the idea of development has seen UAE undertake changes in its legal system. Therefore, Lawyers and judges have the mandate to be up to date with the nature of laws that chip in. Therefore, this means that lawyers and judges are entitled to continuous study to equip themselves with the current issues that may affect the society.
There are situations when people or a company may need a lawyer. For example, when a foreigner goes to a foreign country and breaks the laws of conducts in that area, the person may be charged. This ideology also applies to UAE. Dubai to be precise is one place that attracts may people. Many activities that are in place include tourism and business opportunities. With such opportunities, many people have been lured to go to that place legally or illegally. There are situations when Dubai has been accused of duping foreigners. On other occasions, there are fake jobs being advertised that may lure the unemployed to try the offers. Under several occasions, the most affected are Africans who end up as slaves to the Arabs. Such cases are against the legal systems of UAE. Therefore, it is upon the lawyers and judges to look into such bad habits and find ways of punishing the wrong doers. If a client files a case against a company or even the embassy, it is upon the lawyer to fight for the right of his client. In the end, the judge will base his argument according to the evidence in place. Therefore, the most important role is that the lawyer should be in a position to find relevant information. In addition, this information can be used in the court of law in front of the judge to prove the case in place.
Judges are entitled to be free and fair while they make decisions. Some are usually bribed in advanced especially with rich tycoons in the state. Unlike many nations, UAE has conservative rules that govern them. Therefore, issues like bribe are considered taboos. Therefore, those judges who are caught accepting bribes are automatically suspended. Under certain occasions, their licenses are taken. This means that they tend not to be recognized as judges.
Lawyers are responsible for helping immigrants stay in a country legally. For example, many people decide to work in Dubai for personal reasons. In such a case, they may need legal rights to be accepted in a country. Therefore, in UAE, it is the responsibility of a lawyer to make sure that such an immigrant is fully accepted in the country. In order for such legal matters to succeed, the immigrant should have all the right documents. In addition, they should be approved on arrival. This means that the immigration office must have lawyers who have the mandate to clear such immigrants (Dubai court’s achievement bulletin enhancement of UAE’s competitive potentials in ease of doing business report, n.d., p.4). The lawyer will has to put signatures to confirm that all that is required for an immigrant to stay in Dubai is in place. Apart from signatures, the lawyer may be responsible in helping the immigrant with legal issues like insurance. This may be a challenge to the immigrant as she may encounter frauds that are common not only in UAE, but in also other nations. In the end, the lawyer will have helped defend a new comer indirectly.
There are situations where lawyers are forced to help the guilty. This issue becomes so challenging to the world of law. In such a case, it is evident that lawyers are money oriented than justice and peacemakers. By allowing a guilty person to walk scot free, clearly shows the other side of lawyers. However, the legal system in UAE shows that every person is a suspect until proven guilty. In addition, there is always room for change and that is why lawyers fight for the rights of others even if they are completely sure that they are guilty. Socially there are certain people who are money oriented and not all people who commit crime do it for willingly. Therefore, it is important for a lawyer to weigh the nature of danger they may input to the citizens if they allow certain criminal to go scot-free.
As earlier discussed UAE is an Arab/ Muslim populated nation. However, it does not mean that people should be denied their rights. For example, Dubai acknowledges the international law. According to international law, people have the rights to religion, speech, education and other things that may be regarded special to some group of people. There are situation when some Arabs need to change from Muslim to Christianity. However, they may have problems with family or work place. In addition, some women are usually denied the freedom of speech and oppressed by the husbands or other male counterparts. Therefore, such situations should be resolved with the help of a lawyer. The lawyer acts as a defense weapon to the oppressed and those people who do not want to accept the human rights law can be charged. Under other situations, the lawyer can give advice to such families. There are people who are so conservative and can only listen to a fellow man’s opinion. In the end, the lawyer would have saved a marriage or brought in new ideas to the people.
There are certain predicaments that usually need the help of a lawyer. For example, cases of civil marriages. The presence of a judge and a lawyer is needed. Their main aim is to make sure that all marriage rights are fulfilled according to the constitution. On the contrary, there are situations that some marriages fail to work and the only solution is a divorce (Chapman, 2012, para 5). The role of a lawyer or a judge in this case is to make sure that what property is shared as per the agreement. Another issue may regard children. Some parents are never concerned with their children. In such a case if a neighbor or anybody complains or reports the case to a social worker, then the children may be under foster care. This means that the social worker will work hand in hand with a lawyer to fight for the children’s right. If it is a marriage dispute then the most suitable parent will be granted the owner to take care of the children according to the court’s decision.
Therefore, it is clear that the major role of the lawyers and judges in UAE’s legal system is protection. They are entitled to protect the nation at all cost. There are cases when the lawyers fall in place to help the president in terms of economic decisions. Such decisions are important for the society. In addition, it helps in upbringing development in the nation and more wealth is experienced. Therefore, the most important idea to consider in a country is the nature of legal systems that are in place (Buss 2011, p. 6). Many lawyers and judges who work in line with the constitution should be encouraged and eventually peace may reign in country with their help.
Reference List
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