The Lord Almighty said in the decisive revelation: “And do not conceal the testimony, and whoever conceals it, his heart is sinful.”
In the legal tradition, “witnesses are the eyes and ears of the court” to demonstrate the importance of testimony, especially in criminal proof or denial, as in many cases it constitutes the cornerstone and is a reason for convicting or acquitting an accused. On the one hand and ensure their integrity on the other hand.
Protection is represented in the inadmissibility of coercing a witness to give his testimony, as the law stipulated that it be issued by a free will without fear or intimidation.
The protection also extended to the inadmissibility of questioning the witness for his testimony, as it is contained when giving testimony that statements are issued that degrade the accused’s value or consideration, and in other circumstances constitute a crime of slander. criminally or civilly because he complied with the orders of the law.
But in order to enjoy this legal protection, his testimony must relate to the scope of the criminal case, and it does not go beyond the framework of the right granted to him, for example, a witness to a forgery crime is not protected if the accused is given descriptions unrelated to the incident as if he describes him as a thief or a quorum, and so on. From phrases that constitute a crime of insult or slander, here he loses legal protection and he is subject to accountability.
The witness is required to have good faith, that is, to abide by the purpose for which he came to testify, which is to assist justice in revealing the truth. But if the purpose was the opposite, he was considered bad faith, and given the seriousness of the testimony, the UAE legislator imposed deterrent penalties against the perjury.
And Article 302 of Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021 regarding crimes and penalties stipulates that “anyone who testifies falsely before a judicial authority or a body that has the authority to hear witnesses after taking an oath, or who denies the truth, or conceals some or all of what he knows shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of no less than About three months.
If this act occurred during the investigation or trial of a felony, the penalty shall be temporary imprisonment. If the false testimony resulted in a death sentence or life imprisonment, the false witness shall be punished with the same penalty.
In accordance with the provisions of Article 303 of the same law, a witness is exempted from the previous penalties if he retracts his false testimony before the investigations are completed, and before he is informed of it, or if he retracts his false testimony before the court before ruling on the merits of the case, even if it is not final.
These two articles reflect the legislator’s wisdom and awareness of the seriousness of this matter, making the penalty for perjury a kind of act, and in return giving its owner the opportunity to retract his false statements without accountability as long as it does not result in the conviction of an innocent person or the acquittal of a convict.
Senior legal advisor
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