UAE Legal Q&A’s: Reporting affronts to public decency



In many malls and shopping centres, my family and I see men improperly holding women accompanying them or even putting their hands in the women's back pockets and groping them. Can I report such behaviour to the police? And on what charge?

Article 358 of the Penal Code states that “whoever openly commits an indecent and disgraceful act shall be punished by detention for a period of at least six months. Whoever commits a disgraceful act with a girl or boy who has not completed 15 years of age, even if it is not committed openly, shall be punished by detention for at least a period of one year”. According to the UAE courts, an indecent act is a disgraceful one that is committed on purpose and that outrages people’s sense of modesty. It is not based on sexual freedom but on the outrage of public decency. Consequently, the act is considered indecent even if it is between two people in a legitimate relationship.

My husband and I are having problems but he refuses to divorce me and instead resorts to abusive behaviour so that I divorce him and he does not have to pay my dues. How can I prove this in court and how can the law help me?

In the absence of love or even understanding between spouses, the Islamic Sharia has come up with a solution – an honourable separation. If the husband, who has the right to commence a divorce (Isma), refuses to do so and abusively and detrimentally holds on to his wife, the latter may, if she can no longer stay with him and if the harm is ongoing, bring the matter before the court and request “fault divorce” by virtue of Article 117 of the Personal Status Law and following articles, which stipulate that 1) Either spouse may file for divorce if he or she is being harmed by the other, and such harm makes it impossible for the parties to live together, and neither of them shall lose the right thereto unless their reconciliation is proven. 2) By virtue of Article 16 of the law, which states that it is incumbent upon the Family Guidance Committee to reconcile spouses. Failing to do so, the judge shall propose reconciliation. If this, too, fails and the harm is proven, the judge shall pronounce the divorce.

* If you have a question for our lawyer, please email it to newsdesk@thenational.ae with the subject line “Know the law”.

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The Penguin

Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz

Creator: Lauren LeFranc

Rating: 4/5

The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8

Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm

Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km

Price: Dh380,000

On sale: now 

Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

The%20specs
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Recycle Reuse Repurpose

New central waste facility on site at expo Dubai South area to  handle estimated 173 tonne of waste generated daily by millions of visitors

Recyclables such as plastic, paper, glass will be collected from bins on the expo site and taken to the new expo Central Waste Facility on site

Organic waste will be processed at the new onsite Central Waste Facility, treated and converted into compost to be re-used to green the expo area

Of 173 tonnes of waste daily, an estimated 39 per cent will be recyclables, 48 per cent  organic waste  and 13 per cent  general waste.

About 147 tonnes will be recycled and converted to new products at another existing facility in Ras Al Khor

Recycling at Ras Al Khor unit:

Plastic items to be converted to plastic bags and recycled

Paper pulp moulded products such as cup carriers, egg trays, seed pots, and food packaging trays

Glass waste into bowls, lights, candle holders, serving trays and coasters

Aim is for 85 per cent of waste from the site to be diverted from landfill 

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Al Jazira's foreign quartet for 2017/18

Romarinho, Brazil

Lassana Diarra, France

Sardor Rashidov, Uzbekistan

Mbark Boussoufa, Morocco

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sweet%20Tooth
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The Specs

Price, base Dh379,000
Engine 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 503bhp
Torque 443Nm
On sale now

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THE APPRENTICE

Director: Ali Abbasi

Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong

Rating: 3/5

The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

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