Blood Money

Justice is different in UAE. As I might have said previously, you take your life in your hands when driving here – fast cars and aggressive driving make accidents common. Fortunately, we escaped unscathed!

If you are involved in an accident, you’re obliged if you can to move your vehicles off the road as soon as possible – or you risk a fine for impeding the flow of traffic.

The Fire Chief’s Corvette; Dubai Police drive Lamborghinis

The police arrive, make an assessment, and assign guilt to one of the parties. Every police officer carries a pad for just such occasions – it has three sheets: one red, one green and one white. If you receive the red sheet, you’ve been deemed guilty; if you receive the green one, you’re off the hook, the white one stays with the cop. And, you can’t get your car repaired without presenting a copy of the red or green sheet.

Drinking and driving? You can expect to be arrested, charged and eventually deported. Penalties will be higher if you didn’t have a liquor license.

If there are injuries though, life gets a little more complicated, especially when it’s determined that you are at fault – even if it’s an accident. Under Sharia law, the injured party is assessed for disability, caused by the accident, and you are charged ‘blood money’ for the degree of disability (loss of limb, eye, etc.), similar to assessment of damages in the west.

In the case of death, under UAE law, a man’s life is valued at $60,000 (£40,000). A recent case saw a truck driver, who had caused an accident that killed 21 people, fined and jailed for the offence but in addition was ordered to pay a total of $1.2M (£840k) in blood money (or Diyya) to the victims families (link to article). Clearly this is beyond his means on a wage in the order of $1,000/month and often someone will step in and pay.  It could be his employer, a charitable fund set up in his home country, or the generosity of an Emir, the latter usually an act coinciding with Eid or National Day celebrations.

Sharjah Minaret

It’s more complex in the case of someone convicted of murder. In UAE, persons convicted of homicide are usually sentenced to death. But, before the sentence can be carried out, the victim’s family is consulted. They can agree to the execution or request the payment of Diyya and an accompanying pardon for the offender.

The Qur’an preaches forgiveness rather than retribution so Muslim families, at least, are encouraged to absolve the felon and settle for Diyya. To seek revenge may be viewed as assuming the power of God.

Where it gets really difficult is when the authorities are unable to trace family members. It’s a challenge at the best of times with expats (offshore, non Emiratis) comprising more than 80% of the UAE population. In this case, the court acts on behalf of the family, but they are not empowered to uphold the death sentence. Many convicts sit on death row for years as they wait for their victim’s family to be found (link to article).

So, I encourage everybody to drive carefully…

Tree at Dawn