Payment of money as a pathway to liberty under UAE criminal law: towards a just legal response

Custodial penalties are among the principal penalties under UAE criminal law and play an important role in achieving punitive objectives, including general and special deterrence and incapacitation. Nevertheless, UAE law contains provisions under which the payment of money may operate as a means of avoiding the imposition of imprisonment or of securing early release. This paper examines these provisions, together with the relevant legal commentaries, through analysis and discussion. It focuses, first, on the provision under which payment of court-imposed fines for criminal offences may operate as a means of avoiding imprisonment for default and, second, on the provision permitting the payment of money in exchange for early release before completion of a sentence of imprisonment. The paper concludes that these provisions raise problems concerning equality between individuals, the achievement of justice, and the attainment of the punitive objectives pursued by imprisonment. Accordingly, this paper presents proposals for reform of UAE law in relation to provisions that make payment of money a means of avoiding imprisonment and securing liberty, so that those provisions are framed in a manner that avoids the problems they raise while, at the same time, ensuring that their intended objectives are realised.