Prosecution office at Dubai airport soon

Dubai: Dubai Public Prosecution is to open a full-fledged office at the Dubai International Airport soon.

Dubai would become the first city in the world to set up a specialised Public Prosecution at an airport, said a chief prosecutor on Sunday.

The Public Prosecution in Dubai will set up a full-fledged office at the airport within two months and after the concerned authorities conclude the final procedures "it will become the first specialised public prosecution to function in an airport and refer criminal cases directly to court", said Mohammad Ali Rustom, Chief Prosecutor and Head of Bur Dubai Second Public Prosecution.

Bur Dubai Second Public Prosecution investigates crimes in three jurisdictions, including Al Rifaa police station, Ports police stations and the airport. "We have two public prosecutors [on a shift basis] functioning at the airport 24/7 since 2006, when we became the first public prosecution to set up desks at the airport worldwide. We have 11 prosecutors functioning currently in the jurisdiction.

"The number is expected to increase soon and we thank Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation, who recently approved that we increase our existence in Dubai's Airport to three desks.

"We will set up the specialised prosecution once we have a full team of prosecutors," Rustom told a media gathering yesterday

The specialised airport prosecution will be capable of speeding up legal procedures whenever a crime happens, he elaborated. "It will reduce workload, render faster and efficient services and improve the litigation processes," Rustom said.

He said there were 3,452 criminal cases registered between January 1 and June 30 in 2008 and 3,234 criminal cases during the same period in 2007.

Senior Prosecutor Mohammad Al Nuaimi, Deputy Head of Bur Dubai Second Public Prosecution said: "Between 80-90 per cent of drug suspects who were caught at the airport used to hide the drug capsules in their intestines."