Ras Al Khaimah to get new court structure

Everybody should accept progress and act within the rules of globalisation and in the framework of Islamic teachings and UAE laws, said Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ras Al Khaimah Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler.

He said that new legislation creating a new structure for the emirate's courts would become law soon. Sheikh Khalid was speaking yesterday during a visit to the Ras Al Khaimah Courts where he met the judges and attended two court sessions.

The new law could be amended at any time, he said. Nothing was unchangeable and everybody had to accept mistakes as part of life. Sheikh Khalid said the new laws were intended to reflect the new image of the emirate, drawn up according to a UN study on the emirate's development in the coming decade.

He urged the judges to evaluate the new law. It will treat everyone fairly and will encourage foreign companies and investors to invest here, knowing their rights are protected by law. He urged the judges to speed up their reviews of cases and hand down verdicts as quickly as possible. It is unfair to those whose cases take a long time to be settled.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Saqr Al Qasimi, head of the Ras Al Khaimah Courts, said that justice would never be achieved unless judges were allowed to work with unlimited freedom. Justice should be independent of external influences.

He urged the Ras Al Khaimah government to establish civil service grades for the judges, which would ensure that justice was also done for them. He said some First Instance and Sharia courts would be set up for residents of remote areas.

Sheikh Mohammed said a key problem was the lack of professional laboratories, especially when it came to bad cheques. He called for professional forensic laboratories to enable the judges to finish cases as quickly as possible.

He gave an example of a case in which a bad cheque was referred to a UAE laboratory. The report came back after a long time, and it only served to make the problem worse. The cheque was then sent to a laboratory abroad and a full year went by before the report was received.