Abu Dhabi: A new Public Prosecution section and specialised judicial departments have been set up in Abu Dhabi Emirate to look into crimes against domestic workers.
Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, on Wednesday issued a decree establishing a public prosecution and specialised judicial departments in each Court of First Instance to investigate crimes committed against domestic workers.
Shaikh Mansour’s move aims to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of judicial processes and ensure that services are accessible for everyone. This is to achieve speedy justice and consolidate the principles of tolerance and human rights through setting up an institutional infrastructure to preserve the rights of all social, economic, ethnic and religious groups under the umbrella of the rule of law, and in conformity with the international guarantees and standards governing human rights.
Yousuf Al Abri, undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, stressed the keenness of the UAE’s wise leadership to adopt human rights principles within an integrated system at all social, educational and institutional levels.
He noted that Shaikh Mansour’s decision comes in response to the obligations relating to the implementation of Article 3 of the Federal Law issued by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan concerning domestic workers, which reaffirmed the commitment to protect this segment against any violations including discrimination based on race, colour, religion, national origin, social origin and mistreatment, verbal or physical harassment by their sponsors or forcing them to engage in human trafficking.
Through this step, Al Abri added, the Justice Department will contribute to consolidating the institutional structure for the respect of human rights. The setting up of the public prosecution and courts to consider assault cases against this segment, which includes domestic and farm workers, will improve the experience of judges and administrators, especially in dealing effectively with these cases.
It will also set the stage for creating a database on these cases that would eventually contribute to developing the performance of courts and improving verdicts.
Many intensive training programmes will be introduced for judges and administrators to deal efficiently and quickly with the issues of abuse to this category to achieving full justice, Al Abri added.
