Abu Dhabi: The UAE has warned the public against registering false complaints or reports, with offenders being fined or jailed, or even having to face the same penalty as the one designated for the falsely reported crime.
In its social media platforms, the UAE Public Prosecution detailed the penalties for submitting false reports, which are laid out in Articles 324 and 325 of the Federal Decree Law No 31 of 2021 in Passing the Crimes and Penalties Law.
Whoever falsely and in bad faith informs the judiciary or administrative authorities that a person has committed a thing for which he should be penalised or administratively sanctioned, even if this does not lead to filing the penal or punitive case ... shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a duration of six months, and/or fined a monetary penalty, the Public Prosecution said.
Fabricating evidence
The penalties are steeper for fabricating evidence, and for false reports that could put the victim at risk of administrative or penal punishments.
“Whoever falsely, and in bad faith, informs the judiciary or administrative authorities, that a person has committed a thing for which he or she is to be penally punished or administratively sanctioned, even if this does not lead to filing the penal or punitive case, as well as whoever fabricated material evidence [to show] that a person has committed a crime in contrary to reality, or whoever begins legal proceedings against a person he or she knows to be innocent, shall be sentenced to [jail] and/or fined…,” the Public Prosecution said.
Felonies and crime reports
If the falsely reported crime is a felony, then the offender will have to pay a fine as well as serve a jail sentence.
“The penalty shall be imprisonment and a monetary fine if the falsely attributed crime is a felony. If the false report leads to sentencing to a criminal punishment, the false reporter shall be punished the same sentenced punishment,” the Public Prosecution said.