Punishment or Protection? Scrutinizing Rights Safeguards in Uae Criminal Law and Global Norms

This article examines the UAE constitutional safeguarding of criminalisation and punishment rights and freedoms in domestic law as it corresponds to international standards. It takes into account the expanding resort to legislative authority for defining crime and punishment that is fueling the issues of overcriminalisation and over punishment potentially violating human rights. The question underlying is whether the UAE constitutional and legislative system provides adequate protection for the purpose of protecting individual rights from criminal punishment by the state. Through comparative descriptive and normative analysis, the study compares UAE constitutional provisions with key international human rights instruments like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Arab Charter on Human Rights. The result is that there is partial concordance between UAE law and international legal norms, particularly with respect to the guarantees of legality, non-retroactivity, proportionality, and individualization of sanctions. The research ascertains that while the UAE's legal framework incorporates several of the guarantees required under international law, it still falls short of fully ensuring the protection of fundamental rights. Reforms in law are therefore necessary to align national law more closely with international human rights standards.