The UAE just announced major revisions of Islamic personal laws of the country, allowing unmarried couples to cohabit, easing the crackdown on alcohol and criminalizing so-called “honour killings”.
The expansion of personal freedoms in the UAE reflects the changing profile of a country moving towards a Westernized destination. A point of arrival for tourists and businesses, whose attitude has produced a conflict with the legal code. In recent years there have been many legal cases brought against foreigners, and there has been much indignation in their countries of origin.
The reforms aim to strengthen the country's economic and social position and "consolidate the UAE's principles of tolerance." This was reported by the state news agency WAM, which offered only minimal details in the surprise announcement last Saturday.
United Arab Emirates: legal turning point
The government decrees underlying the changes they were extensively outlined in the state newspaper The National.
The move follows the historic US-brokered deal to normalize relations between the UAE and Israel, which could bring Israeli tourists and investments.
It also comes as Dubai, a sci-fi megalopolis packed with skyscrapers, prepares to host the World Expo.
A high-risk event, which should bring a flurry of commercial activity and as many as 25 million visitors to the country. It was originally scheduled for October but was postponed for a year due to the pandemic.
The changes, which the press say will take effect immediately, also reflect the efforts of UAE rulers to keep pace with a rapidly changing society.
“I couldn't be happier about these new progressive and proactive laws,” says the UAE director Abdullah Al Kaabi, an Arab Ozpetek who among his works has addressed taboo topics such as homosexual love and gender identity.
“2020 has been a difficult and transformative year for the UAE,” he added.
Alcohol: less severity
The changes include eliminating penalties for consumption, sale and possession of alcohol by those over 21 years of age.
Although liquor and beer are widely available in bars and clubs in the UAE's lush coastal cities, people needed a government-issued license to purchase, transport, or drink alcohol in their homes.
Cohabitation and attempted suicide
Another amendment allows “cohabitation of unmarried couples,” something that has long been a crime in the UAE.
The authorities, especially in that sort of semi-enclave of Dubai, were often a little more lax when it came to foreigners, but the threat of punishment still lingered.
The National reports that attempted suicide, prohibited by Islamic law, has also been decriminalized.
Goodbye to “honor killings”
In order to "better protect women's rights", the government has also decided to get rid of laws defending "honour crimes". A widely criticized tribal custom in which a male relative can evade prosecution for assaulting a woman by seeing her as having “disgraced” a family.
Punishment for a crime committed to eradicate a woman's "shame", for promiscuity or disobedience to religious and cultural restrictions, it will now be the same for any other type of aggression.
In a country where the relationship between immigrants and citizens is almost nine to one, the amendments will allow foreigners to avoid Islamic Shariah courts including on issues such as marriage, divorce and inheritance.
Other typologies
Apart from cohabitation, alcohol and honor killings, the announcement says nothing about other behaviors deemed offensive due to local customs that have landed foreigners in prison in the past. I'm referring to things like acts of homosexuality, cross-dressing, and public displays of affection.
