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Referral to the Public Prosecution and Detention
Being referred to the Public Prosecution in the United Arab Emirates does not mean conviction and it does not mean imprisonment. It means your file has moved from the evidence-gathering stage before the police to the investigation stage before an independent judicial authority. The Federal Criminal Procedure Law imposes strict time limits that may not be exceeded: the judicial officer must send you to the Public Prosecution within forty-eight hours of your arrest, and the Public Prosecution must interrogate you within twenty-four hours and then order either your pre-trial detention or your release. At this stage you hold specific rights expressly provided for by law, foremost among them your right to remain silent, your right to have your lawyer present during the investigation, and your right to communicate with your lawyer in private at all times. In this guide we explain what happens step by step, what the legal deadlines are, and where the real lines of defence lie.
What does referral to the Public Prosecution mean?
The Public Prosecution in the UAE forms part of the judicial authority and is the sole body entrusted with investigating and prosecuting criminal offences. When you are told that your file has been referred to the Prosecution, it means the police have completed their role of gathering information and evidence, and that your file has passed to a prosecutor holding genuine judicial powers: the power to interrogate you, hear witnesses, appoint experts, order searches, and then decide the fate of the accusation.
This transition is not in itself a negative sign. Following its investigation, the Public Prosecution may issue an order that there are no grounds to proceed and order your release, and in misdemeanours and violations it may order the file to be shelved if it sees no cause to continue. In other words, the prosecution stage is the first genuine opportunity to close a file before it ever reaches court, and it is precisely the stage that many people squander through mishandling or absence of legal representation.
A fundamental point
It is a constitutional and legal principle that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty, and that any evidence obtained through physical or moral harm, torture, or degrading treatment is void by operation of law. This nullity is not a theoretical principle but a practical defence upon which pleadings are built.
The difference between a summons, an arrest and pre-trial detention
Confusing these three terms is what causes most of the panic people feel, even though their legal consequences differ sharply.
Summons to appear
An order issued by the prosecutor requiring you to attend at a specified time and place. It carries no restriction on your liberty and must state the offence attributed to you. Failing to comply without an acceptable excuse is what may open the door to an arrest and bring-in order.
Arrest and bring-in order
A temporary measure restricting your liberty for a very short period, for one purpose only: to bring you before the investigating authority. A judicial officer may order it where sufficient evidence exists in felonies, in flagrant misdemeanours punishable by more than a fine, and in specified misdemeanours such as theft, fraud, breach of trust, aggravated assault, resisting officers, and offences relating to weapons and narcotics. An arrest and bring-in order issued by the Prosecution may not be executed after six months from its date unless renewed.
Pre-trial detention
An investigative order, not a penalty, issued by the prosecutor after interrogating you. It may only be issued where two conditions are met together: that the evidence is sufficient, and that the incident is a felony or a misdemeanour punishable by more than a fine. If the misdemeanour is punishable by a fine alone, there is no room for pre-trial detention at all, and this is a direct submission to be raised before the prosecutor.
The legal deadlines that govern your detention
These periods are neither organisational nor advisory. They are mandatory deadlines to which the federal legislator has attached an express sanction, in some cases extending to a duty to release. Establishing them precisely is the first thing a lawyer does on receiving a file.
The maximum period you may remain with the judicial officer after your arrest and the hearing of your statements, after which you must be sent to the competent Public Prosecution.
The period within which the Public Prosecution must interrogate you, then order either your pre-trial detention or your release.
The maximum period for holding you in the place of detention if immediate interrogation is not possible. Once it lapses you must be sent to the Prosecution to be interrogated forthwith, failing which your release must be ordered.
The duration of the first pre-trial detention order issued by the Public Prosecution, which may only be issued after your interrogation and where the evidence is sufficient.
The maximum renewal available to the Public Prosecution after the initial period, beyond which it may not extend detention of its own motion.
The extension available to the judge of the competent criminal court once the file is placed before him. It is renewable, and he may instead release you with or without bail.
The deadline for filing a grievance with the president of the court against an extension order issued in your absence, running from the date you are notified of the order or become aware of it.
The deadline for appealing an order extending pre-trial detention or an order granting temporary release. A release decision may not be executed before it lapses.
The period of validity of an arrest and bring-in order issued by the Public Prosecution, after which it may not be executed unless renewed.
These periods run from the moment of arrest, not from the moment you are informed of the charge. Recording the hour of arrest, the hour you were brought before the Prosecution and the hour of interrogation is therefore the first thing to document, because it is the foundation of any later plea of nullity.
Your rights before the Public Prosecution
The most significant feature of the Federal Criminal Procedure Law in force is that it did not leave the rights of the accused to the discretion of the authorities, but stated them expressly. These are the rights you must know before you utter a single word.
The right to know the charge and the right to silence: Immediately upon your arrest and before hearing your statements, the judicial officer must inform you of the offence attributed to you and of your right to refrain from speaking. Your silence is an inherent right and may not be taken as an inference against you.
The right to have your lawyer attend the investigation: The accused's lawyer must be enabled to attend the investigation with him and to review the case papers, unless the prosecutor decides otherwise in the interest of the investigation. Even in that exceptional case, your right to contact your lawyer remains intact.
The right to communicate with your defence counsel in private: Even where the Public Prosecution orders that you may not communicate with other detainees and prohibits visits, your right to communicate at all times with your defence counsel in private remains protected by an express provision admitting of no exception.
The privilege of documents held by your lawyer: The prosecutor may not seize from your lawyer the papers and documents you delivered to him for the performance of his task, nor the correspondence exchanged between you in the case.
The right to an interpreter: All investigation procedures are conducted in Arabic. If you do not know the language, the prosecutor must engage an appointed or licensed interpreter, or an approved technical means. Signing a record in a language you do not understand is among the gravest errors expatriates make.
The right to assigned counsel: In a felony punishable by death or life imprisonment you must have a lawyer to defend you at the trial stage; if you do not appoint one, the court assigns a lawyer and the State bears the cost of his effort. In a felony punishable by temporary imprisonment you may request the assignment of a lawyer if the court is satisfied that you lack the financial means.
Temporary release and bail
Temporary release is not a favour but a legally regulated procedure. The Public Prosecution may order the temporary release of an accused held in pre-trial detention in a felony or misdemeanour at any time, whether of its own motion or upon your request, unless it has referred you to the competent court, in which case release falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of that court.
One important exception applies: where the offence is punishable by death or life imprisonment, you may not be released save with the approval of the Attorney-General or his delegate. Otherwise, release may be made conditional upon a personal or financial guarantee or upon a travel ban, and the prosecutor or the judge assesses the amount of the guarantee according to the circumstances.
What many overlook is that the guarantee is not automatically forfeited. If an order that there are no grounds to proceed is issued or a judgment of acquittal is rendered, the full amount of the guarantee must be refunded. If, however, you fail without acceptable excuse to perform one of the obligations imposed on you, the financial guarantee becomes the property of the Government without need for a judgment. Equally, a release order does not prevent the Prosecution from issuing a fresh arrest order if the evidence against you strengthens or you breach the obligations imposed on you.
Grievance and appeal against detention orders
An order extending detention is not final, and it is precisely here that procedural battles are won or lost. If an order extending your detention is issued in your absence, you may file a grievance against it with the president of the court within three days from the date you are notified of the order or become aware of it. This is a very short deadline, and losing it means waiting for an entire renewal cycle.
Alongside the grievance there is the route of appeal: you may appeal the judge's decision extending your pre-trial detention, and the Public Prosecution may likewise appeal a decision granting your temporary release. The deadline for this appeal is twenty-four hours, and a release decision may not be executed before the appeal deadline lapses.
If the Public Prosecution appeals the decision to release you and that appeal is not determined within three days from the date it was filed, the release order must be executed immediately. Likewise, a person held in pre-trial detention is released if the referral order to the court does not provide for the continuation of his detention. Monitoring these two deadlines is among a lawyer's most important daily tasks in criminal files.
The role of the lawyer during the investigation
Many believe a lawyer's role begins in the courtroom. In truth the most critical stage of a criminal case is the investigation, because what is recorded in its minutes accompanies the file all the way to cassation. It is settled in practice that a confession recorded in the prosecution minutes remains the strongest piece of evidence the defence must confront later, even where it is retracted before the court.
The lawyer's role here is purely practical: fixing the times of arrest, presentation and interrogation minute by minute in order to detect any excess on which a plea of nullity can be built; verifying the validity of the search warrant and the soundness of the seizure and evidence-custody procedures; confirming that the charge genuinely fits the legal description attributed to you; submitting a reasoned memorandum seeking temporary release supported by serious guarantees; and tracking the grievance and appeal deadlines, which are unforgiving once missed.
«A criminal file is most often decided before it ever enters the courtroom. Whoever attends the investigation prepared leaves with a defensible file; whoever attends alone leaves with a record that is difficult to repair.»
— Advocate Awadh Almheiri
Practical guidance if you are summoned
1 — Attend; do not evade. Failing to comply with a summons without an acceptable excuse turns you from a cooperating suspect into a person wanted under an arrest and bring-in order, and weakens any later release application.
2 — Appoint a lawyer before the session, not after. A power of attorney granted after the record has been taken makes the defence corrective rather than preventive.
3 — Do not sign what you have not read or understood. Request an interpreter if Arabic is not your language, read the record in full before signing, and have your objection entered in the record itself if you have one.
4 — Prepare your documents in advance. Contracts, transfers, correspondence and account statements may end the accusation at the prosecution stage before referral to court.
5 — Record dates and times. The hour of arrest, the hour of presentation and the hour of interrogation are the raw material of procedural submissions, and they cannot be recovered once the moment has passed.
6 — Do not contact witnesses or the complainant. Any direct attempt at settlement may be read as influencing the course of the investigation and turn against you.
7 — Check the nature of the offence. Some offences may only be prosecuted upon a complaint by the victim; the complaint is inadmissible after three months from his knowledge of the offence and its perpetrator, and its withdrawal extinguishes the case.
Legal references
Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2022 promulgating the Criminal Procedure Law, in force as of 1 March 2023 — Articles: 2, 4, 8, 11, 46, 48, 97, 98, 101, 102, 103, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 112, 118, 119, 126, 133, 135, 139.
Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021 promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law, as amended.
Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2022 concerning the regulation of the advocacy and legal consultancy professions.
Frequently asked questions
Our legal services in Dubai
AWADH ALMHEIRI LAW FIRM AND LEGAL CONSULTATIONS provides pleading and legal representation services in criminal cases in Dubai, including attendance at investigations before the Public Prosecution in Dubai, preparation of applications for temporary release on bail, grievances against pre-trial detention orders, and defence before the misdemeanour and felony courts, the Dubai Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation. Our team includes lawyers specialised in criminal procedure and the Crimes and Penalties Law, with practical experience in cheque, fraud, breach of trust, cybercrime, and defamation and insult cases. If you are looking for a criminal lawyer in Dubai or a lawyer for public prosecution cases in Dubai, we are ready to review your file and take the appropriate step at the appropriate time.
Our services across the other Emirates
The firm's practice extends to all Emirates of the State, where we represent our clients before the public prosecutions and criminal courts in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, and before the federal courts and the Federal Supreme Court. We handle arrest and detention procedures, release and bail applications, and the lifting of travel bans across the Emirates, with rapid coordination between our teams to ensure that the short legal deadlines for grievance and appeal are never missed. To request a criminal lawyer in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah or Fujairah, you may contact us directly through the firm's approved communication channels.