UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has approved a wide-ranging reform of the country’s legal system, which aims to strengthen economic, investment, and commercial opportunities.

The raft of new laws also aims to maximize social stability, security and ensure the rights of both individuals and institutions, according to a statement issued on Saturday.

Over 40 laws are included in the changes and they are intended to keep pace with the developmental achievements of the UAE and reflect the country’s future aspirations, it added.

The amendments aim to develop the legislative structure in various sectors, including investment, trade, and industry, as well as a commercial company, regulation and protection of industrial property, copyright, trademarks, commercial register, electronic transactions, trust services, factoring, and residency.

The legislative changes come after intensive coordination at both the local and federal levels, where teams comprising 540 specialists and experts from 50 federal and local authorities have worked together over the past five months in consultation with over 100 private sector organizations.

Digital transformation

Amendments to the Law on Electronic Transactions and Trust Services aim to keep pace with technological development and enhance ongoing digital transformation.

The law gives digital signatures the same weight as a handwritten signature, a step that obviates the need for a personal presence in order to seal transactions.

The law facilitates a wide range of civil and commercial transactions including marriage, personal status, notary, and real estate services such as renting, buying, selling, and amending contracts.

Copyrights

Amendments of the federal law concerning copyrights and neighboring rights maximize the contribution of creative industries in the UAE economy and provide protection to authors of the works and the holders of the neighboring rights, in case aggression against their rights occurs.

The amendments offer special benefits for people of determination in order to enhance their benefit and participation in this vital sector.

Industrial property rights

The law aims to protect industrial property and regulate the procedures for its registration, use, exploitation, and assignment. It is dedicated to patents, industrial designs, integrated circuits, non-disclosure agreements, and utility certificates. It applies across the UAE (including free zones).

Trademarks

The federal law concerning trademarks has been amended with the aim of expanding the scope of protection. The amendments offer protection to three-dimensional trademarks, holograms, sound trademarks such as musical tones associated with a company and that distinguish its products, and smell trademarks such as creating a distinctive scent for the company or brand.

The updates also include registering geographical names of trademarks or products whose name is associated with the names of specific geographic regions, countries, or cities and are famous for producing this product, such as the UAE’s reputation for dates.

Among the changes in the abolition of the requirement to have a trade license to allow the registration of a trademark, and granting SME owners temporary protection to protect the trademark of their products during participation in exhibitions.

Commercial register

The Commercial Register Law has been amended allowing local authorities in each emirate to retain the right to establish and manage their commercial records, including registration, data monitoring, and change.

The commercial register is an official log held by the Ministry of Economy containing details of all businesses operating in the UAE.

The Factoring and Transfer of Civil Accounts Receivable law is the first federal regulation in the UAE dealing specifically with factoring and the assignment of receivables and provides a new regulatory framework.

Factoring, a financing arrangement that enables a business to sell its receivables, aims at further supporting the business environment and SMEs.

Full ownership

The Commerical Companies Law allows investors and entrepreneurs to establish and fully own onshore companies in all sectors, excluding a small number of reserved “strategic activities”. The amendment aims at boosting the country’s competitive advantage as a part of a wider UAE government agenda to economic diversification towards an innovation-led and knowledge-based economy.

It also aims to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) and reaffirms the UAE’s standing as a leading business hub regionally and globally.

Higher education

The Higher Education Law aims to regulate the licensing of higher education institutions in the UAE and sets out the legislative framework to approve curricula, improve the quality and competitiveness of higher education in the country as well as encourage scientific research in educational institutions.

Provisions of the law apply to all higher education institutions in the country, with the exception of those operating in free zones.

Crime and punishment

The UAE has also ratified a new and updated Federal Crime and Punishment Law, a move intended to further develop and refine the legislative system of the UAE.

The new legislation offers enhanced protections for women and domestic servants, strengthens public safety and security provisions, and eases restrictions on extra-marital relationships and it will be fully enacted starting from January 2, 2022.

The new law includes the amendment and revision of a number of areas of legislation, including new criminal penalties for public disorder offenses and the de-criminalization of a number of behaviors.

The new law also prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages in a public place or in unlicensed locations. The law also prohibits the sale, provision or incitement, or inducement to consume alcoholic beverages to any person below 21 years of age.

The law stipulates life imprisonment for the crime of rape or non-consensual intercourse and if the victim is under the age of 18, disabled, or otherwise rendered in a condition unable to offer resistance can be extended to capital punishment.

The new law also effectively decriminalizes consensual relationships out of wedlock, providing that any child conceived as a result of the relationship is acknowledged and will be cared for.

One of the most important provisions is that the law can be applied to anyone who commits, or participates in, a premeditated murder that occurs against a citizen of the UAE even if the crime takes place outside the country.

Online security

The Online Security Law regarding cyber-crimes and combating online harassment, bullying, and ‘fake news’ will become effective January 2, 2022, and is one of the first comprehensive legal frameworks in the region to address concerns raised by online technologies and their applications and abuse.

The new law addresses online false advertising or promotions, including unlicensed trading in crypto-currencies and medical products and supplements.

The law contains provisions related to fake news and misleading information, using online tools, networks, and platforms to broadcast, publish, republish, circulate or recalculate fake news, including false and misleading information, false reports purporting to originate from official sources or that falsely misrepresent official announcements.

The law gives courts powers to confiscate devices, software, content, or other means used in the pursuit of a crime, in addition to the deletion of such information.

Data protection

The Personal Data Protection Law constitutes an integrated framework to ensure the confidentiality of the information and protect the privacy of community members by providing proper governance for optimal data management and protection.

The law prohibits the processing of personal data without the consent of its owner, with the exception of some cases in which the processing is necessary to protect the public interest, or that the processing is related to the personal data that has become available and known to all by an act of the data owner.

A law establishing the UAE Data Office has also been approved and aims at ensuring the full protection of personal data.

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News Courtesy: Arabian Business