A woman in Abu Dhabi has been convicted of child neglect after she allowed a young girl to be alone at a beach late at night and failed to supervise her social media use.
The defendant was also initially ordered to perform two months of community service.
Prosecutors said the woman failed to take the necessary measures to protect the child’s moral safety. The young girl also allegedly misused a social media platform, which caused her photographs to be circulated among other people.
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The prosecution brought the woman before a criminal court under Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 on children’s rights, known as Wadeema’s Law.
The charge covered her failure to provide the necessary care and supervision, both when the child was alone on the beach and while she was using social media.
Court findings
The court of first instance found the woman guilty of the charges levelled against her. She was ordered to undertake two months of community service and required to pay court fees.
She challenged the judgment. The federal appeal court cancelled the community service measure and imposed a Dh3,000 fine instead.
The woman subsequently appealed the enforcement of the ruling, but the court ruled that her objection was inadmissible and ordered her to pay costs.
The Attorney General then challenged the appeal judgment before the Federal Supreme Court, arguing that replacing community service with a fine had unlawfully worsened the woman’s position.
The Supreme Court ruling
The Supreme Court agreed. It found that only the woman had appealed the original judgment and that the prosecution had not challenged it.
Under Article 241 of the Criminal Procedures Law, the court explained, an appeal brought solely by a convicted person cannot lead to a change that harms that person’s position.
In this case, the judges considered the fine a more severe punishment than the community service measure originally imposed.
The Supreme Court overturned the appeal judgment and returned the case to the court that issued it for reconsideration and a fresh assessment of the punishment.
The ruling clarifies a key principle of criminal procedure: a convicted person who appeals a sentence cannot end up worse off as a result.