Federal Decree-Law No.(12) of 2017 on International Crimes (security and safety law)

Article (1) 
The international crimes, which the State Courts have jurisdiction over in accordance with 
the provisions of this Decree -Law are as follows:  
1. The crime of genocide;  
1. Crimes against humanity;  
3. War crimes;  
4. The crime of aggression.  
  
Chapter Two  
Crime of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity  
Section One  
Crime of Genocide

Article (2) 
Death penalty or life  imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the 
following acts with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, provided that the act was committed in the context of a manifest pattern of 
acts directed against that group or was an act that could itself effect such destruction:  
1. Killing members of the group;  
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;  
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its 
physical destruction in whole or in part;  
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;   
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 5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another g roup.

Article (3) 
The same punishment inflicted for attempting the incited crime, if the incitement does not 
produce an effect, shall be inflicted upon anyone who directly and publicly incites others to 
commit the crimes described in this Section.  
  
Section Two  
Crimes against Humanity

Article (4) 
For the purposes of this Section, "attack directed against any civilian population" shall mean 
a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in this Section 
against any civilian po pulation, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational 
policy to commit such attack.

Article (5) 
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the following acts, whenever committed as part of a widespre ad or systematic attack directed 
against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:  
1. [cut off];  
2. Extermination; this includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the 
deprivation of access to food and medicine, c alculated to bring about the destruction of 
part of a population;  
3. Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, enforced sterilization, forced pregnancy, or 
any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;   
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 Forced pregnancy means forcing women to get pregnant and illegitimately give birth, with 
the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any population or carrying out other grave 
violations of international law.

Article (6) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the following acts, whenever committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed 
against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:  
1. Enslavement, through the exercise of any or all of  the powers attaching to the right of 
ownership over a person, including trafficking in persons, in particular women and children;  
2. Deportation or forcible transfer of population by forcibly transferring them from the area in which they are lawfully present by means of expulsion or other coercive acts, without 
grounds permitted under international law;  
3. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;  
4. Torture, through the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused, unless the pain 
or suffering has arisen from or is inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions;  
5. Persecution through the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights 
contrary to international law against any identifiable group or collectively on political, 
racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender - be it male or female -, or other grounds 
that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referre d to in this Section or any crime provided for in this Decree Law;  
6. Enforced disappearance of persons, through the arrest, detention or abduction of  
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 persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political 
organization,  followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to 
give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of 
removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time.  
7. Apartheid by the c ommitment of inhumane acts of a character similar to those referred 
to in this Section, in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression 
and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and with the 
intention o f maintaining that regime;  
8. Other inhumane acts of a character similar to that of the acts provided for in this Section, which intentionally cause great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or 
physical health.  
  
Chapter Three  
War Crimes  
Section One  
General Provisions

Article (7) 
In the application of the provisions of this Chapter, "protected persons" means:  
1. In international armed conflicts: people protected under the provisions of the four 
Geneva Conventions of 1949, and the first ad ditional protocol of 1977.  
2. In non -international armed conflicts: those who are not directly involved in hostile acts, 
including members of armed forces who laid down their weapons, and those unable to fight due to illness, wounds, detention or any oth er reason, as stated in the Article 3 
common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the second additional protocol of 1977 and the rules of the customary international humanitarian law.   
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Article (8) 
In the application of the provisions of this Chapter, s ituations of internal disturbances and 
tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature 
shall not be considered non- international armed conflicts.  
  
Section Two  
War Crimes relating to the use of prohibited methods and means of fighting

Article (9) 
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the 
following acts, in the context of international or non -international armed conflict, associated 
therewith:  
1. Killing or wound ing treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army or 
an enemy fighter;  
2. Employing poison or poisoned weapons;  
3. Employing asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and all analogous liquids, materials 
or devices;  
4. Employing bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not entirely cover the core or is pierced with incisions.

Article (10) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who com mits any of the 
following acts, in the context of international or non -international armed conflict, associated 
therewith:  
1. Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population in such capacity or against  
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 individual civilians not taking dire ct part in hostilities;  
2. Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, 
science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the  sick 
and wounded are collected, provided that they are not military objectives;  
3. Declaring that no one shall survive.  
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted if the act results in the death of one person or more.

Article (11) 
Death pen alty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the 
following acts, in the context of international armed conflict, associated therewith:  
1. Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incident al 
loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long -term 
and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in 
relation to the tangible and direct overall military advantage anticipated;  
2. Employing weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare which are of a 
nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently 
indiscriminate in violation of the provisions of the international law applicable to armed  
conflict, provided that such weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare 
are the subject of a prohibition.

Article (12) 
Life or temporary imprisonment s hall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the 
following acts, in the context of international armed conflict, associated therewith:  
1. Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects; i.e. objects which are not military;   
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 2. Attacking or b ombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings 
which are undefended and which are not military objectives;  
3. Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected persons to render certain points, 
areas or military forces immune  from military operations;  
4. Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of 
objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as 
provided for in the four Geneva Conventions of 1 949. 
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted if the act results in the death of one 
person or more.

Article (13) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who, in the context of 
non-international armed conflict orders associated therewith, the displacement of the 
civilian population for reasons related to the conflict, unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand. Life or temporary imprison ment shall be 
inflicted if the act results in the death of one person or more.  
  
Section Three  
War Crimes against Individuals

Article (14) 
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who intentionally kills a 
protected person, in the c ontext of international or non -international armed conflict, 
associated therewith.  
  
  
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Article (15) 
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the 
following acts, in the context of international or non -intern ational armed conflict, associated 
therewith:  
1. Subjecting persons who are in the power of an adverse party to physical mutilation or to 
medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are neither justified by the medical, 
dental or hospital treatme nt of the person concerned nor carried out in his or her 
interest, and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or 
persons;  
2. Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in 
Article 5 o f this Decree -Law, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence 
also constituting a grave breach of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.

Article (16) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who takes protected persons as 
hostages, in the context of international or non -international armed conflict, associated 
therewith.  
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted if the act  results in the death of one 
person or more.

Article (17) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who conscripts or enlists children under the age of fifteen years into the armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities, in the context of international or non -international armed conflict, 
associated therewith.   
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 Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted if the act results in the death of the 
recruited child.

Article (18) 
Death penalty or life imprisonment  shall be inflicted on anyone who kills or wounds a 
combatant who, having laid down his arms or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at discretion, in the context of international armed conflict, associated 
therewith.

Article (19) 
Life or t emporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the 
following acts against protect persons, in the context of international armed conflict, associated therewith:  
1. Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;  
2. Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;  
3. Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile 
Power;  
4. Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and 
regular trial;  
5. Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health.  
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted if the act results in the death of one 
person or more.

Article (20) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the  
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 following acts, in the context of international armed conflict, associated therewith:  
1. Compelling the nationals of the hostile party to take part in the operations of war 
directed against their own country, even if they were in the belligerent's service before 
the commencement of the war;  
2. The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occ upying Power of parts of its own civilian 
population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of 
the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory.  
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted if the act results in the death of one 
person or more.

Article (21) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits outrages upon 
personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, in the context of 
inter national armed conflict, associated therewith.

Article (22) 
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who passes sentences and 
carries out executions against protected persons without previous judgement pronounced 
by a regularly constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees which are generally 
recognized as indispensable, in the context of non- international armed conflict, associated 
therewith.

Article (23) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who comm its acts of violence 
against protected persons, in particular mutilation, cruel treatment and torture, in the  
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 context of non -international armed conflict, associated therewith.  
Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted if the act results in the  death of one 
person or more.

Article (24) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits outrages upon 
personal dignity of protected persons,  in particular humiliating and degrading treatment, in 
the context of non -international armed conflict, associated therewith.  
  
Section Four  
War Crimes against Properties and other Rights

Article (25) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the following acts, in the context of international or non -international armed conflict, associated 
therewith:  
1. Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault;  
2. Destroying or seizing the enemy's property unless such d estruction or seizure be 
imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.

Article (26) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who commits any of the following acts, in the context of international armed conflict, associated therewith:  
1. Extensive destruction and appropriation of properties protected by the relative Geneva convention, which are not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and 
wantonly;   
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 2. Declaring abolished, suspended or inadmissible in a court of law the rights and actions 
of the nationals of the hostile party.  
  
Section Five  
War Crimes against Humanitarian Operations and their Emblems

Article (27) 
Life or temporary imprisonment shall be  inflicted on anyone who commits any of the 
following acts, in the context of international or non -international armed conflict, associated 
therewith:  
1. Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles 
involved in a humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the 
Charter of the United Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to 
civilians or civilian objects under the international law;  
2. Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, materials, medical units and 
transportation means, and personnel using the distinctive emblems stated in the four 
Geneva Conventions of 1949, in conformity with international law.  
Death penalt y or life imprisonment shall be inflicted if the act results in the death of one 
person or more.

Article (28) 
Temporary imprisonment shall be inflicted on everyone who makes improper use of a flag 
of truce, of the flag or of the military insignia and uniform of the enemy or of the United 
Nations, as well as of the distinctive emblems of the four Geneva Conventions  of 1949, 
resulting in death or serious personal injury, in the context of international armed conflict associated therewith.   
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 Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted if the act results in the death of one 
person or more.  
  
Chapter Four  
Crime of Aggression

Article (29) 
1. Death penalty or life imprisonment shall be inflicted on anyone who is in the position of practicing control or being able to direct political or military acts in the state, and plans, 
launches or implements an act of aggres sion that would constitute - given its character, 
seriousness and scope - a clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations.  
2. "Act of Aggression" means the use of armed force by the state against the sovereignty, 
regional safety or political indepen dence of another state, or in any other form that is in 
violation of the Charter of the United Nations.  
3. Any of the following acts shall be considered an act of aggression, whether or not there is 
a declaration of war:  
a. The armed forces of a certain state invade or attack a region of another state, or any military occupation, even if temporarily, as a result of such invasion or attack, or any 
merging of a region of a state or portion of it by use of force.  
b. The armed f orces of a certain state bomb a region of another state or a state uses any 
weapons against a region of another state.  
c. Imposing a blockade on the ports of a state, its coast, or its airspace by the armed forces of another state.  
d. The armed forces of a certain state attack the ground troops, the navy, and the air 
force, or the navy and air fleets of another state.  
e. A certain state whose armed forces are present in a region of another state with the  
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 consent of the host state, uses its armed force s in violation of the conditions stated in 
the agreement or extends their presence in the aforementioned region beyond the 
end of the agreement.  
f. A certain state that has placed its region under the control of another state permits 
that other state to use this region to perpetrate an act of aggression against a third 
state.  
g. Sending gangs, or armed groups, or irregular forces, or mercenaries from a particular 
state or in the name of the state, to conduct armed acts against another state that are 
dan gerous to a degree tantamount to one of the acts of aggression stated in Item 3 of 
this Article, or to the tangible participation of that state in this act.  
  
Chapter Five  
Special Substantive Provisions  
Section One  
Decree -Law Validity and Interpretation and the Deportation Measure

Article (30) 
Without prejudice to the provisions of Book One , Chapter two, Section two  of the Federal 
Penal Code, the provisions of this Decree -Law shall apply to anyone who commits an act 
outside the State that makes him a perpetrator or a partner in any of the crimes provided for 
herein, whenever such act is committed by or against any State national, or others who are 
affiliates to or participants in its armed forces.

Article (31) 
Whenever appropriate, the competent court shall refer to the following in the interpretation  
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 and application of this Decree Law:  
1. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the elements of crimes adopted by 
the Court and their applicable ame ndments at the time of committing the crime.  
2. Applicable conventions and principles and rules of the international law, including the 
principles stipulated in the International Law on Armed Conflicts.

Article (32) 
For matters not provided for herein, the competent court shall implement the applicable 
provisions of the following laws, as case may be:  
1. Military Penal Code.  
2. The Federal and other Penal Codes.  
3. Law on the Formation of Military Courts.  
4. Law on Military Penal Procedures System  
5. Law on Penal Procedures System.

Article (33) 
A sentence convicting a foreigner in any crime provided for herein shall necessitate the 
deportation of the convicted from the State, after the expiry of the sentence.  
  
Section Two  
Reasons and deterrents of relief and criminal responsibility

Article (34) 
A military commander or person effectively acting as a military commander shall be 
criminally responsible for the crimes provided for in this Decree -Law, that are committed by 
forces under his or her effective command and control, or effective authority an d control as  
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 the case may be, as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over such forces, 
where:  
1. The military commander or person either knew or, owing to the circumstances at the 
time, should have known that the forces were committing or about to commit such 
crimes;  
2. The military commander or person failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures 
within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to 
the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.

Article (35) 
With respect to superior and subordinate relationships not described in the previous Article, 
a superior shall be criminally respons ible for crimes provided for in this Decree -Law that are 
committed by subordinates under his or her effective authority and control, as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over such subordinates, where:  
1. The superior either knew , or consciously disregarded information which clearly 
indicated, that the subordinates were committing or about to commit such crimes;  
2. The crimes concerned activities that were within the effective responsibility and control of the superior;  
3. The  superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his or her 
power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.

Article (36) 
The fact that a crime provided for in this Decree -Law has been committed by a person 
pursuant to an order of a Government or of a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not  
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 be considered a reason of relief, unless:  
1. The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the Government or the 
superior in question;  
2. The person did not know that the order was unlawful; and  
3. The order was not manifestly unlawful.  
For the purposes of this Article, orders to comm it genocide or crimes against humanity shall 
be deemed manifestly unlawful.

Article (37) 
It is to be deemed an exercise of legitimate right of defence if the person acts reasonably to 
defend himself or herself or another person or, in the case of war crimes, property which is 
essential for the survival of the person or another person or property which is essential for 
accomplishing a military mission, against an imminent and unlawful use of force in a 
manner proportionate to the degree of danger to the pe rson or the other person or property 
protected.  
The fact that the person was involved in a defensive operation conducted by forces shall not 
- in itself -  constitute a ground for excluding criminal responsibility under this Article.  
  
Chapter Six 
Special Procedural Provisions

Article (38) 
The federal courts in the Capital of the State shall have jurisdiction to consider all the crimes provided for in this Decree -Law.  
As an exception to the first paragraph of this Article, the military courts shall have sole jurisdiction to consider the crimes provided for in this Decree -Law that are committed by or  
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 against a military or a member of the armed forces, as well as the crimes committed within 
the places under the control of the armed forces or vital or important installations that the armed forces are mandated to secure or guard.

Article (39) 
No criminal proceedings may be instituted or investigation proceedings may be initiated in any of the crimes provided for in this Decree -Law except based on a writ ten permission 
from the Federal Attorney General or the Military Prosecutor, each according to his/her competence.

Article (40) 
Immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, 
whether under national or international law, shall not bar the competent court from 
exercising its jurisdiction over such a person.

Article (41) 
No person shall be tried before the Court with respect to conduct which formed the legal 
basis of any of the crimes provided for in this D ecree- Law for which a final ruling acquitting 
or convicting the person has been issued by the International Criminal Court or any other foreign court whose rulings are recognized in the State, provided the issued ruling is 
consistent with the international standards of fair trial.

Article (42) 
As an exception of the paragraph 2 of Article 20 and Article 315 of the Criminal Procedure 
Code or any other law, the criminal action shall not prescribe nor shall the sentence be  
Federal Decree- Law of 2017 on International Crimes  20 
 time -barred in the crimes provided for in this Decree -Law.

Article (43) 
1. As an exception to the provisions of any other law, a sentenced person in any of the 
crimes provided for in this Decree -Law may not be released before the expiry of the 
sentence pronounced by the competent court.  
2. The competent court shall solely be entitled to decide the reduction of any sentence. This 
matter shall be decided after hearing the sentenced.  
3. The court shall reconsider the sentence to decide whether or not it must be reduc ed, 
after the sentenced person has completed two -third of the sentence period or 
twenty -five years in the case of life imprisonment. The court may not reconsider the 
sentence prior to the expiry of the said periods.  
4. The court may reduce the sentence a ccording to Item 3 of this Article if it is proved to it 
the existence of one factor or more of the following:  
a. The early and continuing readiness of the sentenced person to cooperate with the 
court in its investigation and prosecution.  
b. Voluntary assistance by the person to enforce the judgments and orders of the court 
in other cases, in particular in determining the location of the assets subject to the orders issued to enforce confiscation or compensation rulings.  
c. Any other factors that prov e the occurrence of evident and significant change in 
circumstances that is sufficient to justify the reduction of the penalty, including:  
1. The sentenced person conduct in the course of serving a freedom -depriving 
sentence in a manner that reflects a true abandonment of the criminal act.  
2. The possibility that the sentenced may be re -integrated and successfully 
re-settled in the community.   
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 3. If the early release of the sentenced will lead to a great degree of social 
stability.  
4. Any significant action by the sentence in favour of the victims and any effect 
on the victims and their families as a result of early release.  
5. Individual circumst ances of the sentenced person, including a worsening 
state of physical or mental health or advanced age.  
5. If, upon the first reconsideration under Item 3 of this Article, the court decides that the 
reduction of sentence is not appropriate, it shall lat er reconsider the reduction of the 
sentence every three years, unless the court specifies a shorter period.  
  
Chapter Seven  
Transitional and Final Provisions

Article (44) 
1. The State courts shall have competence to determine any matter not determined in  any 
actions originating from the crimes provided for in this Decree -Law, which have been 
committed prior to its effective date by or against the nationals of the State.  
2. The competent court shall apply to the crimes it has competence over under Item 1  of 
this Article the penalties provided for in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal 
Court and the elements of the crimes adopted by it on the date the crime was committed.

Article (45) 
There is no provision in this Decree -Law that may be interpreted or construed as an 
endorsement or accession to any agreement or convention unless duly endorsed or 
accessed by the State, according to its constitutional and legislative procedures.  
   
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Article (46) 
This Decree -Law shall be shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall become 
effective on the day following the date of its publication.  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan,  
President of the United Arab Emirates  
 
 
Issued by us in the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi  
On: 27/Dhul Hijja/1438 A.H  
Corresponding to: 18/September/2017