Круглый стол в сотрудничестве с Арабским центром правовых и судебных исследований

During a Round Table in Cooperation with the Arab Centre for Legal and Judicial Research The ADJD Discusses the “Future of Criminal Courts and Smart Sentencing in Light of Legislation and Principles of the UAE Judiciary and International Best Practices" November 13, 2022 The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) remotely organised an international roundtable discussion entitled “Foreseeing the Future of Criminal Courts, Smart Sentencing and the Discretionary Power of the Criminal Court in Assessing the Penalty and the Role of the Public Prosecution in Light of Legislation and Principles of the UAE Judiciary and International Best Practices", in cooperation with the Arab Centre for Legal and Judicial Research (CARJJ), - Council of Arab Justice Ministers, with the participation of several members of the judiciary, Legal consultants and international experts. In his opening speech, Counsellor Ali Al Shaer Al Dhaheri, Director of the Judicial Inspection at the ADJD, pointed out that the judicial system in Abu Dhabi has achieved a leading position in the process of digital transformation of litigation procedures, while at the same time proving its effectiveness in maintaining the quality of judicial services provided to meet all court users' needs, without infringing on the legal controls of the litigation process, and in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, to ensure customer happiness by providing smart and innovative legal and judicial services, and to ensure business sustainability and continuity in the light of a forward-looking approach. Mr. Ali Al Shaer also highlighted the importance of benefiting from the ADJD's experience in the digital transformation process, especially the experience of the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court, which has made great strides in this regard, from the notification of the case to the issuance of the criminal judgement, at first instance, appeal and cassation, and finally the enforcement of judgements. He voiced his hope that the roundtable will culminate in recommendations that meet the aspirations of the courts at all levels inside and outside the country, and that the experiences shared at this event will be capitalised upon. For his part, Judge Mansour Almarzouqi, President of the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court, said that the ADJD has taken pioneering and proactive steps in the field of digital transformation by using artificial intelligence in judicial processes, both in procedural aspects and in judicial and sentencing segments. The ADJD, he added, has endeavoured to develop its programmes and transform them into digital and intelligent tools at the service of the judge to help him/her overcome the usual challenges, and this explains the positive results obtained in accelerating the pace of rendering smart judgments, facilitating litigation procedures and the journey of the court users. On his part, Judge Dr. Ridha Khemakhem from Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation, made a presentation on the sentencing criteria for the criminal judge and the role of artificial intelligence in the field of sentencing, while stressing the importance for the criminal judge to determine the sentence in order to guarantee the rights of the litigants. The role of artificial intelligence in sentencing depends on the data fed to it, but nonetheless affords an opportunity for rapid determination in certain cases, he said. The robot judge, although having many advantages, can in no way substitute the human judge, he added. Mrs. Noura Almansoori, Technical Engineer at the Information Technology Division of the ADJD, provided a presentation on a project being implemented within the Judicial Department for the benefit of the criminal courts, which consists of a plan for the improvement of judgments and immediate delivery of rulings, whereby new forms will be developed and added to the system of the Public Prosecution, and the same forms will be made available using open source frameworks at all levels of the litigation procedures in the criminal courts taking advantage of the speed of automated analysis within the database, which will include the addition of certain legal procedures relating to sentencing at first instance, appeal and cassation, as well as the delivery of immediate judicial decisions in certain types of criminal cases using artificial intelligence. Also, the roundtable, which unfolded over 3 days, reviewed a number of topics, the most important of which were the use of technology and smart judgements in the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court, the power of the criminal judge to assess punishment, aggravating or mitigating factors and suspended sentences, the criteria for criminal sentencing, the role of the public prosecution in criminal sentencing in light of Canadian and comparative legislation and judicial systems, the discretion of the judge in Canadian and comparative legislation and judicial systems, and the role of artificial intelligence in the judicial arena. It also discussed the criteria for sentencing in the criminal courts from the perspective of the American and comparative experiences, including therapeutic courts, problem-solving courts and mental health courts, the new trends in smart sentencing and smarter judgements in the light of Emirati and comparative legislation, and the positive role of the public prosecution in preparing the criminal case file and recommending the sentence in the light of its objectives and criteria.