People facing trial for capital offences in UAE must have a lawyer to defend them, a top Abu Dhabi court has highlighted.
While cancelling an appeals court ruling, the Court of Cassation said defendants in criminal or capital offences with heavy punishments such as death sentence or life imprisonment must have a lawyer to defend them in courts.
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As per law, state bears the costs of appointing a lawyer to defend the accused if they are unable to appoint one for themselves due to financial constraints.
Public prosecutors had referred the Asian man to Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance on charges of attempting to kill his friend of the same nationality and the man had tried to kill the victim when he was sleeping by stabbing him several times in the stomach with a kitchen knife.
Earlier the Court of First Instance had sentenced the attacker to three years in jail and deportation after the term and he was also ordered to pay AED 20,000 to the victim as compensation for the first-degree injuries.
