The UAE is a welcoming country as it plays home to thousands of expats from various nationalities, and is mindful of the cultural and religious sensibilities of those nationalities for its residents, and is also a huge tourist destination for those looking for a vacation in the lap of luxury.
Last week, the UAE made a decision to further relax some of its stricter laws, making reforms with regards to expatriates’ living situations, inheritances and wills, marriage and divorce, harassment crimes and more.
These are just some of the reforms:
Unmarried Couple Can Now Cohabit
This is a huge and major change in the UAE as this is the first time in history that the country will allow for unmarried couples to legally live together.
Divorce, Marriage And More
In the past, if a couple married in their home country were to get divorced in the UAE, the local laws would apply. Now, the reformed laws mean that the couple’s home country’s laws will apply to their divorce proceedings, and their citizenship would also decide how their assets are divided with their spouse or next of kin. For an expatriate’s will involving their real estate property in the UAE, the UAE laws will be applied.
Alcohol Consumption
The casual glass of wine without a liquor license is no longer a criminal offence. A person that drinks or is in possession of alcohol or sells alcoholic beverages in authorized areas without an alcohol license will not face any penalties. The punishment, however, will be restricted to consuming liquor or serving it or selling it to a person younger than 21 years of age and to those who bought liquor on behalf of a person under 21 years of age.
Indecency
Anyone caught displaying any act of indecency in public will be given a financial fine instead of being sent to jail.
Sexual Harassment
According to the new reformed laws, sexual harassment crimes will be considered the same as murder and punished accordingly. Stricter punishments will be dealt to men who harass women in any capacity. Punishment for the rape of a minor or someone who is mentally unwell will be execution.
