“It’s no different than what we were in the United States a hundred years ago, right after or during the end of the Victorian era,” Hamden said. “Even though we are seeing globalization, in the city that has defined globalization, we are still seeing a value system that still resembles the New Victorians” (quoted in “They Destroyed Me”, 2008). The Victorian era is the period from 1837 to 1901. This is how Dr. Raymond Hamden, a Lebanese-American psychiatrist who works in Dubai courts, describes Dubai’s criminal justice system. He further said that while he has embraced modernization with high-rise buildings and a very rich economy, his criminal justice system is still evolving.

In criminal courts, equal protection under the law is not usually extended to foreigners. Dubai’s astonishing economic growth is entirely dependent on millions of actively participating expats, from corporate finance executives to domestic and construction workers. The Emiratis, who represent only 10% of the total number of residents, are not enough to meet the demands of “double-digit economic growth” spurred by foreign investment, so even judicial staff and lawyers are foreigners.

Dubai boasts of its corporate legal system as fair and protective of foreign investors. Lawyers, however, deny this fact. In Dubai, the crime of rape is called “enforced homosexuality” as UAE law does not recognize assault or rape of men. HIV and homosexuality are taboos and kept secret in this bustling financial center. These result in rampant harassment of homosexuals and foreigners. Those found to be gay and infected with HIV are denied health care benefits, quarantined, and subjected to deportation proceedings.

According to a Western diplomat familiar with the judicial system, equality exists only in theory, not in practice. It may have worked hard to build a good reputation for delivering fair and speedy dispositions of business claims, yet it is still struggling to balance a penal code deeply embedded in mainstream Islamic and Arab culture with the damage of the overwhelming majority of foreign residents who are mostly non-citizens.

In Dubai, flogging is not a practice. In general, the government observes the constitutional prohibition of arbitrary arrest and detention. However, in sensitive criminal cases, incommunicado detention is allowed so as not to jeopardize the investigation. There were complaints from diplomatic missions that they were not notified when their citizens were arrested and detained.

The defendant can be questioned for days or even weeks without the assistance of a lawyer because a defendant can only use the services of a lawyer once the police investigation has been concluded. The acquittal is based on “without the slightest doubt of guilt”. In other jurisdictions, the conviction is based on “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

In homicide cases, bail is allowed after payment of compensation called “blood money” to the victim’s family. There is no formal leasing system. The temporary release of detainees is carried out only by deposit of money or passport or by personal guarantee of a person signed in a statement.

There is no denying that the criminal justice system in Dubai and other United Arab Emirates is unable or unable to cope with the changing times. Dubai’s legal system remains a precarious challenge when it comes to homosexuality and the legal protection of foreigners despite its status as the perfection of modernism and the wealth of the Arab world.