The Federal Supreme Court has ruled against appeals courts increasing the sentences awarded by lower courts if the convict is the only one to go for the plea.
In what is seen as a landmark judgment, The National on Monday reported that the ruling by the apex court has practically set a precedent for judicial reference by all courts in the country.
In ruling on a case involving a bank manager and three others convicted earlier by a lower court on charges of embezzlement, Chief Justice Khalifa al Muhairi adjudged “An appellant should not be put at a disadvantage by his or her own appeal."
The manager and three employees of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank in Al Ain were acquitted by a court in January. But based on an appeal filed by the Prosecution in December 2006, the four were found guilty. While the manager was sentenced to six months in prison, the employees were sentenced to three months each.
The appeals filed by the four convicts were rejected by the Court of Cassation which in turn ordered the case to be tried under a new panel.
However, the new panel upheld the manager’s sentence but went on to increase the jail term of the three others from three to four months each.
In its ruling Sunday, the Supreme Court turned down the revised sentence and said the appeals court had erred in judgment since only the convicts had appealed and not the prosecution.
The court then ordered the sentences to the restored to the original three months awarded earlier.
According to the prosecution, the manager AM had conspired with the others to illegally sanction loans to their own companies and to those who never qualified for such financial benefits.