The Emirati legislator’s confrontation of Extremist or Terrorist Ideology by counseling: An analytical study

Abstract

This study dealt with the Emirati legislator’s confrontation of Extremist or Terrorist Ideology by counseling. It investigated the nature of this Ideology by defining it as an attitude where a person clings to ideas, values, beliefs, or philosophies that contradict the prevailing thought in society. It also defined it by virtue of the evidence of behavior and willingness to cause material or moral harm to individuals or public/private property, inside or outside the territory of the State, for the purpose of achieving the espoused goals and principles, without starting implementation. As for counseling, it is a special penal measure, imposed by a court ruling on those who are involved in a terrorist threat situation before committing the crime. It also applies to those convicted of terrorist crimes through Public Prosecution, in which case they are advised and guided through specialists to correct their thoughts and beliefs, a process that is reviewed periodically by the competent court by means of reports submitted to it from the relevant centers. The convicted, subject to the counseling measure, has not been given the right to appeal the ruling, which is considered a deprivation of an important litigation guarantee.