Source: KHALEEJ TIMES

ABU DHABI: The Ministry of Labour warned employers against cancelling the labour card of a worker during his annual leave, denouncing such a measure as unlawful.

In such case, the worker is entitled to a salary of three months and can shift to another firm without the consent of his sponsor.

The open day committee at the Ministry of Labour received on Monday a complaint from a worker stating that his employer had cancelled his labour card right away after his return from his annual leave.

This means that he initiated the measure during the holiday.

As the committee referred the compliant to the Work Relations Department, the ministry affirmed that the labour law prohibits cancellation of the labour card while the worker is on his annual leave and considered the act like an arbitrary termination of service.

The committee also referred a complaint for investigation to identify how the absconding notice against an employee was lifted without the knowledge of his employer.

Source: ARABIAN BUSINESS

DUBAI: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority has said that the Emirates ID card is not yet mandatory for processing traffic and licencing transactions.

The news comes even after the Ministry of Interior told government newswire WAM that ID cards would be required to access any traffic and licensing services throughout the country starting from May 2.

However, on Wednesday Khaleej Times reported that the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai said the card was not compulsory for registration of vehicles, or other transport-related transactions.

Source: GULF NEWS

DUBAI: A court has acquitted a married couple of public indecency after their lawyer argued that their tinted car, in which a policeman caught them making love, was a private place.

The Dubai Appeals Court recently acquitted the Pakistani assistant manager and his wife of committing an indecent act in public.

The Appeals Court overturned the primary judgment of one month's jail followed by deportation after the couple's lawyer Dr Riyadh Al Kabban argued that the policeman could not see them committing an indecent act in public since they were inside their car when he sneaked up on them at Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR).

According to the chargesheet, prosecutors had charged the husband, 28, and his wife, 24, of public indecency, by having sexual intercourse in their car at JBR's public parking.

"The policeman breached my clients' rights and privacy and he didn't have the right [as a law enforcement officer] to peep inside the car without obtaining a permission from Dubai Public Prosecution. He testified before the Dubai Misdemeanors Court that he could not see the indecent public act because the car was fully tinted and had an umbrella at the windshield… he also claimed that he failed two times to see what was happening inside the car due to the tinting. When he failed to see the car's inside, he knocked at the window and saw the husband naked when the latter opened the window partly," argued Dr Al Kabban.

Charge dropped

Prosecutors dropped the charge of having consensual sex against the couple after they produced their marriage contract. They were only charged with public indecency.

The policeman testified during prosecution questioning that he was standing nine cars away from the defendants' fully-tinted vehicle when he noticed something suspicious inside the vehicle at around 9:00pm. He told prosecutors that he had to peep into the car because the tint and a windshield shade prevented him from seeing inside.

"That behaviour by itself is a breach of human rights and a clear violation of my clients' privacy… it's as if he walked into the couple's bedroom and caught them making love. Law enforcement procedures were carried out unlawfully against my clients. They were illegitimately arrested and without a warrant. According to article 53 of the Criminal Procedures Law, a private car is deemed private property, hence the policeman should have obtained a prosecutors' warrant to search and look into the car… what he did is considered a clear violation of my clients' privacy and rights," argued the advocate.

The lawyer asked the appeals court to cancel the deportation order and acquit the couple of the charges.

The Appeals Court judgment remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within three weeks.

Defence argument

According to the primary judgment sheet, the Misdemeanors Court considered that the couple was caught red-handed committing an indecent act in public. Dr Al Kabban countered that argument before the Appeals Court and based his defence on the fact that the car's full tint and the windshield shade made it a private and not a public place.

"The policeman should have obtained a written prosecutor's warrant to search the car… otherwise this will allow any law enforcement officer to walk into private places without a warrant," argued the lawyer.

Source: 7DAYS

DUBAI: Infestations of rats and other pests has topped the list of most common offences at labour camps in Dubai.

Inspectors from Dubai Municipality have been examining the emirate’s 2,000 camps, looking for breaches in environmental health.

Now they have revealed the ten most common failings as they launch a new drive to improve standards.

The most prolific was the presence of rodents and other pests, followed by a lack of cleanliness and hygiene.

The third most common was violations of health and safety, followed by people cooking in sleeping areas or storing items improperly.

Other violations found during inspections included illegally using partitions to divide up rooms, smoking in prohibited areas and overcrowding of rooms.

Hafid Ghuloom, the head of the health control section at the municipality, said poor pest control was a major problem. “We are targeting labourers, as well as the companies, about the importance of keeping labour camps clean as part of a campaign,” he said.

... As workers demand to be paid
Hundreds of labourers marched from their camp in Sonapur to the Ministry of Labour Office in Al Qusais to demand unpaid wages.

More than 200 men from India, Bangladesh and Vietnam - held the protest yesterday, claiming they had not been paid in five months.

They sat in the sand in the scorching heat in front of the office for more than four hours as police and the ministry officials tried to negotiate with the men over the problem.

The workers had not received their salaries even though they had their work permits cancelled.

Source: 7DAYS

DUBAI: Passengers on Dubai Metro are now able to carry two pieces of hand luggage with them.

Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said yesterday that one piece of luggage measuring 81cm x 58cm x 30cm and a second piece measuring 55cm x 38cm x 20cm could now be carried on the trains.

The RTA said that instructions have been put up at various stations across the network to inform passengers and metro staff would use their own discretion in the matter.