Law Statutes

Federal Decree Law No. 2 of 2015
Issued on 15/7/2015
Corresponding to 28 Ramadan 1436
On Combating Discrimination and Hatred

We, Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates State, After perusal of the Constitution,
Federal Law no. 1 of 1972 on Competencies of the Ministries and Powers of the Ministers and its amendments,
Federal Law No. 18 of 1978 on the Crimes against the Religion of Islam,
Federal Law no. 15 of 1980 on Publications and Publishing,
Federal Law No. 3 of 1983 on the Federal Judiciary and its amendments,
Federal Law No. 3 of 1987 promulgating the Penal Code and its amendments,
Federal Law No. 35 of 1992 promulgating the Criminal Procedure Law and its amendments,
Federal Law No. 5 of 2012 on Combating IT Crimes, Federal Law No. 7 of 2014 on
Federal Law No. 7 of 2014 on Combating Terrorist Crimes, Have issued the following Decree-Law:

Chapter 1
General Provisions

Article 1
In applying the provisions of this Decree, the following terms and phrases shall have the meanings assigned against each of them, unless the context requires otherwise:
State: The United Arab Emirates State.
Religions: The divine religions; Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
Places of worship: Mosques, churches and temples.
Blasphemy: Means any act of insulting or showing contempt for God, to religions, prophets or messengers, holy books or places of worship according to the provisions of this Decree Law.
Discrimination: Any distinction, restriction, exclusion or preference among individuals or groups based on the ground of religion, creed, doctrine, sect, caste, race, colour or ethnic origin.
Hate Speech: Any speech or conduct which may incite sedition, prejudicial action or discrimination among individuals or groups.

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