Penalties for minor criminal offences can be paid online in Abu Dhabi

The move is part of the judicial department's strategy to improve customer services.-Alamy Image

People convicted over minor criminal offences that only involve fines and not a jail sentence, can now pay the court fines electronically and get clearance without visiting the Abu Dhabi courts.
The Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution has launched the new online payment service that enables defendants convicted in minor criminal offences to pay their fines electronically through the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) website.
And after making the payment, the person will receive an SMS showing that they have been cleared by courts.
The move is part of the judicial department's strategy to improve customer services. It is also intended to make everyone achieve justice through the use of modern technology in the provision of judicial services.
Officials from the ADJD said they have over the recent years introduced digital services through use of modern technology in order to meet the requirements of rapid growth in various judicial services.
"The new online fine payment service aims at easing services for customers and speeding up the collection of fines as people have been lining up in queues to pay through the counters at the judicial department offices," said a judicial official.
"Payment of fines for people convicted in minor offences can be made online from anywhere and at any time as people no longer have to visit the courts or judicial department to clear the court fines."
Explaining the new online payment system, the official said besides being convenient to people, the system is very accurate and easy for auditing. "It should be noted that this online service for payment of fines for people convicted in minor offences is limited to fines only," said the official.
He said it includes authorities sending a notification about the fine sentence to defendant through a text message after a ruling has been made. In the text message, the person is told about the option of paying the court fine online through the judicial department's website to avoid legal action in case of failure to pay.
The Public Prosecutor's Office explained that the SMS notification sent to the convict includes the case number and the online payment link, where the user can log in and pay the due fines.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com