Question: I was drunk on a flight out of the UAE and accidentally broke the screen on the seat. I was detained and, to my shock, was returned back to the UAE to face criminal charges rather than being dealt with by police at my destination. Why did they do this?
Answer: In this case, I would have to assume that you were using one of the local airlines as both international law and local UAE law states that criminal cases should be dealt with in the country where the airline is based. Article 17/2 of the UAE penal code explains that the country’s code is applicable in all commercial airplanes owned by airlines based in the UAE.