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"From my experience nationality is a factor," he says. "A UAE national wants to continue his life in the UAE so he will be given a lenient punishment in order for him to be released."
Dr Hammadi recalls a bribery case 18 months ago where he represented an Emirati man working for the government.
"It was a felony case so the sentence should have been three years up to 10 years. The panel sentenced him to one year, which was below the limit because the court applied mitigating factors and one of those factors was because he was a UAE national. In the appeal court, I was able to reduce it to six months because he was a UAE national - but the court will not say that in their decision."
Mr Odeh agrees that nationality can be a factor in reducing sentencing.
"It goes hand in hand with the type of judge. You can't deport an Emirati - where is he going to go? At the end of the day he's going to come back here and the government prides itself on protecting the interests of its own nation. There are barely a million people so there always needs to be a little bit of leniency with them. They are the pride of the nation but you do get Emiratis who get very harsh sentences and fines as well."
Such a policy conflicts with the UAE constitution that stipulates that all people, irrespective of their race, nationality, religion and social position, are equal before the law.

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Whether a case comes to the public's attention through the media can also influence the outcome, with less publicised cases receiving less punishment.

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