Mohammed bin Rashid issues a law regarding the disposal of the footage and money left in Dubai

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister, may God protect him, in his capacity as Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, issued Law No. (17) of 2025 regarding the disposal of property and funds left in the Emirate of Dubai.
The law defines a cat as money and movable items that may be legally possessed and have value in themselves or with their owner, which are lost by their owner without intending to abandon them, and which are found in the emirate, and do not include stray animals.

He also defined abandoned property as money and movable items that may be legally possessed and have value in themselves, and which the owner or whoever has the legal right to possess them intended to abandon, explicitly or implicitly, and does not include stray animals.
The law specifies the duties and powers of the Dubai Police, as it is responsible for receiving reports of the loss of money and movable items in the Emirate of Dubai, receiving the stolen goods and abandoned funds and storing them in an appropriate place, and creating special records in which data and descriptions of the stolen goods are recorded.

The money left behind, the date and time it was found or received, the place where it was found or left, and the details of the picker.

Dubai Police is also responsible for creating an electronic program to record the footage and the abandoned funds, announce the existence of the footage in the manner it deems appropriate, estimate the expenses for preserving and announcing it, as well as dispose of the footage and the abandoned funds in accordance with the provisions of this law and the decisions issued pursuant to it.

Delivery of the shot
According to the law, the collector, who is the person who finds the piece of money, other than a public employee charged by his job with searching for the lost money, must register the piece of money and the money left behind in the electronic program prepared by Dubai Police for this purpose within twenty-four hours from the time it was found, and deliver it to it within a maximum period of forty-eight hours from the time it was found. He may not dispose of it or He possesses it with the intention of ownership, under penalty of criminal liability.

The law also obliges the person taking the snapshot to cooperate and coordinate with Dubai Police to enable it to implement the provisions of this law, provided that the snapshot is received by the police according to a receipt report, which includes a description of the snapshot, its condition, information about the snapshot, the date and place of finding it, and any other data specified by Dubai Police. The law also specifies the procedures for disposing of the snapshot and methods for recovering it.

Snapshot recovery
According to the law, the owner of the snapshot has the right to recover it before it is disposed of by Dubai Police, and to claim its price within three years if it is sold by Dubai Police. If the snapshot is disposed of without compensation in accordance with the provisions of this law, its owner has the right to keep it in the hands of others.

If more than one person claims to be the owner of the snapshot, it will be delivered or its price paid to the person for whom the competent court decides to do so in a final ruling.
According to the law, a lawsuit claiming the snapshot or its price shall not be heard, without a legitimate excuse, after three years have passed from the date of announcing its discovery. The snapshot or its price shall be delivered to its owner after he has paid the expenses of preserving it and announcing it.

Honoring the catcher
The law stipulates that it is permissible to honor the person who captured it and give him a certificate of thanks from the Dubai Police in appreciation of his honesty, or a financial reward amounting to (10%) of the value of the photograph, not exceeding fifty thousand dirhams, the amount of which will be deducted from the value of the photograph after it is disposed of, whether its owner requests its return or not. The conditions, controls and procedures for honoring the capturer are determined by a decision issued by the Commander-in-Chief. Dubai Police in this regard.

Keep the snapshot
The law also stipulates that the taker may demand to keep the snapshot after one year has passed from the date it was found and its owner has not appeared, in accordance with the controls and guarantees approved by the Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police in a decision he issues in this regard. The taker must keep the snapshot if it is delivered to him by Dubai Police, and return it to its owner upon request.

Cooperation with the police
The law obligates all government agencies and private legal persons to cooperate fully with Dubai Police, and to provide them with the necessary support and coordination with them to enable them to carry out the duties assigned to them in accordance with this law, the decisions issued pursuant to it, and the legislation in force in the Emirate of Dubai, including recording whatever footage and funds that may come into its possession in the electronic program prepared for this purpose with the police and handing it over to it within the dates specified in accordance with the provisions of this law. Law.
Violations and administrative fines

According to the law, Dubai Police is responsible for issuing a written warning to anyone who violates the provisions of this law and the decisions issued pursuant to it, provided that this warning includes the necessity of correcting the violation and removing its causes within the period specified by the police.
The law also stipulates that anyone who violates the provisions of this law and the decisions issued pursuant to it shall be punished with a fine of not less than five hundred dirhams and not more than one hundred thousand dirhams. His Highness the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai shall determine, in accordance with a decision issued by His Highness in this regard, the acts whose commission constitutes a violation of the provisions of this law and the decisions issued pursuant to it, including the violation of failure to correct the violation and remove Reasons for it within the period specified by Dubai Police, and the financial fines prescribed for each violation.

The value of the fine shall be doubled if the same violation is committed again within one year from the date of committing the previous violation, and its maximum shall not exceed two hundred thousand dirhams.

Issuing executive decisions
With the exception of the decisions that His Highness the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai is authorized to issue in accordance with the provisions of this law, the Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police shall issue the necessary decisions to implement the provisions of this law, and they shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Government of Dubai.
Solutions and cancellations

This law replaces Law No. (5) of 2015 regarding the disposal of property and funds left in the Emirate of Dubai. Any text in any other legislation will be repealed to the extent that it conflicts with the provisions of Law No. (17) of 2025. The decisions and regulations issued in implementation of the aforementioned Law No. (5) of 2015 will continue to be implemented to the extent that they do not conflict with the provisions of this law, until the decisions and regulations that replace it.

This law shall be published in the Official Gazette, and shall be effective from the date of its publication.