In his capability because the Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, issued Regulation No. (17) of 2025 on the dealing with of misplaced and deserted property in Dubai.
The Regulation defines ‘Misplaced Property’ as cash or movable gadgets that may be legally owned and have worth, that are misplaced by their proprietor with out the intention of giving them up. Stray animals should not included.
‘Deserted Property’ refers to cash or movable gadgets that may be legally owned and have worth, for which the proprietor or lawful possessor has deliberately or implicitly given up possession. Stray animals are additionally excluded.
The Regulation provides Dubai Police the authority to obtain stories of misplaced gadgets, take possession of misplaced or deserted property, retailer it safely, and keep information together with descriptions, dates, places, and the small print of the finder.
Dubai Police should arrange an digital system to file misplaced and deserted property, announce discovered gadgets as wanted, decide the prices of storing and saying them, and handle the property in keeping with the Regulation.
Based on the Regulation, anybody who finds misplaced property, besides a public worker performing official duties, should register it in Dubai Police’s digital system inside 24 hours and hand it over inside 48 hours. They aren’t allowed to make use of, maintain, or declare the property as their very own, and failing to conform might end in felony penalties.
The finder should cooperate with Dubai Police, and the property is acquired via an official receipt recording its description, situation, the finder’s particulars, the date and place it was discovered, and another info required by the Police. The Regulation additionally units out how the property is to be managed and reclaimed.
Beneath the Regulation, the proprietor of misplaced property has the best to reclaim it earlier than Dubai Police eliminate it, or to assert its worth inside three years whether it is offered. If the property is given away or in any other case disposed of with out compensation in keeping with the Regulation, the proprietor has the best to get better it from whoever possesses it.
If a number of individuals declare possession, the property or its worth is given to the particular person confirmed by a ultimate court docket ruling.
No declare could also be made with no legitimate motive after three years from the date the property is introduced as discovered. The proprietor should cowl storage and announcement prices to reclaim the property or its worth.
Based on the Regulation, Dubai Police might honour a finder with a certificates of appreciation or a monetary reward of 10% of the property’s worth, as much as AED50,000, deducted after disposal, whether or not the proprietor claims it or not. The Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police units the situations and procedures for this reward.
A finder might request to maintain the property if the proprietor has not come ahead inside one yr of it being discovered, topic to guidelines and safeguards set by Dubai Police. If the proprietor later claims the property, the finder should return it.
All authorities and personal entities should cooperate with Dubai Police, assist their work underneath this Regulation, and register any discovered or deserted property within the Police’s digital system, handing it over inside the prescribed deadlines.
Dubai Police might difficulty a written warning to anybody who violates this Regulation or its choices, requiring them to right the violation inside a set deadline. Fines vary from AED500 to AED100,000, doubling for repeated violations inside a yr, as much as AED200,000.
The Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police points choices to implement this Regulation, besides these reserved for The Government Council of Dubai and publishes them within the Official Gazette.
This Regulation replaces Regulation No. (5) of 2015 on the Disposal of Misplaced and Deserted Property; and annuls any conflicting provisions in different laws. Rules and choices issued underneath Regulation No. (5) of 2015 will stay in impact, offered they don’t contradict the provisions of Regulation No. (17) of 2025, till new rules and choices are launched to interchange them.
The Regulation is efficient from the day of its publication within the Official Gazette.