Tools / Everyday
If the police stop you
A patrol stops you, a summons, a search — what is your right and what is your duty? From the text of the Criminal Procedure Law (Decree-Law 38/2022) and the cybercrime law: when arrest is allowed, when the accused is told the charge and the right to silence, the deadlines for referral to prosecution, the right to a lawyer, and who may search a phone. Calmly, with the articles. General information, not legal advice.
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General information from the laws' texts, not legal advice. Channels: emergency 999 · Dubai Police non-emergency 901 · Public Prosecution.
Sources: Criminal Procedure Law — Decree-Law 38/2022 · Cybercrime Law 34/2021 · Traffic Law 14/2024 — licence conditions (Gulf News)
How to use it
- Pick the situation: traffic stop, arrest, search of a person, phone or home, summons, or filming.
- Read your rights and duties with the article text, and what is best to do.
- Keep the emergency and non-emergency numbers; if you need a lawyer, the right is guaranteed from the first moment.
Questions
When can they arrest me without a warrant?
Article 46: an accused present with strong evidence in felonies, in misdemeanours caught in the act that aren't punishable by a fine only, and in specific misdemeanours (theft, fraud, breach of trust, resisting authority, drugs, weapons…). Otherwise by prosecution order.
Can they search my phone?
Article 73 makes searching devices, phones and information systems a power of the public prosecutor when the investigation requires it, and monitoring conversations needs the Attorney General's approval. The text does not give judicial police officers a stand-alone phone-search power — we say no more than the text.
How long can they hold me?
Article 48: on arrest the accused is told the charge and the right to silence, is sent to prosecution within 48 hours, and prosecution questions them within 24 hours then orders detention or release. A prosecution detention order is 7 days extendable to 14, then it's in a judge's hands (Article 107).
Can I film the police?
We found no text specific to filming police officers. What exists is broader: Article 44 of the cybercrime law 34/2021 criminalises photographing people anywhere without consent or publishing their images to harm them (6 months or more and/or AED 150,000–500,000). So the default is not to film without permission, and complaints go through official channels.
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