Hamdan bin Mohammed Issues Camera Use Regulation for Violations

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and in his capacity as Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai, has issued Executive Council Resolution No. (13) of 2026 regulating the use of cameras in documenting the tasks of apprehending violations and undertaking the enforcement procedures relating to judicial judgments, decisions, and orders, in accordance with the applicable legislation and under the supervision of the competent judge.

The Resolution is issued as part of the Dubai Government's commitment to enhancing professional conduct and ensuring the quality of performance of the officers entrusted with apprehending violations or undertaking enforcement procedures, enabling them to carry out their assigned tasks in accordance with the highest standards of transparency and credibility, in a manner that safeguards the rights of individuals and ensures the officers' compliance with the legislation in force in the Emirate of Dubai while performing their duties, as well as employing technology to verify the validity of the procedures and measures taken by the officers while carrying out their work.

The Resolution sets out the rules and controls governing the use of cameras, stipulating that their use shall be limited to documenting the officer's tasks in apprehending violations or undertaking enforcement procedures, while defining the nature of the tasks permitted to be documented and the places where cameras may be used, in addition to keeping the recordings in secure and encrypted storage databases, and protecting them from unauthorized access, tampering, violation, hacking, or any unlawful processing, in accordance with the mechanisms and time periods specified in the legislation in force in the Emirate of Dubai and the requirements approved by the Dubai Electronic Security Center.

The controls set out in the Resolution also include the obligation of government entities to apply the policies approved by the Dubai Electronic Security Center in relation to information security and business continuity, and to follow the mechanisms approved by the Center regarding the handover and receipt of recordings and their implementation in accordance with the procedures and instructions it issues, in addition to establishing a database at the government entity that includes the persons authorized to view the recordings and their permissions, and obliging its employees, workers, and authorized persons to comply with the standards relating to privacy protection.

The Resolution sets out the obligations of the officer entrusted with apprehending violations or undertaking the procedures for enforcing judicial judgments, decisions, and orders, most notably using the camera for official purposes only and in accordance with the instructions issued by the government entity to which the officer belongs, and refraining from operating it in places enjoying a high degree of privacy, such as private residences, the private life of individuals, places of worship, changing rooms, and other similar places, as well as the necessity of informing the persons present during the performance of the task of apprehending violations or undertaking enforcement procedures that the task or procedures being undertaken are being documented and recorded by the camera.

The Resolution also affirms the officer's obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the contents of the recordings, and not to hand them over, transfer, store, send, or publish them except to the government entity to which the officer belongs or to the person designated by that entity, while prohibiting the copying, transfer, or saving of the recordings on any personal device or unapproved storage medium, or using them for any personal or unlawful purpose, or any purpose contrary to the provisions of the Resolution, the resolutions issued pursuant to it, and the legislation in force in the Emirate of Dubai.

The Resolution obliges government entities to conduct a training course for the officer before granting them the status of judicial control, provided that it includes the mechanism for implementing the provisions of the Resolution, the mechanism for documenting the tasks of apprehending violations or undertaking enforcement procedures, how to keep the contents of the recordings and hand them over and transfer them to the person designated by the government entity, in addition to the ethical and legal duties and responsibilities to be observed when using cameras, particularly with regard to privacy protection.

The Resolution also addresses the obligations of private companies and establishments contracted by government entities or to which any of their competencies established under the applicable legislation are entrusted.

With regard to the confidentiality of recordings, the Resolution stipulates that the recordings shall be created and kept electronically at the competent government entity, and shall have a confidential status in accordance with the rules for keeping recordings determined by the Dubai Electronic Security Center, and shall not be exploited, published, disclosed, or copied, nor shall third parties be enabled to view or access them, except with written permission from the government entity that retains them, and for the purposes specified in that permission and in accordance with the legislation in force in the Emirate of Dubai.

The Resolution stipulates that, with the exception of the resolutions that the Chairman of the Supreme Legislation Committee in the Emirate of Dubai is competent to issue in accordance with its provisions, the head of the government entity shall issue the resolutions necessary to implement the provisions of the Resolution within the scope of competence of the government entity under his supervision. The Resolution also provides for the repeal of any provision contained in any other resolution to the extent that it conflicts with its provisions, and that it shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall come into effect as of the date of its publication.