In implementation of the provisions of this Law, the following words and expressions shall bear the meanings assigned thereto herein respectively, unless the context otherwise indicates:
State: The United Arab Emirates. 
Ministry: Ministry of Social Affairs. 
Minister: Minister of Social Affairs. 
Competent authorities: Federal authorities concerned with child affairs. 
Concerned bodies: Local authorities concerned with child affairs. 
Child: Each and every human being born alive and below 18 years of age. 
Custodian: The person legally in charge of the child or who is entrusted with the child's custody. 
Foster family: The alternative family entrusted with the custody and care of the child. 
Child protection specialist: The person licenses and assigned by the competent authority or the concerned bodies, as the case may be, to preserve the child's rights and protect him within his respective competence, as mentioned in this Law. 
Child abuse: Each and every act or omission that would harm the child in a manner that prevents his upbringing and growth in a proper safe and healthy manner. 
Child neglect: Failure of parents or custodians to take the measures necessary for preserving the child's life and physical, psychological, mental and moral wellness from danger and protecting his various rights. 
Violence against child: The deliberate use of force against any child by any individual or community that inflicts actual harm to the child's health or growth or life. 
Child's best interest: Is making the child's interest above any consideration and of priority and preference in all conditions, regardless of the interests of the other parties. 
Child pornography: Production, display, publication, acquisition or exchange of a photo, film or drawing via a means of communication, social media, or any other means in which the child appears in an actual and real or fictional or simulated disgraceful situation in the sexual act or show. 

The competent authorities and concerned bodies shall:
1. Preserve the child's right to life, survival and growth and provide all the opportunities necessary to facilitate that and to enjoy a free, safe and developed life;
2. Protect the child from all forms of neglect, exploitation and maltreatment in addition to any physical and psychological violence exceeding the legally and legitimately accepted as a right of the parents and the like in disciplining their children;
3. Raise the child to adhere to his Islamic faith, take pride in his nationality, and respect the culture of brotherhood of humanity;
4. Protect the child's best interests;
5. Educating the child about his rights, obligations and duties in a society governed by the principles of justice, equality, tolerance and moderation;
6. Raise the child to have a sense of morality and particularly respect his parents and his family and social environment; and
7. Spread the culture of child rights at the widest scale possible utilizing the proper means;
8. Engage the child in the social fields of life in accordance with his age and maturity and developed abilities so that he acquires the traits of love of work, initiation, Legitimate earning, and self-reliance.

This Law shall ensure granting the child all the rights determined thereunder and under other legislation in force in the State and protecting him without discrimination due to his race, gender, country, religion, social status or disability.

1. The natural family shall be the best environment to raise a child which existence, maintenance and protection is ensured by the State in order to achieve the child's rights and best interests. When necessary such family shall be replaced by an alternative family.
2. Child protection and best interests shall have priority in all decisions and procedures taken relevant to him. The competent authorities and concerned bodies shall attempt to achieve that through taking the necessary procedures, including:
a. Ensuring fulfillment of the child's moral, psychological and physical needs in accordance with his age, health and family environment, particularly his right to guardianship;
b. Giving the child the priority of protection, care, relief and guidance in emergencies, disasters and armed conflicts and from any crime committed against him;
c. Protecting the child from psychological harm in all phases of collection of evidence, investigation and trial, whether he is a litigant or witness.

The child's privacy shall be respected in accordance with the public order and morals together with taking into account the rights and responsibilities the legal custodian.

The responsible concerned bodies shall implement the policies and programs developed by the competent authorities in all fields relevant to the child.

1. The child shall have the right to life and safety.
2. The State shall ensure the child's growth, development and protection in accordance with the Law.

The child shall be entitled, since his birth, to have a name not involving contempt or prejudice to his dignity or contradicting with the religious beliefs and customs.

The child shall be immediately registered in the birth register immediately after his birth in accordance with the legal system determined in this regard.

The child shall have a nationality in accordance with the provisions of the laws in force in the State.

1. The child shall be entitled to be traced back to his legal parents in accordance with the laws in force in the State.
2. The child's parents or legal guardians shall extract the papers that prove the child's birth, nationality in addition to all of the other identification papers in accordance with the laws in force in the State.

1. The child shall be entitled to express his opinions freely pursuant to his age and maturity in consistency with the public order and morals and the laws in force in the State.
2. The child shall be provided with the opportunity necessary to express his opinion with respect to the measures taken in his regard in accordance with the laws in force.

The child may not be exposed to any arbitrary intervention or illegal procedure in his life, family, home or correspondence. In addition, neither the child's honor nor reputation may be prejudiced. The State shall ensure child protection from all child pornography in accordance with the legislation in force.

The competent authorities and concerned bodies shall:
1. Prohibit employment of children prior to reaching 15 years of age; and
2. Prohibit the economic exploitation and recruitment in any works that expose children to danger, whether by virtue of their nature or for the circumstance of performance thereof.
The Executive Regulations of the Law and the Labor Law regulate the conditions and bases of child employment.

1. The child's parents and the like and custodians shall provide him with the requirements of family safety with the atmosphere of a family with strong and close relations.
2. The child's custodian shall be entrusted with the responsibilities and duties vested in him with respect to educating, protecting, guiding and upbringing the child in the best way.

Subject to the laws in force, the child shall be entitled to be introduced to his natural family and parents and receive their care and to have personal relations and direct contact with both of them.

The child shall be entitled to custody, feeding, alimony and protecting himself, body, religion and property in accordance with the laws in force in the state.

The child shall be entitled to receive health services in accordance with the laws and regulations of health care in force in the State.

The State shall develop it capabilities in the field of protective, therapeutic and psychological health care and health guidance relevant to child health, nutrition and protection.

The competent authorities and concerned bodies shall provide health care to mothers before and after giving birth in accordance with the legislation in force.
In addition, the competent authorities and concerned bodies shall take the possible measures to:
1. Protect the child from the risks and harms of environmental pollution and combat the same;
2. Play a constructive and effective role in awareness in the fields of child health and nutrition, advantages of breastfeeding, protection from disease and accidents and disadvantages of smoking; and develop the policies and programs necessary to improve health media in this regard;
3. The competent authorities and concerned bodies shall take the measures necessary to protect and children from the use of narcotics, intoxicants and doping substances in addition to all substances that affect the mind or from contribution in production, trading or promotion thereof;
4. Support the school health system in order to play its role in the field of protection, treatment and health guidance;
5. Protect from infection with infectious, dangerous and chronic diseases and provide the necessary vaccinations and immunizations;
6. Develop programs for training of workers in the maternal and child health sector and prepare them to achieve the objectives of this Law;
7. Provide psychological care in a manner that ensures the child's mental, emotional, social and linguistic growth; and
8. Take the measures necessary for early examination of children in order to diagnose disabilities and chronic diseases.

No person may:
1. Sell or attempt to sell tobacco or its products to a child. The seller shall be entitled to request from the buyer to provide a proof of reaching 18 years of age;
2. Smoke in public and private means of transportation and indoors in case of the presence of a child;
3. Sell or attempt to sell intoxicants to a child in addition to any other substances that endangers his health which are determined under a Cabinet Resolution;
4. Import or trade in substances violating the specifications approved in the State for children's food, accessories, food or health or hormonal supplements, or toys.

The State shall provide a standard of living appropriate for the physical, mental, psychological and social growth of the child in accordance with the laws in force.

Children who neither have a competent sustainer nor a source of income shall be entitled to receive the State's aid in accordance with the laws in force.

Subject to the laws of personal status and children of unknown parentage, the child who is permanently ore temporary deprived of his natural family environment shall be entitled to alternative care through:
1. A foster family;
2. Public or private social care institutions in case of the lack of a foster family.

The child shall be entitled to acquire knowledge and means of innovation and creation. To this end, the child may participate in recreational, cultural, artistic and scientific programs that consistent with his age and the public order and morals. The competent authorities and concerned bodies shall develop the programs necessary for this purpose.

The publication, display, trading, possession or production of any visual, audio or printed work or games intended for children that arouse the child's sexual instincts or urge him to commit the behaviors violating the public order and morals or encourage on deviance.

The Executive Regulations of this Law shall specify the places where entry of children is prohibited and the controls of entry into other places.

The managers of cinemas displaying movies and TV channels and the other similar places referred to in the preceding Paragraph shall announce prohibition of children's entrance in a prominent place in accordance with the provisions of the Executive Regulations hereof and the other regulations in force.

Communications companies and internet providers shall notify the competent authorities or concerned bodies of any child pornography exchanged through websites. The same shall also provide necessary information and data on the persons, bodies or websites that exchange such materials or intend to mislead children.

The State shall establish councils, associations, clubs and centers for children that are competent with developing the children's cultural, artistic, scientific, physical and other aspects.

Each and every child shall be entitled to education. In addition, the State shall attempt to achieve equality of opportunities available to all children in accordance with the laws in force.

In the field of education, the State shall take the following measures:
1. Prevent children's school dropout;
2. Promote the participation of children and their parents in the decisions relevant to children ;
3. Prohibition of all kinds of violence in educational institutions and preserving the child's dignity upon taking decisions or developing programs;
4. Develop the educational system including kindergartens in order to achieve its purpose to develop each child's mental, physical, emotional, social and ethical aspects;
5. Develop specific and organized programs for reporting and filing complaints in order to ensure investigation of acts and irregularities violating the educational rights set forth in this Law in the manner specified by the Executive Regulations.

The following shall be particularly considered to be threatening the child's physical, psychological, ethical or mental safety and requires his right to protection:
1. Loss of parents and staying without a sustainer or guardian;
2.Suffering from rejection, neglect and displacement;
3. Obvious and continuous delinquency in education and care;
4. Frequent child abuse;
5. Sexual abuse or exploitation;
6. Exploitation by illegal organizations and in organized crimes, e.g.: introduction of intolerance and hatred or urging the child to commit acts of violence and intimidation;
7. Exposure to mendicancy or economic exploitation;
8. Failure of parents or custodians to protect or educate the child;
9. Exposure to kidnapping, sale or human trafficking for any purpose or exploitation in any form;
10. Experiencing mental or psychological disability that affects his cognition.

The child's mental, psychological, physical or ethical safety may not be prejudiced whether by abandonment by the custodian or leaving him in a care facility or institution without a valid reason, rejecting the child by the custodian or refraining from treating him and taking care of his affairs.

The child's custodian may neither expose him to abandonment, displacement or neglect, frequently leave him without supervision or control, quit guiding the child, refrain from taking care of his affairs, abstain from enrolling the child in an educational institution, nor leave him in case of school dropout without a valid reason during the stage of compulsory education.

Subject to the provisions of Clause (2) of Article (2) hereof, it shall be prohibited to expose the child to torture or physical assault or perform any cruel act that would affect the child's emotional, psychological, mental or ethical balance.

The following acts shall be prohibited:
1. Using or exploiting the child in filming, recording or producing any pornography;
2. Producing, publishing, distributing or facilitating children's access to pornography by any means;
3. Possessing child pornography regardless of the intent to distribute;
4. Downloading, uploading or sending any child pornography via the internet or any other communications or information technology means;
5. Custodian's contribution to child's participation in production or filming child pornography or any other sexual acts or allowing the child to do so or help him in any of such acts;
6. Direct or indirect sexual exploitation of the child by exposing or preparing him for acts of prostitution and debauchery whether or not against a consideration.

The following acts shall be prohibited:
1. Using the child in mendicancy;
2. Recruiting the child in illegal circumstances; and
3. Engaging the child in a work that hinders his education or endangers his health or his physical, psychological, ethical or mental safety.

1.The competent authorities and concerned bodies shall work in coordination with the Ministry on establishing child protection units aiming at developing and implementing child protection mechanisms and measures stipulated herein; and
2.The Executive Regulations of this Law shall determine the following:
   a.Competences of the child protection units and the operating mechanisms thereof; and
   b.Requirements to be met by the child protection specialist.

The child protection specialist shall take the oath before exercising his functions and shall be competent to perform the following:
1. Preventive intervention in all cases in which the child's health and physical, psychological, ethical or mental safety are threatened or endangered; and
2. Therapeutic intervention in all cases of abuse, exploitation and negligence and all cases stipulated in Article (33) hereof.
 

The child protection specialist shall, when performing his functions, be entitled to have the following powers:
1. Collect evidence regarding the incidents that are the subject of the report and attend the investigative hearings and trials if necessary;
2. Enter by himself or accompanied by whoever he needs into any place where the child is present with the permission of the owner of that place and he shall present a card proving his capacity;
3. Take the preventative measures appropriate for the child in a manner determined by the Executive Regulations hereof; and
4. Utilize the social researches to reach a determination of the truth of the child's situation.

1. Anyone may inform the child protection specialist or the child protection units if there is a threat to the child's safety or physical, psychological, ethical or mental health; and
2. The reporting shall be mandatory for the custodians, physicians and social workers or those who are entrusted with the protection, care or education of the child.

Whoever attains the age of majority shall help any child who asks him to report the competent authorities or concerned bodies of his suffering or the suffering of any of his brothers or any other child in any of the cases stipulated in Article (33) hereof.

The identity of the reporter shall not be disclosed unless his approval is obtained. The disclosure of the identities of all parties to the incident and the witnesses in child abuse or maltreatment actions when using the information contained in the analyses or media reports or the publication of any material that could lead to the disclosure of his identity shall be prohibited.

The concerned bodies and competent authorities shall provide protection to the witnesses in all stages of the criminal action.

Subject to the provisions of Articles (47) and (51) hereof, the child protection specialist shall, in agreement with the custodian, take all the necessary measures if there is a threat to the child's safety or physical, psychological, ethical or mental health in a manner determined by the Executive Regulations hereof.

Subject to the provision of Article (51) hereof, the child protection specialist shall submit the following proposals to the child's parents or custodian if it is proved to him that there is a threat to the child's safety or physical, psychological, ethical or mental health:
1. Keeping the child with his family, subject to:
   a. The commitment of the child's parents or custodian, in writing, to take the measures required for removing the threat to the child and to keep the child under the periodic oversight of the child protection specialist;
   b. The regulation of the methods of social intervention by the concerned bodies and competent authorities, as the case may be, concerned with providing the necessary social services and assistance to the child and his family; and
  c. Taking the measures necessary for preventing any contact between the child and the threat to his safety or physical, psychological, ethical or mental health.
2. Placing the child temporarily in an alternative family, an association, or an appropriate social, educational or health institution, whether public or private, in accordance with the controls determined by the Executive Regulations hereof.

If the child protection specialist achieves the appropriate measures in a form of agreement, such agreement shall be written, read and signed by the various parties including the child who reached 13 years of age.
The child protection specialist shall periodically follow up the results of the taken agreement measures taken and shall decide, when necessary, to amend the same in a manner that ensures, as much as possible, keeping the child in his family environment.

The child protection specialist shall inform the child's parents or custodian and the child who reached 13 years of age of their right to refuse the proposed measure.

1. The child protection specialist shall refer the matter to the body for which he works to take the necessary measure in the following two cases:
   a. Failure to achieve an agreement within fifteen days as of the date of informing him of the case; and
   b. Violating the agreement by the child's parent, custodian or the 13-year-old child.
2. The body for which the child protection specialist works shall take all actions necessary for referring the matter to the public prosecution.

1. Subject to the provisions of Articles (33), (34), (35), (36), (37) and (38), each and every act or omission that would threaten the child's life, safety or physical, psychological, ethical or mental health in a manner that cannot be prevented by the time;
2. Taking into account the privacy of accommodations, the child protection specialist shall initiate, in the event of significant harm to the child or a threat thereto and before obtaining a judicial permit, to get the child out of the place where he exists and put him in a safe place under his own responsibility. The child protection specialist may ask for the assistance of the public authorities.
3. The child protection specialist shall obtain a court order to continue to take the measures stipulated in Clause (2) of this Article within (24) hours as of the time to get the child out of the place. The competent judge shall issue his decision within (24) hours as of the date of submitting the request.

The child protection specialists determined by a resolution issued by the Minister of Justice shall, in agreement with the Minister and the concerned bodies, have the capacity of judicial officers to prove the occurrence of any violation to the provisions of this Law and the Regulations and Resolutions issued in implementation thereof.

The public prosecution and judicial bodies shall ask for the assistance of the child protection specialist in the investigations and trials in which the child is present.

1. Whoever has been convicted of a sexual abuse crime or pornography crime shall be prohibited from engaging in any work or job that allows them directly communicate or interact with children even if such person has been rehabilitated;
2. The judge shall issue a judgment preventing the person who has been convicted of a sexual abuse crime committed a against a child from residing in the region where the abused child resides five kilometers away from the child's residence; and
3. In all cases, the person sentenced to confinement or imprisonment in a sexual abuse crime committed against a child shall not be released unless psychological tests and examinations are conducted to him before the termination of his confinement or imprisonment to ensure that he will not pose any danger to the society. In case of proving that, the court shall order to put him at a therapeutic shelter after the termination of his confinement or imprisonment. The Executive Regulations hereof shall determine the regulation of putting the sentenced person at a therapeutic shelter and the procedures for hearing the release requests.

A register shall be established in the Ministry in coordination with the competent authorities to record all child abuse cases. Everything recorded in this register shall be confidential and shall not be accessed without the permission of the public prosecution or the competent court as the case may be.

The competent authorities and concerned bodies shall, in coordination with the Ministry:
1. Specify the special engineering standards and specifications, construction laws and safety and security requirements that protect the child from any kind of harm. The Executive Regulations hereof shall determine the controls required for the implementation of these standards and specifications and the exceptions thereto;
2. Establish the controls and procedures required for the protection of the child's safety in public and recreational places and in public transport and the Executive Regulations shall determine such required controls and measures; and
3. The provisions of Clauses (1) and (2) of this Article shall apply to the public and private sectors, save for what is excluded therefrom by a special provision in the Executive Regulations.

The competent authorities and concerned bodies shall take the following measures:
1. Ensure the product safety in order not to threaten the child's rights contained herein and establish the advertising controls that comply with the child's right to health, survival and growth;
2. Control the commercial activities so as to ensure that the child is not exposed to any environmental risks or harms.

The competent authorities and concerned bodies shall ensure the child protection from the dangers of the traffic accidents in accordance with the provisions of the traffic law, as amended especially the following:
1. Prohibiting the sitting of children who are under the age of 10 in the front seats of the vehicles of all kinds; and
2. Establishing controls with regard to the children's use of bicycles.

Subject to the provisions of the personal status law, the competent court shall, before issuing a judgment on the child custody, request the submission of a detailed report about the social, psychological and health status and the criminal status of the person applying for custody or the person for whom custody will be ordered by the court or the submission of a statement that he did not commit any crime outside the State. The Executive Regulations shall determine the procedures for preparing these report and statement.

Whoever violates any provision of Clause (2) of Article (11), Articles (28) and (34), Article (35) or Clause (2) of Article (42) hereof shall be punished by imprisonment or a fine of not less than (AED 5,000) UAE Dirhams five thousand.

Whoever commits one of the following acts shall be punished by a fine of not less than (AED 5,000) UAE Dirhams five thousand and not more than (AED 50,000) UAE Dirhams fifty thousand:
1. Violating the provision of Article (43) hereof;
2. Preventing the child protection specialist from performing his functions or hindering his work; and
3. Giving false information or deliberately hiding the truth of the child's situation.

Whoever violates any of the provisions of Clause (2) of Article (21) hereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than (AED 5,000) UAE Dirhams five thousand.

Whoever violates any of the provisions of Clauses (1) and (3) of Article (21) hereof shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not less than three months and/or a fine of not less than (AED 15,000) UAE Dirhams fifteen thousand.

Whoever violates any of the provisions of Clause (4) of Article (21) or Article (29) hereof shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not less than six months and/or a fine of not less than (AED 100,000) UAE Dirhams one hundred thousand and not more than (AED 1,000,000) UAE Dirhams one million.

Whoever violates any of the provisions of Clauses (1), (2), (5) and (6) of Article (37) hereof shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years.

Whoever violates any of the provisions of Article (26) or Clauses (3) and (4) of Article (37) hereof shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not less than one year and/or a fine of not less than (AED 100,000) UAE Dirhams one hundred thousand and not more than (AED 400,000) UAE Dirhams four hundred thousand.

Whoever violates any of the provisions of Article (27) hereof shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of not less than one month and not more than six months and by a fine of not less than (AED 5,000) UAE Dirhams five thousand.

Whoever violates any of the provisions of Article (14) or the provision of Article (38) hereof shall be punished by imprisonment and/or a fine of not less than (AED 20,000) UAE Dirhams twenty thousand.
If the work endangers the life or physical, mental or ethical safety of the child who is under the age of 15, this shall be deemed an aggravating circumstance.

Whoever violates the provision of Article (36) hereof shall be punished by imprisonment and/or a fine of not less than (AED 50,000) UAE Dirhams fifty thousand.

In implementation of the provisions of this Law, the offender's claim that he did not know the age of the victim shall be disregarded.

The penalties stipulated herein shall not prejudice any more severe penalty stipulated in any other law.

The provisions of this Law shall not prejudice any rights or aspects of protection that ensure that the child enjoys all rights and public freedoms in a better way and the aspects of protection and care stipulated in any other applicable legislation.

The Cabinet shall, upon the proposal of the Minister, issue the Executive Regulations hereof within six months as of the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Any provision inconsistent with or repugnant to the provisions hereof is hereby repealed.

This Law shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall enter into force three months following the date of publicating thereof.