It is 5 a.m. in London, or Manila, or Mumbai. Your phone rings. A short, shaky call from a relative in Dubai: “The police have me. I don’t know where they are taking me.” Then the line cuts.
If that is your morning, do not wait for a full picture. The first hours matter more than any later explanation.
At AK Criminal Lawyers, we take these calls at all hours, because we run a 24/7 emergency response. Our work starts at the police station and continues through Public Prosecution, the criminal court and, where needed, appeal. An accusation is not a conviction. We are against people losing their future before they have had a fair chance to defend it.
Your job from abroad is not to argue the case. It is to lock down three things: a local lawyer, consular notification, and a confirmed location.
What should I do in the first hour?
Do these four things, in this order.
1. Instruct a Dubai criminal defence lawyer first
Make this the first call. Not the embassy, and not the police station.
A lawyer in Dubai can inquire at the station, attend questioning once access is allowed, stop damaging statements, and speak to Public Prosecution. Family members abroad usually cannot get case details by phoning a station themselves.
2. Collect the details before you dial anyone else
Have this ready. It saves the lawyer an hour.
- Full name as it appears in the passport
- Nationality and passport number
- Date of birth
- Emirates ID, if they have one
- Last known location: hotel, workplace, airport or home
- The time they last made contact
- Who called you, and what they said
- Any case, report or police number already given
- Medical needs and current medication
- Whether they are a visitor or a UAE resident
3. Contact the embassy or consulate of the detained person’s country
Foreign nationals have the right, under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to have their consulate notified of an arrest. The UAE is a party to it. Ask for that notification expressly.
Be realistic about what an embassy does. It cannot get the person released, stop the case, or replace a UAE lawyer. It can notify family, check on welfare, share a lawyer list and, in some cases, help arrange visits. The UK government’s guidance on being arrested or in prison in the UAE is the clearest official explanation we know of for families. It sets out what an embassy can and cannot do, and how first contact from abroad works.
Use the consulate of the detained person’s nationality, not yours, if the two differ. Save the 24-hour emergency line, not only the daytime switchboard.
4. Stay off social media
Do not post about the arrest. Do not name officers or complainants. Do not write “what really happened.”
Public comments can become evidence, and they can damage a bail application. One angry post, and the prosecutor has it.
What happens after someone is arrested in Dubai?
The person is taken to a police station, then referred to Dubai Public Prosecution, which decides whether to release, grant bail or continue detention. Under the UAE Criminal Procedures Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2022), a person may only be arrested or detained in the circumstances the law permits and by the procedure it sets out.
In practice, the sequence usually runs like this:
- The person is taken to a police station, identified, photographed and fingerprinted. Belongings, including phones, are taken.
- Police may question them and gather evidence.
- Police must refer the file to Dubai Public Prosecution within 48 hours.
- The prosecutor should question the person within 24 hours of receiving the file, then release them, grant bail, or order continued detention.
Detention after that is not open-ended, but it can be extended. Public Prosecution can order detention for 7 days, renewable for a further period of up to 14 days. Longer remand needs a criminal court judge, usually in further blocks of up to 30 days.
Serious cases, such as drug trafficking, some financial crimes and violence, move more slowly, and bail is harder to obtain.
What rights should the detained person assert?
They should ask for a lawyer, ask for their embassy to be told, ask for an interpreter, and refuse to sign anything they do not understand. They should say these things clearly, and repeat them:
- “I want a lawyer before I answer questions.”
- “I want my embassy notified now.”
- “I need an interpreter.”
- “I will not sign any document I do not understand.”
Three further points matter just as much:
- They should give identity details. They should not volunteer a story, an apology or a theory of the incident.
- They should not sign an Arabic statement without a proper translation.
- They should not hand over phone PINs or cloud passwords without legal advice. Digital evidence is used routinely.
Police are not required to wait for family abroad. Access to a lawyer is more consistent once the file reaches Public Prosecution than in the first hours at the station. That is why a lawyer needs to be instructed from outside straight away, before anyone is sure where the person is.
What can family do from another country?
You can act on the paperwork, the money and the record-keeping. You cannot force the pace of the investigation.
You can:
- Hire and pay a UAE lawyer, under a power of attorney if required
- Send passport copies, visas, employment letters, tenancy contracts and medical records
- Ask the embassy to request a welfare visit
- Prepare bail funds and identify a possible local guarantor
- Keep a written log of every call, name and time
You generally cannot:
- Force the police to brief you on the investigation
- Fly in and walk into the cell
- “Settle” a criminal case informally
- Get the embassy to override UAE courts
If you decide to travel to Dubai, tell the lawyer first. Turning up unannounced at a police station rarely speeds anything up, and it can create a second problem if you argue with officers.
Which documents will the lawyer ask for?
Send scans, not originals, unless asked:
- Passport bio page and visa or entry stamp
- Emirates ID, both sides
- Last employment contract or trade licence
- Tenancy contract or hotel booking
- Flight itinerary
- Any complaint, cheque, contract, chat screenshot or police paper already received
- A list of medicines, and a doctor’s letter if relevant
Can the person get bail, and can they leave the UAE afterwards?
Bail is discretionary, and release on bail does not mean the person can fly home. Bail is more likely where the charge is less serious and the person has UAE ties: a job, residence, family. It often comes with conditions such as a cash deposit, a personal guarantee by a UAE resident, passport surrender and a travel ban.
A travel ban is separate from the arrest. Even after release, the person may be unable to leave the UAE until the case ends or the ban is lifted. Do not book a “quick exit” flight and hope. That can trigger a warrant.
If the question is “can they leave?” and not only “are they detained?”, the residency and travel-ban checks go through GDRFA Dubai: 800 5111 inside the UAE, or +971 4 313 9999 from abroad. Use the official Dubai Police or ICP/GDRFA channels, not third-party checkers.
If the person is in Dubai and fears a border stop, our arrest-risk quiz takes about 60 seconds. It organises the facts a criminal lawyer asks for first: police contact, type of allegation, documents, travel plans and deadlines.
Which numbers and offices matter?
Dubai Police and Dubai Public Prosecution are the two you will deal with most.
Dubai Police (dubaipolice.gov.ae; contact page)
- Emergency, inside the UAE: 999
- Non-emergency inquiries, inside the UAE: 901
Ask for the exact name of the station. A lawyer should make the inquiry. Family calling 901 from abroad often gets limited information.
Dubai Public Prosecution (dxbpp.gov.ae)
- Call centre: +971 4 334 6666
- Email: info@dxbpp.gov.ae
- Case inquiries: through the website above
You usually need a police report number or case number first. A lawyer obtains it faster than family.
What should we not do?
Several well-meant moves make cases worse.
- Do not tell the detained person to “just sign so they let you go.”
- Do not send money to an unknown “fixer,” officer or middleman.
- Do not contact the complainant to pressure them to drop the case.
- Do not delete chats, emails or cloud backups from your side.
- Do not assume a minor issue at home is minor in the UAE. Cheque cases, some online posts, alcohol-related incidents, relationship complaints and drug traces are all treated as criminal matters.
If you want to understand how serious the underlying allegation is, our case risk and penalty check gives a risk rating and the factors that affect penalties, including fines, jail and deportation. Our criminal case checklist walks through the stages from police involvement to court. If you are asking whether something is a crime before any case exists, our pre-case criminal risk tool is built for that.
What if we cannot reach them at all?
Start with the lawyer and the embassy anyway. Give the last known location and time. If they arrived by air, give the flight number. If they live in Dubai, give the exact address and the sponsor’s name.
Police will not always confirm detention to a relative calling from overseas. A local lawyer and a consular desk can ask in ways a family member cannot.
Our lawyer charges are as follows:-
How does Phase 1 work, and what does it cost?
Phase 1 is fact-finding, for a fixed fee of AED 8,000 + VAT (5%) to check the case information. It is not an initial retainer.
We arrange for a local UAE lawyer to locate the detained person, establish why they are held, and report back before anyone decides what to do next. That includes:
- Contacting Dubai Police and the relevant authorities
- Attending the relevant police station or stations
- Making enquiries to locate the detained person
- Checking the reason for the arrest or detention
- Checking whether a complaint or criminal case has been registered
- Obtaining the case information that is available
- Identifying which authority is handling the matter
- Updating the family and advising on immediate next steps
Power of attorney. Where required, Phase 1 includes preparing or arranging it. The person granting it must sign. If notarisation is needed, the private notary fee is AED 1,200, payable separately by the client.
What Phase 1 does not include. Unless separately agreed, it does not cover representation before Public Prosecution, bail applications, criminal defence work, court hearings or appearances, substantive defence submissions, appeals, or representation through the full proceedings. We cannot scope that work until we know why the person was arrested and what case, if any, has been registered.
If you already know where they are. If, before we begin Phase 1, you confirm the location yourself and obtain enough detail of the criminal case, the AED 8,000 + VAT (5%) can be adjusted against the professional fees agreed for Phase 2.
No promises on disclosure. No lawyer should guarantee that particular information will be released immediately. Access to information, to the detained person and to the case file depends on the stage of the investigation and the directions of the competent authorities.
What happens in Phase 2?
Phase 2 is the criminal case itself, and we quote it separately once we know the allegations. A single fixed fee for every criminal case, quoted before the facts are known, would not be responsible.
Depending on the case, it can include:
- Representation before Public Prosecution
- Applying for, or assisting with, bail where it is legally available
- Reviewing the allegations and the case documents available to counsel
- Preparing the defence strategy
- Attending criminal court hearings and making legal submissions
- Representing the accused through the proceedings
- Keeping the family informed as the case moves
We hold rights of audience in the UAE criminal courts, so the same practice that attends the police station can follow the case from Police to Prosecution to Court and, if it comes to that, Appeal. We also advise on related corporate, family and dispute matters when a criminal complaint grows out of one. Call us now for a criminal defence lawyer at +971506531334 +971558018669
What should we ask the lawyer after the first 48 hours?
Ask for four facts, in writing:
- The station or detention location
- The alleged offence, in plain language
- Whether the file has gone to Public Prosecution
- Whether bail is possible, and on what conditions
Then decide on travel, money and a local contact person. Choose one family member as the single point of contact. Several relatives calling the same station creates noise and delays.
The order of questions is always the same: locate the person, identify the case, understand the allegations, determine which authority holds the file, then assess the legal options. Whether the person can be released, and how serious the matter is, cannot be answered honestly until the lawyer knows what the case is about.
Who should contact us, and what should they have ready?
Contact us if someone you know has been arrested or detained in Dubai and you do not know where they are held or why. You can reach us by phone or WhatsApp at any hour. Our team, including Dr. Alaa Al Houshy, Ms Amira and Raj Jain, works with families who are abroad and with clients in Dubai.
Have these ready: the person’s full name and passport details, the last known location and time of contact, any case or report number, and whether they are a visitor or a resident. If you have only a name and a time, call anyway. We will work with what you have.
Once you contact us, we confirm what we need, begin Phase 1, and report back with what we find.
From abroad, speed beats speculation. Instruct a Dubai criminal lawyer, trigger consular notification, gather identity documents and stay off social media. The embassy supports welfare. Only a UAE lawyer can protect the file. Call us now for an appointment with a criminal defence lawyer at +971506531334 +971558018669
This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. The procedure and legal options in any criminal matter depend on the individual facts, the allegations, the stage of the proceedings and the decisions of the competent UAE authorities.
