Legislation Overview
- Title: Federal Law Concerning Antiquities - Type: Federal Law - Issued Date: 11 Jun 2017 - Effective Date: 07 Dec 2017 - Sector: Culture and Media - Number of Articles: 85 - Status: Active
Summary
This Federal Law establishes the legal framework for the protection, preservation, and management of antiquities in the United Arab Emirates. It defines the roles and responsibilities of the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development and the local authorities in each Emirate regarding the identification, registration, and safeguarding of both movable and immovable antiquities. The law also regulates the exploration, trade, and cross-border movement of antiquities to prevent their loss or illegal trafficking. (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Arts. 1-42)
What is the scope and purpose of this law?
The purpose of this law is to preserve the national identity and cultural heritage of the UAE through the protection of immovable and movable antiquities. It applies to all national antiquities within the UAE, but does not cover foreign antiquities except in specific cases outlined in the legislation. (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 3)
What are the key definitions?
According to Article 1, key terms defined in this law include: - "The State": United Arab Emirates - "The Ministry": The Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development - "The Competent Authority": The local authority concerned with antiquities in each Emirate - "Antiquity": Movable or immovable objects produced by humans before 100 years ago, or human, animal, or plant remains over 600 years old, that have historical, artistic, scientific, or other unique value - "Movable Antiquity": An antiquity that is not fixed to the ground - "Immovable Antiquity": An antiquity that can be separated from the ground without damage (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 1)
What are the main obligations and requirements?
Key obligations under this law include: - Private owners of antiquities must register them with the Competent Authority within 2 years (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 11) - Unintentional finders of antiquities must notify the authorities within 24 hours (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 12) - Antiquities cannot be damaged, changed, or have signs/posters placed on them without permission (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 13) - Antiquities cannot be traded, disposed of, or exported/imported without a license from the Competent Authority (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Arts. 14-16)
What are the rights and protections?
This law grants the following rights and protections: - Antiquities and sites are public property of the Emirate, unless owned by another entity (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 5) - The Ministry and Competent Authority can recover lost or smuggled antiquities owned by the State (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 7) - The Competent Authority can display antiquities outside the UAE and allow temporary entry of immovable antiquities (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 8) - The Ministry can provide technical or financial assistance for antiquity maintenance and restoration (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 10)
What are the penalties for non-compliance?
The law outlines the following penalties for violations: - Imprisonment and/or fines for damaging, changing, or forging antiquities (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Arts. 33-37) - Fines for failing to notify authorities of discovered antiquities (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 38) - Confiscation of illegally possessed, smuggled, or traded antiquities (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 17)
How does this law interact with other UAE legislation?
This law references and interacts with several other UAE federal laws, including: - Federal Law No. 1 of 1972 on the Competences of Ministries and Powers of Ministers - Federal Law No. 5 of 1985 on the Civil Transactions Law - Federal Law No. 3 of 1987 on the Penal Code - Federal Law No. 35 of 1992 on the Penal Procedures Law - Federal Law No. 2 of 2011 establishing the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017)
When did this law come into effect and what are the transitional provisions?
This Federal Law Concerning Antiquities came into effect on 7 December 2017, approximately 6 months after it was issued on 11 June 2017. (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017) The law does not specify any transitional provisions, but requires private owners to register their antiquities with the Competent Authority within 2 years of the law's effective date. (Federal Law Concerning Antiquities, 2017, Art. 11)
Source Documents
This article analyses Federal Law Concerning Antiquities for legal research and educational purposes. For the purpose of interpretation and application, reference must be made to the original Arabic text. In case of conflict, the Arabic text prevails. This does not constitute legal advice.