Federal Law No. (10) of 2023 On Mental Health
Federal Law No. (10) of 2023
Federal Law No. (10) of 2023 regulates mental health services across the UAE, protects psychiatric-patient rights, creates oversight and patient-rights committees, and sets detailed rules for voluntary, emergency and compulsory admission, treatment, discharge and community care.
Overview
What this legislation covers
Federal Law No. (10) of 2023 regulates mental health services across the UAE, protects psychiatric-patient rights, creates oversight and patient-rights committees, and sets detailed rules for voluntary, emergency and compulsory admission, treatment, discharge and community care.
Who or what it applies to
- Mental health facilities and services throughout the UAE.
- Psychiatrists, physicians, nurses and other staff providing mental health care.
- Psychiatric patients, their representatives and families.
- Health authorities, oversight committees and judicial/security authorities where the law assigns functions.
- Care homes and community services covered by the law.
Key points
Important points at a glance
Issued on 27 November 2023 and effective from 30 May 2024.
Replaced Federal Law No. (28) of 1981 on mental health treatment/detention.
Defines mental-health services, facilities, psychiatric patients, admission types and compulsory treatment.
Requires mental health facilities to maintain statutory patient records/registers.
Creates Oversight and Follow-up Committees in Emirates providing mental health services.
Requires a Patient Rights Care Committee/mechanism within the statutory framework.
Protects dignity, privacy, confidentiality, informed participation and other patient rights.
Regulates voluntary admission and a patient's ability to request discharge subject to the law.
Regulates emergency admission where urgent risk requires intervention.
Regulates compulsory admission based on statutory clinical/risk criteria and oversight.
Provides time-limited assessments/reviews and continuing oversight of involuntary care.
Regulates compulsory outpatient therapeutic care.
Controls treatment without consent and restrictive interventions.
Contains special rules for minors, accused persons and addiction-treatment situations.
Allows establishment of care homes for patients not requiring inpatient psychiatric admission.
Cabinet Resolution No. (213) of 2025 is the active Executive Regulation, effective 14 April 2026.
Practical explanation
Understanding the law
Purpose and practical effect
Federal Law No. (10) of 2023 regulates mental health services across the UAE, protects psychiatric-patient rights, creates oversight and patient-rights committees, and sets detailed rules for voluntary, emergency and compulsory admission, treatment, discharge and community care.
Who and what the law applies to
- Mental health facilities and services throughout the UAE.
- Psychiatrists, physicians, nurses and other staff providing mental health care.
- Psychiatric patients, their representatives and families.
- Health authorities, oversight committees and judicial/security authorities where the law assigns functions.
- Care homes and community services covered by the law.
Important definitions
- Psychiatric Patient: a person diagnosed with a mental disorder under the law's recognised clinical classification framework.
- Mental Health Facility: a licensed institution providing mental health services, whether independent or part of another facility.
- Voluntary Admission: admission by the patient's or representative's will for treatment.
- Emergency Admission: urgent admission for immediate intervention in a psychiatric emergency.
- Compulsory Admission: involuntary admission under the legal criteria.
- Compulsory Treatment: treatment without patient consent in circumstances permitted by law.
Main rights, duties and legal consequences
- Patients have statutory dignity, privacy and confidentiality protections.
- Patients are entitled to information about care, rights and complaint/grievance mechanisms.
- Involuntary admission/treatment must satisfy legal and clinical safeguards and oversight.
- Restrictive interventions must be justified by the statutory conditions and applicable regulation/clinical standards.
- Representatives and families have roles defined by the law without displacing the patient's own rights where the patient has legal capacity.
Practical compliance / procedure checklist
- Classify admission as voluntary, emergency, compulsory or judicially directed.
- Document clinical criteria and risk assessment.
- Notify the required oversight body within the statutory timeframe for compulsory cases.
- Provide the patient/representative with the Patient Bill of Rights and complaint route.
- Conduct periodic review before extending involuntary status.
- Document consent or the statutory basis for treatment without consent.
- Use the 2025 Executive Regulation for current forms, registers, committees and operational procedures.
Important dates and deadlines
- Issued: 27 November 2023.
- Effective: 30 May 2024.
- Executive Regulation No. (213) of 2025: effective 14 April 2026.
- Compulsory-admission, review, notification and grievance periods vary by the specific article and must be checked directly for a live case.
Enforcement and legal exposure
Mental health facilities and professionals may face administrative, professional and statutory consequences for violating patient rights or admission/treatment controls. Case-specific detention or compulsory-treatment decisions are high-stakes and require the exact current statute and Executive Regulation.
Practical scenarios
- A patient requesting voluntary discharge should be assessed under the voluntary-admission provisions rather than automatically treated as compulsory.
- Emergency detention must be based on the law's urgent-risk criteria and documented clinical assessment.
- A facility using restraint must satisfy both the statute and the current Executive Regulation/clinical standards.
- A complaint about compulsory admission may engage the facility Patient Rights Care Committee and the Oversight and Follow-up Committee.
Current-law interaction
The principal law remains active. Cabinet Resolution No. (213) of 2025 provides the current Executive Regulation and became effective on 14 April 2026.
Research status
Legal-status and source verification for this package was carried out on 2026-09-07. UAE federal legislation often operates together with Cabinet resolutions, Executive Regulations, ministerial decisions, local Health/competent-authority rules and later amendments. The current official source should be rechecked before a live filing, licence application, clinical decision, enforcement step or court submission.
Practical notes
- Use the current official Arabic text for interpretation and application; the English package is a structured legal-information rendering.
- Verify the latest consolidated law, Executive Regulation, Cabinet/ministerial decisions and relevant Emirate-level rules immediately before case-specific reliance.
- Exact penalties, thresholds, exceptions, consent rules and procedural deadlines must be checked against the current article and implementing instrument.
- The supplied cover artwork is editorial artwork and does not constitute an official UAE Government publication or legal-status certificate.
Legislation text
Text and provisions
Official-text notice. This file is a comprehensive structured English legal-information rendering based on the sources listed in this package. It is not represented as the controlling verbatim English text. The official Arabic text prevails for interpretation and application. Exact offences, penalties, thresholds, exceptions, licences, consent requirements and deadlines must be checked against the current official article and implementing instrument.
Federal Law No. (10) of 2023 On Mental Health
Verified legislative metadata
| Instrument | Federal Law No. (10) of 2023 |
|---|---|
| Issued | 2023-11-27 |
| Effective | 2024-05-30 |
| Status | Active / in force |
| Official Gazette | Not entered |
| Official source | UAE legislation source |
Purpose and scope
Federal Law No. (10) of 2023 regulates mental health services across the UAE, protects psychiatric-patient rights, creates oversight and patient-rights committees, and sets detailed rules for voluntary, emergency and compulsory admission, treatment, discharge and community care.
Structured legislative map
Definitions and general provisions
Defines patient, facility, services, voluntary/emergency/compulsory admission, compulsory treatment and related concepts.
Patient registers and oversight
Requires patient registers and establishes Oversight and Follow-up Committees.
Patient rights
Protects dignity, confidentiality, communication, information, consent, complaints and other statutory rights.
Voluntary admission
Regulates admission by patient/representative choice and requests for discharge.
Emergency admission
Allows urgent temporary admission when statutory risk/clinical conditions are satisfied.
Compulsory admission
Sets criteria, medical assessment, notification, review and maximum periods for involuntary admission.
Compulsory outpatient care
Allows monitored treatment outside a facility where legal conditions are met.
Treatment controls
Regulates consent, compulsory treatment, emergency treatment, restraint/seclusion and other restrictive interventions.
Special categories
Contains rules for minors, judicial referrals/accused persons and addiction-related treatment.
Patient rights committees
Creates facility-level mechanisms for rights monitoring, complaints and referral.
Discharge and follow-up
Regulates ending admission, care plans and community follow-up.
Care homes
Allows specialised non-hospital care homes subject to Executive Regulation requirements.
Enforcement
Provides judicial-officer powers and other legal consequences for violations.
Executive Regulation
Cabinet Resolution No. (213) of 2025 provides current detailed implementation rules.
Key statutory points
- Issued on 27 November 2023 and effective from 30 May 2024.
- Replaced Federal Law No. (28) of 1981 on mental health treatment/detention.
- Defines mental-health services, facilities, psychiatric patients, admission types and compulsory treatment.
- Requires mental health facilities to maintain statutory patient records/registers.
- Creates Oversight and Follow-up Committees in Emirates providing mental health services.
- Requires a Patient Rights Care Committee/mechanism within the statutory framework.
- Protects dignity, privacy, confidentiality, informed participation and other patient rights.
- Regulates voluntary admission and a patient's ability to request discharge subject to the law.
- Regulates emergency admission where urgent risk requires intervention.
- Regulates compulsory admission based on statutory clinical/risk criteria and oversight.
- Provides time-limited assessments/reviews and continuing oversight of involuntary care.
- Regulates compulsory outpatient therapeutic care.
- Controls treatment without consent and restrictive interventions.
- Contains special rules for minors, accused persons and addiction-treatment situations.
- Allows establishment of care homes for patients not requiring inpatient psychiatric admission.
- Cabinet Resolution No. (213) of 2025 is the active Executive Regulation, effective 14 April 2026.
Amendments and interaction with other legislation
The principal law remains active. Cabinet Resolution No. (213) of 2025 provides the current Executive Regulation and became effective on 14 April 2026.
Legal-reading rule
This package is designed for website publication, internal research and client-facing orientation. It maps the law's operative subject matter and current regulatory context, but a paraphrase cannot replace the statutory wording. Where the outcome depends on a defined term, licence category, medical condition, consent requirement, penalty, exception, transition rule or deadline, open the current Arabic article and the relevant Executive Regulation or competent-authority decision before relying on it.
Verification
Official source & references
Official legislation sourcehttps://uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/2166Open ↗This page is a research and educational resource. Legislation can be amended, repealed, supplemented by regulations or interpreted by courts and authorities. Obtain advice before relying on it for a live matter.