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The Solari Institute · Jurisdiction Endorsement

UAE Endorsement to AGL

Counsel advising UAE-touching organizations face four layers of AI regulation at once: federal, free zone, sector, and judicial. The UAE Endorsement extends the AGL credential to that architecture, and teaches which body holds authority on which question.

Requires the AGL national core Separately examined Separately versioned
Why the UAE, Now

The map changed in June 2026.

On June 14, 2026, the UAE created a Federal Authority for Artificial Intelligence and Data, consolidating the Artificial Intelligence Office, the Information and Digital Government Sector within the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, and the Emirates Data Office into a single body reporting directly to the Cabinet. It is the most institutionally significant move in UAE AI regulation since the country appointed the world's first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence in 2017.

For counsel, the practical question is no longer whether the UAE regulates AI. It is which UAE body holds authority on which AI question, and the consolidation redrew that map. The endorsement teaches the architecture rather than a snapshot of it, because the rulemaking that follows the consolidation has not finished arriving.

The judicial layer matters first in practice. A court that requires disclosure of AI-generated content in pleadings creates an operational obligation for any firm appearing before it, and it creates that obligation now rather than on enforcement.

Layer One
Federal
Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data, in force since January 2, 2022, including its extraterritorial reach and its provisions on automated processing. The 2024 Charter for the Development and Use of AI, the Strategy for AI 2031, and the International AI Policy approved in September 2024.
Layer Two
Free zone
DIFC Data Protection Regulation 10, effective September 1, 2023, which regulates deployers and operators of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems rather than algorithm content, sets five design principles, and creates the Autonomous Systems Officer function. The ADGM Data Protection Regulations 2021 and their automated processing right.
Layer Three
Sector
The Central Bank of the UAE Guidance Note of February 23, 2026 and its five principles for licensed financial institutions, and the Guidelines for Financial Institutions Adopting Enabling Technologies issued jointly by the DFSA, CBUAE, SCA, and the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
Layer Four
Judicial
DIFC Courts Practical Guidance Note No. 2 of 2023 on large language models and generative AI in proceedings, which requires parties to disclose AI-generated content including its source and any limitations or biases. The Digital Economy Court, and Abu Dhabi's Court of the Future.
The Body of Knowledge
What the UAE Endorsement covers

The endorsement is built around the four-layer architecture, and around the diagnostic work of placing a given client on it.

1
Jurisdictional mapping
Which UAE jurisdictions an organization actually touches, distinguishing onshore UAE from the DIFC, the ADGM, and other free zones operating their own regimes. This is the first question in every UAE matter and the one most often answered by assumption.
Examined
2
The federal layer and personal data
The PDPL's reach over processing that touches UAE residents' personal data regardless of where the processing occurs, its provisions on automated processing, and the conditions that trigger a Data Protection Officer designation. The Charter and the International AI Policy as the principle layer above it.
Examined
3
DIFC Regulation 10 as a governance template
The deployer and operator framework, the five design principles, the Autonomous Systems Officer function, and the prohibition on high-risk processing absent certification. Taught as a structural template worth borrowing whether or not a client formally operates in the DIFC.
Examined
4
Court-facing use before the DIFC Courts
Practical Guidance Note No. 2 of 2023 and its disclosure obligations, what a compliant disclosure contains, and how to run an AI-assisted matter so the disclosure is accurate when it is made rather than reconstructed afterward.
Examined
5
The sector layer and the emerging federal rule set
Financial services expectations under the CBUAE Guidance Note and the joint Guidelines, and how to track Federal Authority rulemaking from June 2026 forward. Taught rather than examined, because the rulemaking is still arriving and a tested snapshot would expire.
Taught

The endorsement is versioned separately from the national core, which matters more in the UAE than in a settled jurisdiction. As the Federal Authority issues binding rules, this endorsement is revised and the core is left alone. Every certificate records the version of the Solari Standard it was examined against.

This endorsement teaches the regulatory architecture and the governance discipline it demands. It is not advice on UAE law, and it does not substitute for UAE-qualified counsel on a specific matter.

Examination and Credential

How the endorsement is earned

The Exam
Scenario-based, seventy-five percent to pass
A scenario-based form drawn from the UAE item bank across the examinable units, at the same seventy-five percent cut as the national core. One included retake within fourteen days, with items in randomized order.
The Credential
AGL-UAE, verifiable
Passing earns AGL-UAE alongside your AGL credential, issued as a verifiable digital badge with a public verification page. A client, a firm, or a court can confirm it directly, and the badge metadata records the Standard version examined against.
Currency
Maintained with the core
Annual recertification covers the national core and every endorsement held, under one fee and one update module. Given the pace of UAE rulemaking, that update carries more weight here than in a settled jurisdiction.

Prerequisite: the UAE Endorsement extends the AGL credential and assumes the national core.

Enrollment

Fee

UAE Endorsement
The UAE module and examination, for attorneys who hold the AGL credential. Every jurisdiction endorsement at this level carries the same fee.
$850

Enrollment: the UAE Endorsement has not yet opened for enrollment. It opens on release, at the fee stated above. All enrollments are final and fees are non-refundable.

UAE CLPD status: the Institute holds no continuing legal professional development accreditation in the United Arab Emirates. Accredited Provider status with the Dubai Legal Affairs Department is being pursued, and no CLPD credit is claimed unless and until that approval issues. The Institute is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by the Dubai Legal Affairs Department, the DIFC Courts, the DIFC Academy of Law, or any UAE regulator. What the endorsement confers is a private professional credential.

The AGL national core is open to attorneys worldwide, and the four-layer analysis this endorsement rests on is published in Solari Perspectives.

Contact the Institute
Common Questions

Counsel practicing in or advising into the UAE: lawyers in onshore firms, DIFC and ADGM practitioners, and in-house counsel at organizations whose AI processing touches UAE residents' personal data from anywhere in the world. The PDPL reaches processing performed outside the country, which puts more practitioners inside its scope than expect to be.

No. The Institute holds no CLPD accreditation in the UAE and claims none. Accredited Provider status with the Dubai Legal Affairs Department is being pursued separately, and any claim would follow an approval rather than precede it. The endorsement is a private professional credential and stands on the published Standard behind it.

Because the architecture is stable even where the rules are not. The four layers, the division of authority among them, and the diagnostic method for placing a client on the map hold regardless of what the Federal Authority issues next. The endorsement teaches that structure and a statute-reading method, and the annual update module carries the changes as they land.

No. It is professional education on a regulatory architecture and the governance practices it requires. Application to a specific matter requires UAE-qualified counsel. The Institute is a private certifying body, not a law firm acting for you and not a regulator.