The Legal Framework

A property Power of Attorney in Dubai sits at the intersection of three distinct legal layers. Each layer regulates a different aspect of the instrument. A POA may satisfy one layer and fail another. Acceptance at the registration counter requires compliance with all three.

The Three Layers

The UAE Civil Code provides the substantive law of agency — what the contract is, who can grant it, and how it ends. Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2022 governs the form of notarisation — who notarises, by what means, and to what evidentiary effect. DLD Circular No. 29/R/2025 sets the property-specific acceptance criteria applied by the Dubai Land Department. The Civil Code creates the instrument, the Decree-Law sets the form, and the Circular sets the registration filter.

Federal Civil Code

Federal Law No. 5 of 1985 — the UAE Civil Code — was amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 30 of 2020. Articles 924 to 961 of the Civil Code govern agency, known in Arabic as wakala.

Article 924 defines agency as “a contract whereby the principal establishes another person in place of himself in a known permissible act.” Article 925 sets capacity requirements: a principal must be of sound mind and have reached the age of majority. Article 927 distinguishes general from special agency and restricts a general agent from making donations or dispositions without explicit authorisation. Articles 927 to 929 establish that an agent under a general POA may not sell or mortgage property without express authority. Article 954 provides that agency terminates automatically on the death or legal incapacity of either party. Article 955 governs dismissal — the principal may dismiss the agent at any time, subject to vested rights and to notice requirements that protect the agent and third parties acting in good faith.

Together these provisions form the substantive backbone of the Power of Attorney as a contractual instrument under UAE law.

Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2022

Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2022 regulates the profession of Notary Public. The framework recognises two categories of notary: Public Notaries operating within the courts and the Ministry of Justice, and Private Notaries licensed under the Decree-Law. The Decree-Law gives legal effect to electronic notarisation, opening the path to remote and digital execution of notarised instruments.

Cabinet Resolution No. 16 of 2024 issues the Executive Regulations implementing the Decree-Law. The Resolution sets out the operating standards for Notaries, the procedures for digital notarisation, and the conditions under which an electronically notarised document carries the same evidentiary weight as a paper-notarised one.

Dubai Resolution No. 137 of 2022

At the Emirate level, Dubai Resolution No. 137 of 2022 authorises digital notarisation procedures in Dubai. The Resolution provides the local procedural authority for video-conference identification, electronic signature, and remote attestation of notarised instruments by Dubai Courts Notaries.

DLD Circular No. 29/R/2025

Dubai Land Department Circular No. 29/R/2025 was issued on 16 July 2025. It is the operative regulation governing the acceptance and verification of POAs submitted to the DLD or any Real Estate Registration Centre for real estate dispositions in Dubai.

The Circular’s scope covers sale, purchase, gift, mortgage, usufruct, and musataha. Its policy intent is procedural transparency, fraud prevention, and integrity of the property registration system. The Circular sets prescribed wording for each transaction type, prohibits QR codes as a verification method, restricts verification to three named electronic portals, sets validity periods for foreign-issued POAs, and prescribes rules for the routing of sale proceeds.

How the Layers Interact

The layers operate sequentially. A POA must first be a valid agency contract under the Civil Code: the principal must have capacity, the agent must be identifiable, and the act must be a known permissible one. The instrument must then be notarised in a form recognised by Decree-Law No. 20 of 2022 — through a Public or Private Notary, in person or digitally. Finally, when presented at the DLD, the instrument must satisfy the wording, verification, and validity requirements of Circular No. 29/R/2025.

A POA may be valid as an agency contract under the Civil Code yet rejected by the DLD if the Circular’s wording or verification requirements are not met. The reverse is also true: a document satisfying the Circular’s procedural requirements remains substantively governed by the Civil Code.

The Practical Implication

POAs drafted before 16 July 2025 may not meet the Circular’s wording requirements. Any property POA executed before that date should be reviewed against the Circular before use in a post-Circular transaction. Where the wording falls short, re-execution is the safer course.