The deed your advocate uses
Litigation power of attorney in Dubai: getting the deed right
A litigation power of attorney is the deed a practising advocate relies on to act in your name. It carries only the powers it names, so the wording is the whole of it.
- Named powers only
- Sub agency handled
- Arabic drafting and translation
What has to be inside the deed
A litigation power of attorney has to be a special agency that names each act, and Article 870 requires it to specify the type of act and the dispositions it entails. A deed written in broad terms reaches acts of management and nothing further.
Governing law
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Articles 866 to 903
Form of agency
Special agency naming each act
Who ratifies it
A notary public
The article the deed is built on
Agency sits in Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, the Civil Transactions Law, at Articles 866 to 903. That law repealed the 1985 Civil Code, so the Article 955 citation still copied across provider pages no longer states current law. For a deed an advocate will act on, Article 870 is the provision that decides whether the wording works.
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Article 870(1)
Any act that is not an act of management and preservation requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails, particularly in donations, sale, settlement, mortgage, acknowledgment, arbitration, administering and accepting an oath, and pleading before the court.
Powers that do not exist unless the deed names them
Article 870 does not hand over a general permission to litigate. It requires the type of act and the dispositions it entails to be specified, so each line below has to be written into the instrument in its own right before your advocate can rely on it.
- Pleading before the court, stated in those terms
- Settlement, with the dispositions it entails spelled out
- Arbitration, named separately from pleading
- Administering and accepting an oath, written out in full
- Acknowledgment, which Article 870 lists on its own
- Sale or mortgage, if a disposition of an asset may follow
What a litigation power of attorney is, and what it is not
It is a deed in which you, the principal, appoint an agent to act for you. Article 866 defines agency as a contract between principal and agent. In this context the agent is a practising advocate. We provide notary services, and we do not litigate. We draft the instrument, translate it, check the named powers against the law and attend the appointment with you. A notary public ratifies it.
The deed names a person, not a firm. That matters later, because Article 897 extinguishes an agency on the death or loss of legal capacity of the agent, and Article 898 lets you revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time, subject to the exceptions that article sets out. An instrument drafted around one named advocate behaves differently from one that also allows a sub agency.
If you have not yet worked out whether you need a power of attorney and which one your matter calls for, that is a different question and our page on a court case power of attorney answers it. This page assumes you have decided to instruct a lawyer and now want the deed itself to be right.
What a sub agency means when the file moves
Files move between advocates. A colleague attends a hearing, a matter is reassigned, or your advocate wants someone else to carry part of it. Article 903 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 deals with sub agency, and the deed should state plainly whether you allow one.
The principal agency
The advocate the deed names
This is the agency you granted. Its reach is whatever the wording sets out, because Article 870 ties every act outside management back to a line in the instrument.
The sub agency
A second advocate acting under it
Article 903(2) provides that where the principal agency is revoked, all sub agencies derived from it are deemed revoked by virtue of law. One revocation reaches both.
Four things the deed should settle
Scope and duration are where a litigation POA is usually either too thin to be useful or wider than you meant it to be. These four are worth settling in writing before anyone signs.
The acts, and their dispositions
Article 870 asks for the type of act and the dispositions it entails, so naming the act alone is thin. Say what the act allows your advocate to sign.
Sub agency, allowed or not
State whether your advocate may appoint someone else under the same agency. If a sub agency exists, revoking the principal agency revokes it as well under Article 903(2).
The term of the deed
There is no general statutory validity period. Article 897 extinguishes an agency on expiry of the term specified for it, which means the term is whatever your deed states.
Language, and who reads it out
Under Article 5 of Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 the notary drafts the instrument in Arabic. Article 7 requires the notary to read out the content and reveal its effects to the parties.
What we need before the deed is drafted
Three sets of inputs. The notary verifies identity from an ID card, a passport or another official document issued by the State. In Dubai the notary public sits under Dubai Courts and Dubai Law 4/2013, which is a separate regime from the federal notary law, and Dubai Courts publishes its own fee schedule. Confirm the current figures with the notary office you use.
From you, the principal
Identity and capacity are checked
- Emirates ID or passport
- Your name exactly as it appears there
- Contact details for the appointment
- Confirmation that you are instructing a lawyer
About the advocate who will act
So the deed names the right person
- Full name of the advocate
- Emirates ID or passport number
- The firm the advocate practises in
- Whether a sub agency is permitted
The instructions behind the wording
This is what shapes the named powers
- Each act the advocate has asked for
- The dispositions each act may involve
- The subject the deed is limited to
- The term you want written in
Where the wording goes wrong
Two short lists. The first is what a workable instrument does. The second is what we find when a deed has been copied from a template and never checked against the law in force.
- Names each act and the dispositions it entails
- Says whether a sub agency is allowed
- States a term, because the law does not supply one
- Broad wording, which Article 871 limits to acts of management
- Settlement or arbitration missing from the named acts
- Article 955 cited, from the repealed 1985 Civil Code
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
Who is the agent in a litigation power of attorney?
A named agent. Article 866 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 defines agency as a contract between the principal and the agent, so the deed has to identify who is being appointed. In litigation work that is a practising advocate, and the deed is the authority the advocate relies on when acting in your name. We do not act as your agent in the proceedings.
What does Article 870 mean by the dispositions an act entails?
Article 870 requires a special agency specifying the type of act and the dispositions it entails. Naming settlement is the type of act. The dispositions are what settling may involve, such as releasing a claim or agreeing a payment. A deed that names the act but says nothing about what it allows is doing half the work.
Can my advocate pass my file to a colleague?
That is a question for the wording, and it is worth deciding before anything is signed. Article 903 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 covers sub agency, which is where your agent appoints someone else to act under the same authority. Say in the deed whether you permit one, and if so for what.
If I revoke the main deed, does the sub agency go too?
Yes. Article 903(2) of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 provides that in the event of the revocation of the principal agency, all sub agencies derived from it are deemed revoked by virtue of law. You do not have to revoke each one separately, although knowing who holds a sub agency is still useful.
My advocate has left the firm. What happens to the deed?
The deed names a person, so it follows the person it names rather than the firm. Article 897 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 extinguishes an agency on the death or loss of legal capacity of the agent, not on a change of employer. If you want a different advocate, Article 898 lets you revoke or restrict the authority, subject to the exceptions it sets out.
What if a dismissed advocate keeps acting?
Article 902 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 is drafted for exactly this. If the agent authorised for litigation acts within the scope of the agency after acquiring knowledge of their dismissal, they are liable. If they act before becoming aware, their act is effective. That is the legal reason it matters that the dismissal actually reaches them.
Does the deed have to be in Arabic?
Article 5 of Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 provides that the instrument drafted by the notary shall be in Arabic, and may be drafted in a foreign language according to the circumstances and subject to conditions set in a resolution of the Minister. In Dubai, Law 4 of 2013 requires a foreign language document to carry a certified translation, with both versions signed.
What if I do not speak the language used at the appointment?
Article 8 of Federal Decree-Law 20/2022 covers it. If the notary is unfamiliar with the language of the persons concerned, the notary engages an interpreter whose name is listed in the Ministry’s Interpreter Register, to interpret in the presence of the persons concerned. Interpretation at the appointment is a separate thing from translating the document.
Start here
Send us the acts your advocate has asked for
Give us the names of the parties, the subject of the dispute, the acts your advocate needs named and the term you want. We draft the instrument in Arabic, arrange the translation, check every named power against Article 870 and attend the appointment with you. We prepare the authority; conducting the case is not part of it. Your advocate acts on the deed, and a notary public ratifies it.
Tell us what the document has to do
Say who will receive it and what you need it to allow, and you will get a straight answer on the wording, the government fees and what to bring. You can also send it through the contact form.
Call us
Speak to the person who will handle your file and get an answer on the same call.
Send photographs of your passport, your Emirates ID and anything the matter attaches to.
Best for a company matter, or anything that runs to several documents.
Visit the office
Jebel Ali area, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. Come in, or have it handled remotely and only turn up to sign.
Opening hours. Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 18:00. Friday, 9:00 to 12:00. Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00. Sunday, closed.