If an agent overreaches
Power of attorney misuse in Dubai: where you stand
If you are worried about power of attorney misuse in Dubai, start with the document itself. An agent’s authority never stretches beyond the wording, and Article 898 lets you restrict or end that authority at any time.
- Read the wording first
- Restrict or end it
- Notice makes it bite
The short answer on power of attorney misuse in Dubai
An act outside the wording of the power of attorney was never authorised by that document in the first place, so the first thing to read is the paper, not the conduct. Article 898 then lets you restrict or end the agency at any time, subject to two exceptions written into the same article.
What limits an agent
The wording of the power of attorney
Right to withdraw it
Article 898, exercisable at any time
What makes it bite
Written notice to the agent and holders
An agent can only do what the wording allows
Agency sits in the Civil Transactions Law, Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, at Articles 866 to 903. Article 870 requires a special agency specifying the type of act for a sale, a mortgage, a settlement, an acknowledgement, arbitration or pleading before a court. Article 871 adds that an agency expressed in general terms grants only the power to perform acts of management. The document draws the outer edge of what the agent may do.
That has a consequence worth holding on to, and it is the most useful thing on this page. If the act you are worried about is not named in the power of attorney, the document never granted it, whatever anyone says about the intention behind it. So read the wording against the exact act in question, and read the Arabic, because the Arabic text is the notarised instrument.
Your right to withdraw, and the limit written beside it
Article 898 has two halves and both matter. The first gives the principal the right to revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time, so an agency can be narrowed rather than ended outright. The second half is the limit. Where the agency involves a right of a third party, or was issued in the interest of the agent, it cannot be terminated or restricted without the consent of the person it was issued for.
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, Article 898
The principal may revoke or restrict the authority of their agent at any time, unless the agency involves a right of a third party or was issued in the interest of the agent, in which case the principal may not terminate or restrict it without the consent of the person in whose interest it was issued.
What to look at first
Work from the paper outwards. Each of these tells you something about what the agency actually covered, and together they show whether the act in question was ever inside it.
- The exact acts the power of attorney names
- Whether a special agency was required for that act
- The term written into the document, if there is one
- The date it was issued and the office that attested it
- Whether the agent may appoint a sub-agent under it
- Who else still holds an original or a copy of it
The line that separates two different situations
Where an act sits against the wording changes what the question is, and it changes who you should be talking to about it.
Within the wording
Authorised, but not what you wanted
The agent acted inside the document, and your concern is the choice rather than the authority. Article 898 lets you restrict or end the agency from here on.
Outside the wording
Never authorised in the first place
The act is not named in the power of attorney, so that document did not grant it. Whether anything has already moved is a question for your own lawyer.
What to do now
Take these in order, and keep the two halves apart. The instrument is our part. Anything that has already moved is a matter for your own lawyer and, if you judge it appropriate, the authorities.
1
Read the wording against the act in question
Put the power of attorney next to the exact act that worries you, and read the Arabic. Under Article 870, a sale, a mortgage, a settlement, an acknowledgement, arbitration and pleading before a court each need a special agency that names the act. Article 871 limits an agency written in general terms to acts of management. If the act is not named, that document did not authorise it.
2
Check whether the authority is still running
Article 897 extinguishes an agency on completion of the work entrusted to the agent, on expiry of the term specified for the agency, and on the death or loss of legal capacity of either the principal or the agent. None of that marks the paper. There is no general statutory validity period in UAE law, so the term is whatever the document itself says.
3
Decide whether to restrict it or end it
Article 898 lets you do either, at any time, unless the agency involves a right of a third party or was issued in the interest of the agent. Article 899 is the counterweight. The principal is obliged to compensate the agent for damage suffered as a result of revoking at an inappropriate time, or without an acceptable justification. It is a right, not a step without consequence.
4
Serve it properly and keep the proof
A revocation is drafted in Arabic and signed before a notary public, and then it has to reach people. Article 902 says a litigation agent who acts after acquiring knowledge of their dismissal is liable, and that an act done before they knew is effective. Notice is what moves that line, which is why the cancellation page treats it as half the job.
How tight drafting prevents most of it
A great deal of what worries a principal later was settled at the drafting stage, in wording nobody read twice.
Name the act, not the subject
Article 870 requires a special agency specifying the type of act. A document that names the transaction precisely cannot be read across to cover a different one.
Write a term into the document
Article 897 ends an agency when the term specified for it expires. Where no term is written in, nothing expires on its own and nothing marks the paper.
Say whether a sub-agent is allowed
Article 903(2) revokes every sub-agency when the principal agency is revoked. Saying plainly whether the agent may appoint anyone at all settles the point earlier.
Check the Arabic against the English
The Arabic is the notarised instrument. Dubai Law 4/2013 permits a foreign language document only with a certified translation, both versions signed by the parties.
What we can do, and what needs your own lawyer
We are lawyers and legal consultants working on the instrument. We provide notary services, and we are not litigators. The first list is our part. The second is not.
- Read the wording, Arabic and English, against the act in question
- Draft a restriction or a revocation and arrange the legal translation
- Attend the notary appointment and help you serve notice and prove it
- Anything where money or property has already moved
- Any decision about involving the authorities
- Any question about what follows from what has happened
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often on this one.
What counts as misuse of a power of attorney?
In practical terms, an act the document does not authorise. An agent’s authority never stretches beyond the wording. Article 871 limits an agency expressed in general terms to acts of management, and A special agency naming the act is what Article 870 requires for a sale, a mortgage, a settlement, an acknowledgement, arbitration or pleading before a court.
Can I narrow a power of attorney instead of ending it?
Yes. Article 898 of Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 lets the principal revoke or restrict the agent’s authority at any time. Restricting often fits better where the agency still has a job to finish and only one part of it has become a problem. Article 898 puts restricting and revoking on exactly the same footing, so the two exceptions in that article apply equally to both.
Are there cases where I cannot withdraw the authority?
Two, and both sit inside Article 898. Where the agency involves a right of a third party, or where it was issued in the interest of the agent, the principal may not terminate or restrict it without the consent of the person in whose interest it was issued. Read the document for either of those first.
Can revoking carry a cost for me?
It can. Article 899 obliges the principal to compensate the agent for any damage suffered as a result of revoking the agency at an inappropriate time, or without an acceptable justification. That does not take the right in Article 898 away. It means the timing and the reason are worth thinking about before you act.
Does an agency ever end without me doing anything?
Yes. Article 897 extinguishes an agency on completion of the work entrusted to the agent, on expiry of the term specified for the agency, and on the death or loss of legal capacity of either the principal or the agent. Nothing is stamped on the document when any of that happens.
My agent says the wording covers what they did. How is that settled?
By reading the document, not by arguing about intention. Article 870 requires the type of act to be specified for a sale, a mortgage, a settlement, an acknowledgement, arbitration or pleading before a court. If the act is not named there, the power of attorney did not grant it. Send us the Arabic text and we will read it.
Money has already moved. What is your part and what is not?
Our part is the instrument. We read the wording, draft a restriction or a revocation, arrange the Arabic legal translation, attend the notary appointment, and help you serve notice and keep proof of it. Anything concerning what has already moved belongs with your own lawyer and, if you judge it appropriate, the authorities.
Which law governs agency in the UAE now?
Federal Decree-Law 25/2025, the Civil Transactions Law, which repealed Federal Law 5 of 1985. Agency runs from Article 866 to Article 903. Revocation is Article 898, extinction is Article 897, and compensation is Article 899. Guidance still citing Article 955 of the 1985 Civil Code is citing a repealed text.
Start here
Start with the wording, and start early
We are lawyers and legal consultants providing notary services. Send us the power of attorney you are worried about. We read the Arabic against the act in question, tell you plainly what it does and does not authorise, draft a restriction or a revocation, arrange the legal translation, attend the notary appointment with you, and help you put the agent and the record holders on notice.
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.