The subject of notarisation is one about which this part of the Empty Quarter has a keen interest as it affects daily practice across the region. An article (here) in the latest Law Update magazine from good friends Al Tamimi & Co by Essam Al Tamimi is therefore of note.
This part of the Empty Quarter welcomes the news that it may be possible to have documents notarised by local lawyers acting as Public Notaries.
The text of the article is reproduced here for those without access to the Al Tamimi & Co. website:
DUBAI LAWYERS CAN NOW ACT AS PUBLIC NOTARIES
By Law No. 4 of 2013. the Dubai Government has relaxed the
rules concerning who may notarise documents for official purposes.
Before the law, only certain designated public officials
could act as a Notary Public. These people are located in government buildings
across Dubai (in Barsha, the Dubai Courts, Al Tuwar, Business Village and
Hatta).
However under the new law, Dubai Courts can grant licenses
to UAE lawyers to act as ‘Private Notaries’ . Private Notaries can provide
notary public service to the community in Dubai.
According to the new law, a Private Notary has jurisdiction
to do the following:
1. Notarize documents and contracts of any kind as required
by the law;
2. Authenticate the signatures on documents and contracts
3. Verify the date of documents and contracts by assigning
them consecutive numbers in the registers maintained for this purpose; record
the date of their submission; and to sign and seal such documents with an
official stamp.
4. Notarize and authenticate affidavits after the
administration of the oath to the concerned parties and to register the same.
5. Verify the signatures contracts of marriage between Non-Muslims
and the documents issued by Churches and legal references licensed in the
Emirate.
6. Notarise the wills of Non-Muslims
7. Perform any other competencies according to the
applicable law in Dubai or which is entrusted to them by the Chief Justice or
the Director of the Courts.
In order to act as a Private Notary a person must:
- Have
a UAE law degree.
- Have
no criminal convictions.
- Be a
UAE national (however the Director of the Courts may exclude any Arab
national from this condition, provided that his work experience as notary
public is not be less than ten years).
The UAE Government will shortly be authorizing a number of
UAE licensed advocates to act as a Private Notaries for the purposes of Court
Notary services. These advocates have undergone training courses and have sworn
an oath before the Chief Justice of the Court. The local advocates will then,
from their own private offices, offer the services of a Public Notary for the
purposes of Court proceedings, initially under the supervision of the Dubai
Courts. All Private Notary procedures and notarization processes will be done
electronically through a dedicated website linked to the Dubai Court Notary.
While lawyers can receive clients in their office and assist in the
notarization, the process (including signature) will be performed
electronically, and payment will be done electronically also.
Private Notaries are however restricted from notarizing the
following documents or matters relating to them:
1. To notarize or authenticate any transaction related to
the personal status of Muslims or endowment
2. To notarize any transaction related to the establishment,
transfer, change or removal of a right of ownership or any right in-kind on a
property.
3. To notarize or authenticate any transaction of which
authentication or verification is under the competency of another authority.
4. To notarize or authenticate any transaction that includes
a violation of applicable law, public order or public ethics.
5. To reveal to third parties any information which the
Private Notary has acquired due to his position.
6. To take any registers, documents, instruments or any such
official papers from the place of work without a decision of the Chief Justice
of the competent court, or to combine any of them with the file of a case under
trial without the approval of the competent court;
8. To provide any entity, with the exception of the
concerned parties, with information from the registers, except with a written
request by a judicial or governmental competent authority.
9. To authorize the signature of a federal or local
government employee on a certificate, document or other paper signed in the
course of carrying out their duties.
In addition to the above, a Private Notary may not be
engaged in any transaction if the person who requests the notarization is a
relative or if the Private Notary has an interest in the matter. This is to
avoid any conflict of interest.
It is expected that the Notary services provided by Private
Notaries will be launched in Dubai before the end of the year. So far, 21
Private Notaries have applied to provide this service throughout Dubai from a
number of licensed law firms, including Al Tamimi & Co.
Currently the service is only available in Dubai, though the
notarization of documents by Private Notaries will be accepted throughout the
UAE.
A similar provision to in the new Dubai law exists within
the UAE Federal law system (see Federal Law No.4 of 2013). It is likely that a
similar practice will be introduced on the Federal level in the future.
The Private Notary service is one of Dubai’s recent
initiatives to privatize certain sectors to make it convenient for the public
to reach services that are essential to the public. This is in recognition of
the growth of the city and its population and the need for these services to be
provided more widely in the city.
