The United Arab Emirates proudly announces the availability of online court and notary public services to enhance convenience for UAE citizens. No longer do you need to take time away from your day-to-day life, as these digital services make it easy and fast for all legal needs!
As the world grappled with COVID-19, the UAE courts declared that legal proceedings could continue online in April 2020. Remote notary public services were announced as a part of this adaptation to modern circumstances and remote technology, giving people the opportunity to complete their transactions without physically having to appear before a notary public which was mandatory prior.
Corporate entities and individuals alike rejoiced with the resumption of their transactions, which saved them from potential losses. Notary public offices were among the most frequented establishments as legal documents needed to be validated by them before being made official.
Now, you can make a Power of Attorney (POA) and authorize someone in the UAE through video-conferencing. Whether you are overseas or inside the United Arab Emirates wanting to provide POA authorization to your lawyer, relative, or friend—it is now possible from any distance! All that needs to be done is for the individual attending via webcam to show their identification card so they may be identified by an official.
With a Power of Attorney, an individual (the Principal) may assign the legal authority to another person (the Agent). Given such responsibility is serious, it must be established and authenticated by a notary public office – part of the courts’ system ensuring documents used in business or legal transactions are legitimate. There exist two main categories when referring to POAs:
Careful consideration must be taken when drafting the POA to ensure that it accurately reflects the parties intent. An imprecisely drafted document can result in costly delays or even rejection by third-party organizations and Notary Publics alike—wasting precious time and resources. Therefore, a properly crafted POA is essential for the efficient processing of legal documents.
All documents must be submitted in PDF format, and each page should include a notarized declaration from the Principal at the footer.
After carefully reviewing all the paperwork and application, the notary public will contact the applicant via BOTIM on a pre-arranged date in order to verify documents and information, ask for additional documents, amend details or simply inform that the POA has been approved and completed.
The Power of Attorney must be submitted in both Arabic and English, authorized by an accredited translator with their stamp included. If the applicant requires a single-language POA to be issued, all documents should be provided only in Arabic. For use abroad, legalization and attestation from the relevant country’s embassy or consulate along with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs are necessary. When further translation into any other language is required for international use, legal authentication from the UAE Justice Ministry will also have to occur.
Alongside the Power of Attorney, a notary public offers online services to:
The Department of Economic Development (DED) has partnered with private notaries to provide remote notarization services which include MOAs and legal documents for commercial companies. This service guarantees that these important documents are officially verified before they can be used or applied.
A private notary must hold a law degree and have no criminal records, but there is an exemption for Arab nationals with more than ten years of experience in the field who can be hired without fitting these criteria. The Director of Courts has exclusive authority to authorize such exceptions.
Private notaries offer a number of additional services for an extra fee, including job offers and employment contracts, mortgage documents, and much more. You have the option to book an appointment at their office or arrange for them to come your way.
If you’re unable to be physically present in the United Arab Emirates, a Power of Attorney is often necessary for certain activities such as leasing or buying property, dealing with business affairs, operating banking services, selling vehicles, and obtaining funds that have been mandated by court decree. Furthermore, these documents may also allow access to criminal records should one require them.
Until recently, conducting any type of international transaction was a complicated and costly endeavor that involved needing to be physically present in the country for notarization, translation, and legalization paperwork. Fortunately, however, with UAE’s online Power of Attorney (POA) service, anyone is able to take advantage of this simplified process no matter where they are located!
The UAE has been a pioneer in responding to the pandemic’s repercussions, efficiently finding solutions and methods that keep normalcy as much as possible. Court proceedings and public/private notary services were among those swiftly addressed by the UAE government, ensuring smooth operations of business transactions and legal processes.
