KHALEEJ TIMES,Wednesday, Jan 12, 2022 | Jamada Al-Aakhirah 9, 1443
New law to regulate possession of private property for public use
Emirates:
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and
Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai, issued a law on the
expropriation of property for public use in the Emirate of Dubai.
The new law regulates the procedures for expropriating property for public use.
The law aims to ensure that the rights of owners of expropriated property are
protected and that they are afforded full and fair compensation as per a clear
set of rules outlined by it.
The provisions of the law will apply to the expropriation of property across
Dubai. The law also covers special development zones and free zones including
the Dubai International Financial Centre.
The new law regulates the terms and conditions under which buildings and
facilities can be expropriated including those that are completed and under
construction.
It also sets out the terms for providing compensation to the owners whose
properties are expropriated, as per a Decision issued by the Chairman of the
Court of His Highness, the Ruler of Dubai.
According to the law, if only a portion of a property is expropriated and the
remaining part becomes unfit for use as per Dubai’s construction rules and
regulations, full compensation will be provided if the owner does not want to
retain it to add it to an adjacent property.
The law creates a permanent committee named ‘The Expropriation Committee’ to
oversee all matters related to expropriation of property in the emirate.
The Chairman of the Court of His Highness, the Ruler of Dubai, will issue a
decision on the formation of the committee, its members, decision-making
processes and expropriation procedures.
The Committee is subject to Decree No. (28) of 2015 on the governance of Dubai
Government's councils and committees.
The Expropriation Committee is tasked with reviewing requests for expropriation
including requests to assess the viability of expropriating a property to meet
the objectives of a project.
The Committee may propose alternatives to expropriating a property for a
project, including land grants. It will also assess whether a proposed project
requires full or partial expropriation and evaluate the compensation for
expropriated property.
Orders issued by Dubai Ruler to expropriate property in Dubai supercede the
authority of the Committee.
The Chairman of the Court of His Highness, the Ruler of Dubai will issue
separate decisions for any expropriation of property.
In case the expropriation affects a property that belongs to a local or federal
government entity, compensation will be provided as per legislations and
procedures approved by the Committee.
Expropriations of property conducted before the issuance of the new Law should
follow all procedures and provide compensation as per previously existing terms
and conditions within a year of the effective date of the new legislation.
The Chairman of the Court of His Highness, the Ruler of Dubai is authorised to
extend the deadline by six months. If the deadline is not met, compensation will
have to be provided under the terms of the new Law.
The newly issued Law outlines comprehensive procedures for expropriation of
property, calculating the value of compensation, and appealing against the
expropriation.
The Chairman of the Court of His Highness, the Ruler of Dubai will issue the
decisions necessary to implement this Law. The new Law annuls clauses of the
Resolution issued on 1 January 1964 regulating expropriation of private property
for public use. The Law also annuls any other legislation that may contradict
it.
The newly issued law is effective from the date of its publication in the
Official Gazette.