Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation, Civil Appeals Nos. 132 and 134 of 2024, judgment of 25 September 2024
Under Articles 2, 3, 4 and 6 of Abu Dhabi Law No. 3 of 2005 and its implementing regulation, the real estate register kept by the municipal registration department is binding on everyone and its entries may be challenged only for fraud or forgery. Every disposition creating, transferring or ending a real right, and every final judgment establishing one, must be registered and has no effect otherwise. The title deed is the only means of proving ownership. A co-owner who builds on jointly owned land with the others' knowledge acts as their agent and may recover their shares of the cost.
Heirs inherited a residential plot in Al Ain. In 2011 one heir paid AED 870,000 to build on it. He later sued his co-heirs for their share of the building costs, for compensation, and for partition of the property or, if partition proved impossible, its sale at public auction with the proceeds shared by inheritance shares. The expert committee found partition impossible. The courts below ordered two co-heirs to pay their share of the costs but refused the auction sale on the ground that the heirs' shares could not be disposed of unless each owned alternative housing, and one co-heir did not.
The Court of Cassation allowed the builder's appeal on the sale. It restated that, under Articles 2, 3, 4 and 6 of Abu Dhabi Law No. 3 of 2005 on real estate registration and the implementing regulation, the register is absolute evidence against everyone and is a true record of title; dispositions and final judgments creating or transferring real rights take effect only when registered, and the deed issued from the register is the only means of proving ownership. The appellant had produced a deed issued by Al Ain Municipality showing that the plot belonged to him and two co-heirs only, the third having given up her share. The Court of Appeal ignored that deed and relied on general statements about alternative housing, which was inadequate reasoning and a breach of the right of defence. The refusal of the sale was quashed and remitted to the Al Ain Court of Appeal. The other grounds failed: a co-owner who builds with the others' knowledge acts as their agent and recovers costs under the rules of agency, and the allocation of costs under Articles 133 to 135 of the Civil Procedure Law was within the court's discretion.
In disputes over Abu Dhabi property, the registered title deed decides who owns what, and courts may not decide against it unless it is challenged for fraud or forgery. Co-owners who build on shared land with the others' knowledge can recover their contribution under the rules of agency.
| Articles 2, 3, 4 and 6 of Abu Dhabi Law No. 3 of 2005 regulating real estate registration, and Articles 3 to 9 of its implementing regulation |
| Articles 133, 134 and 135 of the Civil Procedure Law — text of articles 133, 134, 135 |
“ومن ثم فإن السند الذي يستخرج من هذا السجل يُعد هو الوسيلة الوحيدة لإثبات ملكية العقار”Short quotation from the judgment as published by the court. The full judgment is on the court’s official service.
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