Dubai Court of Cassation (General Assembly), Appeals Nos. 4 and 5 of 2020 (joined), judgment of 27 January 2021
Under Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 every disposition of an off-plan unit, whether made before or after the Law, must be entered in the interim real property register kept by the Land Department; the developer must apply for it (Articles 2, 5 and 8). Under the Evidence Law (Articles 7, 8, 23 and 28), registration by the Department gives the entry the character of an official document with absolute evidential force against everyone, and its data, such as the price, can be challenged only for fraud or forgery. The General Assembly abandoned the earlier view that the interim registration did not prove such data.
In 2008 a foreign company paid AED 14,346,429, in two instalments, towards the purchase of an island plot, against receipts issued by a second company; according to the buyer no contract or reservation form was signed, and no title was registered and the plot was not delivered. In 2018 the buyer sued for refund and damages; the developer counterclaimed AED 237.9 million as the balance of the price and interest. The courts below held the sale void for lack of an agreed price, disregarding the interim registration certificate (which the buyer had not signed), ordered refund with interest and AED 700,000 damages, and dismissed the counterclaim. Both parties appealed in cassation; the developer argued that the price of AED 95,642,862 was shown by the payment schedule, the receipts (the sum paid being exactly 15 per cent) and the interim registration.
The chamber referred the appeals to the General Assembly to reconsider the principle that the evidential force of official documents covers only what the official did or witnessed, so that statements of the parties recorded in the interim register, such as the price, have no special force.
The Assembly held that the interim register is the set of documents kept by the Land Department recording off-plan sales and dispositions before transfer to the property register (Article 2 of Law No. 13 of 2008); interim registration is a legal duty of the seller, discharged only by applying with complete documents (Article 5); completed projects must be registered in the property register in buyers' names (Article 8). Under Articles 7, 8, 23 and 28 of the Evidence Law, official documents bind everyone as to what they record unless shown to be forged. Registration by the Department gives the entry official character and absolute evidential force, open to challenge only for fraud or forgery. The Assembly adopted that principle by the required majority.
The Court of Appeal had not dealt with the developer's reliance on the interim registration and the receipts; its reasoning was inadequate. The Assembly quashed the judgment and, because the parties' positions were linked (Article 185 of the Civil Procedure Law), also quashed it on the buyer's appeal, remitting the case to a differently composed panel.
Disputes over the price or terms of off-plan sales are common where the paperwork is incomplete. The ruling gives the Land Department's interim register entry decisive evidential weight, displaceable only by proof of fraud or forgery, which matters both to developers seeking unpaid balances and to buyers relying on registered terms.
| Articles 2, 3, 5 and 8 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2008 regulating the Interim Real Property Register in the Emirate of Dubai — text of articles 2, 3, 5, 8 |
| Articles 7, 8, 23 and 28 of Federal Law No. 10 of 1992 (former Evidence Law) Decided under this law; it has been replaced by Evidence Law. |
| Article 185 of Federal Law No. 11 of 1992 (former Civil Procedure Law) Decided under this law; it has been replaced by Civil Procedure Code. |
| Article 20 of Dubai Law No. 13 of 2016 on the Judicial Authority in the Emirate of Dubai (referral to and majority of the General Assembly) |
“قيام دائرة الأراضي بتسجيل التصرف في سجلاتها يكسب الطلب صفه الرسمية ويكون بما دون فيه من بيانات حجية مطلقة في مواجهة الكافة”Short quotation from the judgment as published by the court. The full judgment is on the court’s official service.
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