Dubai Law No. 7 of 2024 · Dubai
Replaces Articles 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11 of the 2009 law: confirms Meydan City, including a free zone, under the wholly government-owned Meydan City Corporation, empowers it to determine permitted activities, issue licensing rules, register, license, audit and inspect establishments, delegate functions to Dubai Holding and borrow; in force on issue.
Law No. (7) of 2024 rewrites the core of the Meydan City Corporation statute. It is an amending law: Article 1 supersedes Articles 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11 of Law No. (5) of 2009, the law that established Meydan City and the Meydan City Corporation (MCC), and the rest of the 2009 law stands. The Ruler of Dubai issued it on 24 March 2024 and, under Article 3, it came into force on the day of issue, with publication in the Official Gazette to follow. It is in force and is the current statutory basis for Meydan Free Zone licences and for the authority's power to license, inspect and fine establishments there.
The new Article 2 defines the Company as the Dubai Holding Company and Establishments as all kinds of sole proprietorships and commercial companies licensed to operate within Meydan and the Free Zone. The new Article 3 establishes Meydan City, within which a free zone is established, with the boundaries of both shown on maps attached to the law, and establishes MCC as a public corporation wholly owned by the Government of Dubai, managed on a commercial basis with legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy.
The new Article 5 lists MCC's functions. Beside the equestrian and real estate mandate, items 8 to 11 and 14 are the licensing powers: to determine the activities authorised within Meydan and set the rules for licensing them; to register and license establishments and set the conditions governing their work; to regulate the import and storage of goods; to audit and inspect establishments for compliance; and to determine and collect fees. Article 5(b) and (c) let MCC, by resolution of the Chairman and a franchise agreement, delegate all or any of its functions to the Dubai Holding Company, which may assign those franchise rights to third parties as the Chairman determines; this is the mechanism under which Meydan Free Zone's licensing operations are run.
The new Article 8 gives the Chairman general supervision and the power to approve the bylaws regulating business within Meydan (item 12), the rules for licensing and registering establishments (item 14), the fees for MCC services (item 15), and the resolutions fixing the fines, penalties and measures imposed on establishments that violate Meydan's regulations (item 20). The new Article 9 provides for a CEO appointed by the Chairman who proposes the licensing rules and the penalties regulations, keeps the register for licensing establishments and represents MCC. The new Article 11 lets MCC keep and invest its revenues and, with the Chairman's approval, deposit them with the Dubai Holding Company. Article 2 of the amending law repeals any contrary provision.
Meydan City Corporation, its Chairman and CEO, the Dubai Holding Company as franchisee of MCC's functions and any third party to which it assigns franchise rights, and every sole proprietorship and commercial company licensed to operate within Meydan City or the Meydan Free Zone, together with persons importing or storing goods there.
English official text in 7 articles. Open the full text or jump to a provision:
| Article 1 | Supersedes Articles 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 11 of Law No. (5) of 2009 establishing the Meydan City Corporation with the replacement text set out in the amending law; the remaining articles of the 2009 law are unchanged. |
| Article 3 (as replaced) | Establishes Meydan City, within which a free zone is established, with the boundaries of both demarcated on the attached maps, and establishes the Meydan City Corporation as a public corporation wholly owned by the Government, managed on a commercial basis with legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy. |
| Article 5(a) (as replaced) | MCC's functions include determining and regulating the activities authorised within Meydan and the rules for licensing them, registering and licensing establishments, regulating import and storage of goods, auditing and inspecting establishments, supplying personnel, collecting fees, and financing itself through borrowing, guarantees, sukuk and bonds. |
| Article 5(b) and (c) (as replaced) | By resolution of the Chairman and under a franchise agreement, MCC may delegate all or any of its functions to the Dubai Holding Company, and may authorise the Company to assign those franchise rights to third parties as the Chairman determines. |
| Article 8 (as replaced) | The Chairman supervises MCC and approves the bylaws regulating business within Meydan, the rules and regulations for licensing and registering establishments, the fees for MCC services subject to final approval by the competent entities, and the resolutions fixing fines, penalties and measures against violating establishments. |
| Article 9 (as replaced) | A CEO appointed by the Chairman proposes the licensing rules and penalties regulations, issues the resolutions for maintaining the register for licensing establishments, manages day-to-day operations of MCC and its subsidiaries and represents MCC before third parties within the delegation of authority matrix. |
| Article 11 (as replaced) | MCC's resources are government-allocated property, fees and charges, disposal proceeds, investment returns and other approved resources; notwithstanding the Government financial regulations law, MCC keeps and invests its revenues and may, with the Chairman's approval, deposit them with the Dubai Holding Company. |
| Article 2 | Any provision in any other legislation is repealed to the extent that it contradicts the amending law. |
| Article 3 | The amending law comes into force on the day of its issue, 24 March 2024, and is published in the Official Gazette. |
The amending law sets no fine amounts. It gives the Chairman power to approve the resolutions, bylaws and regulations fixing the fines, penalties and measures imposed on establishments that violate the regulations and bylaws applicable within Meydan (Article 8(a), item 20), with the CEO proposing them (Article 9(b), item 22); the actual sanctions appear in the Meydan Free Zone companies and licensing regulations and the fines schedule issued under those powers.
Meydan is one of the zones in which we form companies for clients, and this law is the current legal basis we cite for a Meydan Free Zone licence. Item 9 of the replaced Article 5 is the registration and licensing power, and the franchise mechanism in Article 5(b) and (c) explains why licences and renewals are processed by the free zone's operating entity rather than by the corporation directly. When a client receives a fine or a compliance notice, we trace it to the penalties regulations the Chairman approves under Article 8, item 20, and check that the measure imposed is one those regulations provide for. The import and storage power in item 10 matters for trading clients who hold stock in Meydan, and the inspection power in item 11 is the reason we keep each client's licence, lease and activity records in order for the audits the zone conducts.
| Amends | Law No. (5) of 2009 Establishing the Meydan City Corporation |
“Cites” and “Cited by” are built automatically from references in the full texts held in this library; they cover only instruments in the library.
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