Does a general power of attorney let an agent sell property in Egypt?

No. Article 701 of the Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948) limits an agency expressed in general terms to acts of administration. Article 702(1) requires a special agency for every act that is not an act of administration, and names sale, mortgage, gifts, settlement, admission, arbitration, tendering an oath and pleading before the courts among them.

What form must an Egyptian power of attorney take?

Article 700 of the Egyptian Civil Code requires the agency to satisfy the form required for the legal act that is its subject matter, unless a provision states otherwise. Where the delegated act must be made in a particular form, the mandate authorising it must meet that same form.

Can a power of attorney be made irrevocable in Egypt?

Article 715(1) of the Egyptian Civil Code allows the principal to end or restrict the agency at any time even where the parties agreed otherwise, with compensation payable to a remunerated agent for an untimely or unexcused revocation. Article 715(2) creates the exception: where the agency was issued in the interest of the agent or of a third party, the principal may not end or restrict it without that person's consent.

Power of Attorney in Egypt

The Egyptian Civil Code makes the form of a power of attorney follow the form required for the act being delegated, so a mandate for a transaction that must be made in an official instrument must itself meet that standard. It also draws a hard line between general and special mandates. A mandate expressed in general terms confers authority only over acts of administration, and a separate special mandate is needed for sale, mortgage, gifts, settlement, admission, arbitration, tendering an oath and pleading before the courts.

Download the Egypt drafting checklist (.docx)Where to read Egypt law

Governing law

Powers of attorney are governed by the agency (wakala) chapter of the Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Articles 699 to 717.

Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Arts. 699 to 717 (Arabic text via WIPO Lex, consolidated to Law No. 55 of 1970)

What a power of attorney has to contain in Egypt

An agency is a contract by which the agent undertakes to perform a legal act on the principal's account.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 699
An agency drafted in general terms, without specifying even the type of legal act delegated, confers authority on the agent only in respect of acts of administration, which include letting for a period not exceeding three years, preservation and maintenance, collecting debts and paying debts.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 701
A special agency is indispensable for every act that is not an act of administration, and in particular for sale, mortgage, gifts, settlement, admission, arbitration, tendering an oath and pleading before the courts.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 702(1)
A special agency gives the agent standing only in the matters specified in it and in what those matters necessarily entail according to their nature and current custom.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 702(3)
The agent must carry out the mandate without exceeding the limits drawn for it, and may go beyond those limits only where it was impossible to notify the principal in advance and circumstances made it probable that the principal would have approved, in which case the agent must promptly inform the principal.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 703

Form, notarisation and registration

The agency must satisfy the form required for the legal act that is its subject matter, unless a provision states otherwise, so a mandate for an act that must be in an official instrument must itself be in that form.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 700

What catches drafters out

The principal may end or restrict the agency at any time even if there is an agreement to the contrary, and where the agency is for remuneration the principal must compensate the agent for harm caused by ending it at an inappropriate time or without an acceptable excuse. An irrevocability clause therefore does not stop revocation, it converts it into a compensation question.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 715(1)
Where the agency was issued in the interest of the agent or of a third party, the principal may not end or restrict it without the consent of the person in whose interest it was issued, which is the only route to a mandate the principal cannot unilaterally undo.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 715(2)
The agency comes to an end on completion of the act delegated, on expiry of the period fixed for it, and on the death of either the principal or the agent, so a mandate does not survive the principal's death.
Egyptian Civil Code (Law No. 131 of 1948), Art. 714