Dubai's acquisition law does not define "public benefit" — so the General Secretariat of the Supreme Legislation Committee issued an official interpretation of the term. It lists what counts as public benefit, sets out four project criteria, and answers the sharp question: a private company MAY request an acquisition, but only for a public-benefit project; never to expand its own commercial venture. Under Law No. 14 of 2024 such notes are binding on all persons and carry the same force as the legislation they interpret.
Verified against official sources on 2026-09-15: the text of the explanatory notes comes from the Dubai Legislation Portal (dlp.dubai.gov.ae); the edition available to us is marked 2025. Source links sit next to each rule and again at the end. The portal notes that the English version is a translation and that the Arabic text prevails in case of conflict. This is not legal advice: a specific acquisition is judged on its own documents.
Law No. 2 of 2022 allows real property to be expropriated only for the public benefit and only against fair compensation. Yet the law contains no definition of "public benefit". That gap is closed by a separate document — and it is not advisory.
The document is the Explanatory Notes on the Interpretation of "Public Benefit" in Law No. (2) of 2022, issued by the General Secretariat of the Supreme Legislation Committee at the request of the Acquisition Committee.
Why the interpretation binds
A footnote in the document itself points to Article 8(b)(4) of Law No. 14 of 2024 on the Supreme Legislation Committee:
«explanatory notes issued by the General Secretariat of the Supreme Legislation Committee in the Emirate of Dubai and published in the Official Gazette of the Government of Dubai, including the interpretation of the provisions of such Legislation, are "binding on all persons and have the same force of law as the Legislation being interpreted."» — Explanatory Notes on "Public Benefit", footnote i
So this is not a lawyer's commentary but a text placed on a par with the law it explains.
Five conditions of a lawful acquisition
The notes begin by framing acquisition as an exception to the general principle of protecting private ownership, lawful only where five conditions are met:
- the Acquisition Committee has issued a resolution expropriating the property from its owner;
- the purpose is to achieve a bona fide and lawful public benefit;
- the Committee's resolution rests on objective considerations or development projects serving the emirate;
- the acquisition resolution is aligned with the desired objective;
- the acquisition is effected against fair compensation under the law's rules.
The procedure and deadlines of acquisition itself are covered in our reading of Law No. 2 of 2022, and what compensation for buildings covers in our reading of Resolution No. 6 of 2024.
What counts as public benefit
The notes state plainly that Article 2 of the law gives no definition of the term, but the concept emerges from Articles 2, 4, 5 and Article 8(a)(1). Then comes a list — open-ended, "including, without limitation":
| Category | Examples from the text |
|---|---|
| public infrastructure: construction, expansion, development | roads, bridges, tunnels, water and electricity networks, sewerage, metro stations and other public facilities |
| public service or social projects | hospitals, schools, health and environmental facilities |
| urban and development projects of a public nature | public parks, squares, mosques, green areas, beaches, waterfront development |
| economic or investment projects of a public-benefit nature — if they achieve a significant public interest | logistics zones, government complexes, urban development serving the emirate's Urban Master Plan |
The last row ties acquisition to the planning frame: the master plan that the 2023 law declared the emirate's Structure Plan is covered separately.
And immediately a boundary: if the objective is to confer a financial or commercial benefit on a particular individual or entity, expropriation for that purpose is not permissible.
Four criteria for a project
The notes derive from the law the criteria by which a project may be deemed to serve the public benefit:
- the project belongs to the requesting entity and its implementation aims at a public benefit;
- before approving acquisition, the Committee must be satisfied that the project is feasible and serves the public benefit;
- it must be established that no feasible planning alternatives exist for implementing the project without acquisition;
- the acquisition follows the legally prescribed procedures and is made against fair compensation.
The third criterion is an owner's strongest argument: acquisition must be not merely convenient but unavoidable.
The resulting definition
The notes formulate the term as follows:
«Public Benefit: The purpose which, in accordance with the adopted planning and urban policies, is intended to achieve a public interest or to provide a social, urban, economic, or developmental service that benefits the community.» — Explanatory Notes on "Public Benefit"
And the conclusion: public benefit, a resolution of the Acquisition Committee, and fair compensation to the owner are the indispensable pillars of legality for any acquisition in the emirate. Remove one and the legality is gone.
May a private company request an acquisition
The notes put the question directly and answer it in two moves.
Yes, it may. The law does not prohibit private entities from applying to the Acquisition Committee, provided the acquisition is for public purposes and serves the public benefit. The definition of "Acquiring Entity" in Article 2 is not exhaustive: it says "including, but not limited to" Dubai Municipality, the Roads and Transport Authority and free zone authorities. And one of the law's objectives (Article 4) is to enable public and private entities to implement projects aimed at the public benefit.
But only for a project. A private entity may request acquisition provided it has been assigned to implement a project that serves the public benefit.
And never for itself. Where a private company requests acquisition solely for its own private interest — for instance to expand its commercial or real estate project — such a request is "manifestly inconsistent" with the concept of public benefit, and the Committee may not approve it: the benefit there is purely private.
For an owner whose plot sits next to somebody else's development, this is the most practical part of the document.
Where it applies
The notes repeat the law's own boundary: it regulates all acquisitions of real property within the emirate, including in Special Development Zones and Free Zones, such as the Dubai International Financial Centre — whether conducted for government entities or for private entities tasked with implementing public-benefit projects.
The same scope formula appears in the urban planning law, the waste law and both technical codes — the building code and the construction safety code.
What we do NOT claim here
- The procedure and deadlines of acquisition itself. They sit in Law No. 2 of 2022 and are covered separately; this piece is only about the term.
- Compensation amounts or valuation method. The notes treat "fair compensation" as a condition of legality, not as a methodology.
- The contents of Resolution No. 2 of 2022 on the Acquisition Committee. It is mentioned as the basis for the Committee's request; we do not quote its provisions.
- The contents of Law No. 14 of 2024. We reproduce only the sub-paragraph on the binding force of explanatory notes as quoted in the notes.
- The date of the notes' publication in the Official Gazette. The edition available to us is marked 2025; the exact date should be checked at the source.
Sources
- Explanatory Notes on the Interpretation of "Public Benefit" in Law No. (2) of 2022 Concerning Acquisition of Real Property for the Public Benefit in the Emirate of Dubai — Dubai Legislation Portal, General Secretariat of the Supreme Legislation Committee: scope of the law including special development zones and free zones such as the DIFC; the five conditions of lawful acquisition; the absence of a definition in Article 2 and its derivation from Articles 2, 4, 5 and 8(a)(1); the open list of public-benefit categories; the prohibition on acquisition to confer a financial or commercial benefit on a particular person; the four project criteria including the absence of feasible planning alternatives (Article 8(a)(3)); the resulting definition of the term; the answer on private entities' right to request acquisition and the impermissibility of a request made for their own commercial interest; footnote i citing Article 8(b)(4) of Law No. 14 of 2024 on the binding force of explanatory notes. Law No. 2 of 2022 was enacted on 3 January 2022 and came into effect on 14 January 2022.
