Explained: Government Restricts Judicial Power of Attorney

On November 22, the General Administration of Civil Affairs, affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, issued Circular No. 712 prohibiting a lawyer who has obtained judicial power of attorney from a client in a particular governorate from accessing the Civil Registry in another governorate using the same power of attorney. 

In other words, a lawyer’s judicial power of attorney must be provided in the same governorate where the relevant Civil Registry office is located.

For instance, a lawyer cannot approach the Civil Registry Directorate in Damascus to register a death event or obtain a family civil registration extract to extract an inheritance inventory for their client if a power of attorney was granted in Aleppo.

The circular effectively requests courts to refrain from referring requests made by lawyers on behalf of their clients to the Civil Registry office in a governorate different from where the judicial power of attorney was granted. Practically, this implies an intervention in the judiciary’s work, requiring the court to comply with an administrative decision issued by the executive authority.

This prohibition includes cases where the competent court has approved a power of attorney issued from another governorate and referred the attached request to the Civil Registry for implementation. This may lead to a potential dispute between the Civil Registry and the court if the Civil Registry refuses to respond to the court’s request.

The laws related to power of attorney do not mention any restriction of the judicial power of attorney to the same governorate where it was granted. Among these laws is Law No. 31 of 2010 concerning the retirement of lawyers, which states in Article 44 that the principles of drawing up, authenticating, and preserving judicial powers of attorney must observe all conditions set out in the Notary Public Law. Also, the Unified System for Judicial Power of Attorney, approved by Minister of Justice Decision No. 359 of 2014, specifies the provisions for drawing up, authenticating, and preserving judicial powers of attorney.

A judicial power of attorney is a document drawn up by an individual for a lawyer in front of the power of attorney office representative at the Lawyers Syndicate branch in their governorate. This is to represent that individual in judicial proceedings, according to specific powers outlined in the document. 

The judicial power of attorney may authorise the lawyer to acknowledge the sale of a specific property. The lawyer cannot exercise other powers unless the judicial power of attorney is general, granting them all powers on behalf of their client. A judicial power of attorney differs from a power of attorney, which is drawn up in front of a notary public by any person for another and authorises them to approach all departments.

Previously, on September 15, 2021, the Ministry of Justice issued a circular linking the issuance of a judicial power of attorney for managing the assets of absent or missing individuals with the precondition of obtaining prior security approval.

Circular No. 712 justifies the “geographical” restriction of the judicial power of attorney to limit forgery. This crime is widespread in Syria, affecting almost all official documents and institutions. The problem owes itself to weak legal oversight and widespread corruption among employees due to low wages and the decreased purchasing power of the population. Official press reports indicate the existence of professional gangs managing forgery operations, aiming to seize properties, often conspiring with government employees and sometimes with judges and lawyers.

One form of forgery involving the judicial power of attorney is registering the death of a person residing abroad and who is still alive. To register a death, it is sufficient to present a medical report from a doctor and a certificate from a neighbourhood leader (mukhtar) to the Civil Registry. After registering the death, the representing lawyer approaches the competent court to request an inheritance inventory document. The presence of only one heir as the estate administrator is sufficient to draw up this document without the need to inform or involve other heirs. The court then referred the request to the Civil Registry to obtain a family civil registration extract and complete the remaining procedures to determine the heirs and their shares. Thus, it is possible to divide the assets of an absent person, falsely claiming they are deceased, even though they are alive.

An image of Circular No. 712: