The right of ownership entitles the holder to use, benefit from, and dispose of their property, according to Article 768 of the Syrian Civil Code. This means that full ownership grants the owner authority over the property, its benefits, and its disposal. Therefore, the right to dispose is a real right concerning the property, derived from the ownership right, enabling the holder to dispose of it.

The right to dispose of real estate  is only used in reference to Amiri lands, which are owned by the state, and can be subjected to disposal rights. The state, as the owner of Amiri lands, grants individuals the disposal right to benefit from them, allowing them to use, exploit, and lease them. Disposal can be physical, such as digging or planting trees, or legal, such as transferring the disposal right to others while keeping the land’s ownership or the property’s base with the state.

The Syrian Civil Code does not include a definition of the disposal right but addresses it while defining the ownership right. The provisions related to the ownership right in the Civil Code apply to the right to dispose of Amiri lands, according to Article 772 of Civil Code No. 84 of 1949, unless the law states otherwise. This includes the scope of ownership, means of protection, limitations, reasons for acquisition, registration, and transfer.

Thus, the right to dispose is a limited ownership right, confined to granting the holder the authority to use and exploit the real estate, not its ownership. The right to dispose is similar to the right of usufruct in that both are real rights derived from the ownership right, but they differ in that the right to dispose applies only to Amiri lands, while the right of usufruct applies to owned real estate. Moreover, the right to dispose is a perpetual right that transfers to the heirs after the death of their ancestor, the disposer, whereas the right of usufruct is a temporary right that ends either when the term expires or upon the death of the beneficiary in all cases.

The right to dispose also differs from the ownership right in several respects:

Firstly, the ownership right pertains to real estate properties in administratively zoned and defined areas, whereas the right to dispose applies only to Amiri lands, where the state retains the ownership and grants others the right to benefit from them. Additionally, the ownership right recorded in Land Registries is a permanent right that does not expire with time, in contrast to the right to dispose, which expires if the land is not used for five years, according to Article 775 of the Syrian Civil Code.The right to dispose of Amiri lands can be registered in the Land Registry after 10 years from the date of possession if the possessor has cultivated the land, according to the judicial precedent set by the Court of Cassation in decision No. 293 of 1955.

The State Litigation Authority, which represents state institutions in legal proceedings whether initiated by or against them across various courts and levels, can claim the recovery of Amiri lands and convert them into private state property. This has not occurred in practice, but it remains a theoretical possibility, especially in the context of forced investments carried out by the state on properties belonging to forcibly displaced persons and those who have moved to opposition areas.

Secondly, in the event of death, the ownership right is subject to inheritance laws according to the Personal Status Law of 1953, which is based on Islamic Sharia, whereas the right to dispose of Amiri lands is governed by the Law of Transfer of Immovable Property of 1928. The 1928 law grants equal shares to both male and female siblings when dividing the inheritance among them. If a piece of Amiri land later falls within zoning boundaries and becomes privately owned property, this does not affect the heirs’ rights, and female shares cannot be reduced under the pretext that the legal status of the property has changed to privately owned and is subject to Islamic inheritance rules. The acquisition of rights by the heirs occurred before the legal status of the property changed, based on Article 825 of the Civil Code, which considers a person who inherits a property as its owner before registration. If Amiri land becomes privately owned before the disposer’s death, then the property is inherited according to the Islamic inheritance provisions in the Personal Status Law.

Thirdly, a property owner can endow it, meaning transfer it as a waqf (endowment) to the Ministry of Waqfs and its directorates, whereas those with the right to dispose of Amiri lands cannot establish an endowment right on them. Any waqf created on Amiri land is considered invalid according to Article 774 of the Civil Code.