In this article
What a Power of Attorney Does
A power of attorney (wakalah) authorises one person to act on behalf of another in legal, financial, or administrative matters. In Saudi Arabia the instrument is so central to everyday legal practice that the Ministry of Justice operates a dedicated electronic platform — Najiz — for issuing, managing, and revoking POAs without a court visit.
The instrument's reach is broad. A power of attorney can authorise a relative to sell property, a colleague to collect a passport, an accountant to file tax returns, or a lawyer to represent a client in court. Each use case has its own format, validity period, and disclosure requirements — and getting any one wrong can mean the act performed under the POA is voidable or even criminally challengeable as unauthorized.
The Legal Basis in Saudi Law
Powers of attorney in Saudi Arabia sit within the agency (wakalah) framework codified in the Civil Transactions Law (Royal Decree M/191 dated 29/11/1444H). The codification gathered what had previously been Sharia-derived agency rules into a single chapter with defined requirements for formation, scope, validity, and termination.
The framework operates alongside two related regimes. The Documentation Law sets the procedural rules for notarising powers of attorney, including the witness and identification requirements. The Najiz platform — operated by the Ministry of Justice — provides the electronic mechanism through which most POAs are now issued, replacing the in-person notarial route for standard cases.
General Versus Special Powers
Saudi law distinguishes two categories with materially different consequences.
General power of attorney authorises the agent to act in a broad category of matters — for example, "to manage all my financial affairs" or "to represent me in all real-estate matters". The breadth of authority is wide but the law constrains certain acts even within a general POA: gifts of significant value, dispositions of family-home property, and litigation involving the principal's personal status typically require specific authorisation.
Special power of attorney authorises the agent to perform a single defined act — for example, "to sell the apartment at Plot 27, District 8, for a price not less than 800,000 SAR" or "to collect my child's passport from the Civil Affairs Office in Riyadh on Wednesday, 14 May 2026". The specificity protects the principal: the agent cannot deviate from the defined task without exceeding authority, which voids the resulting act.
For most transactions where significant property or rights are at stake, a special POA is strongly preferred over a general one. The narrow scope eliminates ambiguity and the legal risk of an agent acting beyond what was actually intended.
Electronic POA Through Najiz
Since 2018, most Saudi powers of attorney are issued electronically through Najiz. The platform integrates with the Absher identity system, allowing both parties to authenticate without visiting a notary office. The typical process:
- Principal logs into Najiz, selects "Issue Power of Attorney"
- Identifies the agent by national ID or Iqama number — the system validates the agent's identity automatically
- Selects the POA type from a defined list of templates (real estate, banking, vehicles, government services, litigation, etc.)
- Defines scope, validity period, and any limiting conditions
- Reviews and digitally signs through Absher authentication
- The agent receives notification and electronically accepts
The completed POA appears in both parties' Najiz accounts and can be verified by any third party (bank, government office, court) through Najiz's verification service. The traditional paper POA remains valid for use cases that require it (some cross-border situations, certain real-estate categories) but is increasingly the exception rather than the default.
Capacity Requirements and Validity Periods
For a POA to be valid, both parties must meet capacity requirements at the moment of issuance.
The principal must: be of legal age (18+); be of sound mind; not be subject to interdiction or guardianship; and personally and freely consent. POAs issued by principals later found to have lacked capacity (dementia, severe illness, coercion) are voidable, and acts performed under them can be unwound through court action.
The agent must: be of legal age; be of sound mind; and not be disqualified by relationship or conflict for the specific transaction (a real-estate buyer cannot serve as the seller's POA agent in the same transaction).
Validity periods vary by POA type. Standard validity is one year from issuance unless the POA expressly states a longer or shorter period. Court-litigation POAs are typically valid for the duration of the proceedings. Real-estate POAs often specify "until completion of the specified transaction". POAs without a stated period default to one year and require renewal through Najiz before expiration.
Revoking a Power of Attorney
The principal can revoke a POA at any time, with limited exceptions. The standard mechanism: log into Najiz, locate the active POA, select "Revoke", and confirm through Absher authentication. The revocation takes effect immediately upon system confirmation.
Critical: revocation does not automatically inform third parties. A bank, government office, or counterparty that does not check Najiz before relying on the POA may complete a transaction the principal no longer authorises. To prevent this, the principal should: notify any party known to be currently working with the agent; if a transaction is pending, immediately inform the involved counterparty; and document the revocation timeline carefully for any later dispute.
Three categories of POA cannot be revoked unilaterally. POAs coupled with an interest (where the agent has a direct stake in the underlying matter, such as a creditor authorised to collect a debt owed to them) require the agent's consent for revocation. POAs given as security for an obligation continue while the obligation exists. POAs that have already been partially performed may continue for completion of the started transaction, depending on the matter's nature.
Cross-Border POAs and Apostille
Saudi powers of attorney destined for use abroad — and foreign powers of attorney destined for use in Saudi Arabia — now follow the apostille framework after the Kingdom's December 2024 accession to the Hague Convention.
For a Saudi POA used abroad: issue the POA through Najiz; download the official copy; submit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of Document Authentication for apostille; deliver the apostilled document to the foreign receiving party. Total typical time: 1-7 days post-apostille-accession.
For a foreign POA used in Saudi Arabia: have the document apostilled in the originating country; if the document is not in Arabic, obtain a certified translation through a Saudi-licensed legal translator; present the apostilled and translated document to the Saudi receiving authority. The receiving authority verifies the apostille through the originating country's verification system.
See the dedicated explainer on apostille authentication for the full procedural framework.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a POA authorise the agent to give away the principal's property? Only with explicit authorization. A general POA does not by itself authorise gifts or below-market transfers — these require a specific clause naming the recipient, the property, and the gift terms. Without that specificity, the gift is voidable and the agent may face personal liability.
What happens if the principal dies while a POA is active? Death immediately terminates all POAs except those coupled with an interest (such as a creditor's POA for debt collection). Any act performed by an agent after the principal's death — even if the agent was unaware of the death — is invalid and reversible. This is why banks routinely verify principal status before executing transactions on POA authority.
Can a minor's parent grant a POA on the minor's behalf? The parent acts as the natural guardian under personal status law, not as POA agent. The relationship is different from agency: the guardian's authority derives from the parent-child relationship rather than from a delegated act. Certain dispositions (sale of the minor's inherited property, settlement of the minor's legal claims) require additional Personal Status Court authorisation regardless of parental status.
How is a POA used in court litigation? A licensed Saudi lawyer requires a special POA from the client authorising specific litigation steps. The POA must name the case parties, the case subject, and the specific authority granted (filing, settling, withdrawing, appealing). General "to represent in all matters" POAs do not satisfy the courts' requirements for litigation representation.
When You Need Counsel
For routine POAs — vehicle transfers, bank account access, document collection — Najiz's standard templates work without legal assistance. Counsel becomes valuable in three scenarios.
High-value transactions. Real estate sales, business transfers, and significant gifts require POAs drafted with careful scope limitation, conditions, and reporting requirements. A poorly drafted POA can transfer authority the principal never intended to grant.
Cross-border situations. POAs that must be valid in multiple jurisdictions require coordination of Saudi requirements with the receiving country's. The apostille step alone does not resolve substantive scope or capacity issues.
Disputed POAs. Where an agent's authority is challenged, the principal's capacity is questioned, or acts performed under a revoked POA are at issue — these are litigation matters requiring specialised counsel.
For the practical service overview, see Power of Attorney Services. For notarisation procedures generally, see Notary and Documentation Services.