power of attorney

Last activity 18 February 2019 by enise

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eniseActive member05 February 2019 17:21:37

Hi, just hoping to get some correct info please! I have an ongoing legal case in Egypt, being dealt with by my Egyptian lawyer. As i had to return to the UK, my lawyer requested that i gave him Power of Attorney for him to be able to act on my behalf while i am in the UK. He gave me a Power of Attorney document and told me to have it legalized in the UK. Since then i have read the Egyptian Embassy and British Embassy websites about this subject and they say if the document was issued in Egypt it has to be legalized there first, then in the UK. My lawyer didnt tell me that, even though i queried it with him at the time i was in Egypt. Do i have to now pay an English lawyer to create the POA document for me and have it legalized in the UK? (and forget about the document i got from my lawyer and start again).

mtddMember18 February 2019 07:35:23

Please be extremely careful on the subject of powers of attorney or tawkil in arabic. You must NOT give a POA to anyone without having it carefully translated; there is a long history of POA abuse in Egypt.

Basically, a POA must be notarised at a notary public or Sharia Akari. And the notary will not certify the tawkil without an accredited translator present. It is a long and tedious process in not very clean surroundings: but never forget that these controls are there to protect you.

It is unfortunate that you have legal issues in Egypt, but the best advice I can offer is to choose a lawyer that is on your embassy's approved list, and that you do not sign any power of attorney while absent from Egypt: follow the procedure of notarisation to the letter.

eniseActive member18 February 2019 20:31:35

Hi mtdd, thanks for your advice. Since i wrote this i have found out the procedure to follow in the UK (i asked the government department here). I will probably have to find a notary who can translate arabic but i've not got that far yet. I don't understand why you say i must not sign a power of attorney while absent from Egypt- as far as i remember my lawyer told me i could not get one while i was there because i wasn't an Egyptian citizen. ? My lawyer is from the embassy approved list (although they state they don't actually approve any of them officially).

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