Article 36 of Dubai's Tenancy Law: Who Issues the Implementing Regulations
Every tenancy law needs a mechanism to keep it working after it is passed: rules for how the rent index is read, how contracts are registered, how disputes are heard. Article 36 of Law No. 26 of 2007 is that mechanism. It hands the power to issue the regulations, bylaws and resolutions needed to implement the law to the Emirate's executive authority. For landlords and tenants it is a quiet but important reminder that the tenancy rules you live by are wider than the articles of one statute.
- Article 36 delegates the power to issue the law's implementing regulations, bylaws and resolutions.
- Its wording was refined by Law No. 33 of 2008, which amended several articles including this one.
- In practice the tenancy framework is completed by decrees, RERA resolutions and index rules, not by Law 26/2007 alone.
- For a landlord or tenant, it is a prompt to check the current regulations, not just the headline law.
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Who issues the implementing regulations for Dubai's tenancy law?
Under Article 36 of Law No. 26 of 2007, the authority to issue the regulations, bylaws and resolutions needed to implement Dubai's tenancy law rests with the Emirate's executive authority, exercised through the Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai. The article does not create a right or an obligation for a specific landlord or tenant. It is an enabling clause: it delegates the job of filling in the operational detail the main law deliberately leaves open.
That matters more than it first appears. It is the reason Dubai's tenancy system is not one document but a layered framework: a primary law, later decrees, and a body of executive resolutions and index rules that together decide how your rent increase, your registration and your dispute are actually handled.
What Article 36 actually says
In plain terms, Article 36 provides that the Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai issues the regulations and resolutions required to implement the provisions of the law. The wording was refined when Law No. 33 of 2008 amended Law No. 26 of 2007; Article 36 is one of the articles the 2008 amendment touched.
The language is deliberately broad. Rather than trying to anticipate every procedural detail — how the rent index is calculated, how a tenancy contract is registered on Ejari, how a dispute file moves through the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre — the legislator kept the main law focused on principles and delegated the working rules to secondary instruments. Article 36 is the door through which those secondary rules enter.
What it means in practice
For day-to-day tenancy questions, Article 36 tells you where to look. If a rule you need is not spelled out in Law 26/2007 itself, it is almost certainly set out in a decree, a RERA resolution, or an administrative procedure authorised under an enabling clause like this one. The main law is the frame; the implementing instruments are the picture inside it.
This is why reading only the tenancy law's own articles can mislead you. The rent-increase brackets, for example, come from Decree No. 43 of 2013, not from the articles of Law 26/2007. The Rental Disputes Settlement Centre that hears your case was created by Decree No. 26 of 2013. Registration follows RERA procedures. Some of these are the Ruler's decrees and some are executive regulations, but together they form the implementing layer that Article 36 anticipates.
The layers of Dubai's tenancy rules
- Law (Qanun)
- The primary statute passed at Emirate level — here, Law No. 26 of 2007 and its amendment, Law No. 33 of 2008. It sets the core rights and obligations of landlords and tenants.
- Decree (Marsoum)
- An instrument issued by the Ruler of Dubai that carries the force of law on a specific matter — for example Decree No. 43 of 2013 on rent increases and Decree No. 26 of 2013 establishing the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre.
- Regulation / Bylaw (Laa'iha)
- Secondary rules issued by the executive authority to implement the law's provisions. Article 36 is the clause that authorises them.
- Resolution / Circular (Qarar)
- Administrative decisions and circulars — for instance RERA resolutions and the rules governing the rent index — that set day-to-day procedure within the limits of the law.
How the framework was completed over time
2007 — The primary law
Law No. 26 of 2007 sets the core rules for landlord-tenant relationships in Dubai and, in Article 36, provides for implementing regulations to follow.
2008 — The amendment
Law No. 33 of 2008 amends several articles — including Article 36 — refining the eviction regime, the notice rules and the delegation of implementing powers.
2013 — Rent increases and the RDC
Decree No. 43 of 2013 fixes the rent-increase brackets and Decree No. 26 of 2013 establishes the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre — two pillars of the implementing layer.
2025 — The Smart Rental Index
Dubai Land Department launches the Smart Rental Index, an AI-based valuation tool that operates the average-rent figure the brackets rely on. It is a tool, not a new law, and it did not change the Decree 43 percentages.
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What Article 36 means for each side
| For the landlord | For the tenant | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the rules live | Your rights on rent increases, eviction grounds and registration are set by the law plus its implementing decrees and resolutions, not by your contract alone. | Your protections — capped increases, notice periods, the right to a hearing — come from the same layered framework, so they apply even if the contract is silent. |
| Why it can change | Operational rules, such as the index that feeds rent increases, can be updated by resolution without a new law, so the position can shift between renewals. | The same flexibility protects you: procedures and valuation methods are refreshed by the authority rather than left frozen. |
| What to do | Check the current regulation or index before serving a notice or proposing an increase, not just the headline article. | Verify the rule in force at your renewal date rather than relying on an older figure or an out-of-date summary. |
When Article 36 shows up in real life
A landlord proposes a rent increase
What is usually neededA landlord wants to raise the rent at renewal and points to the tenancy law. The percentage he is allowed to apply, though, is not in Law 26/2007 — it is in Decree No. 43 of 2013, and the average-rent figure behind it comes from the DLD index. Article 36 is the structural reason the answer lives in an implementing instrument rather than the main statute.
A tenant checks a registration rule
What is usually neededA tenant reads that a lease must be registered but cannot find the step-by-step procedure in the law. That procedure sits in RERA and Ejari rules issued under the implementing power the law delegates. The article itself tells you such detail is meant to live outside the primary text.
Someone quotes an outdated rule
What is usually neededA blog quotes a rent-increase percentage from several years ago. Because the operating rules can be refreshed by resolution and index update, the safe move is always to check the instrument in force today — the very layer Article 36 keeps the door open for.
Does Article 36 ever decide a case?
Rarely on its own. Article 36 is a structural, delegating provision, so a rental dispute almost never turns on the article directly. What happens instead is that the outcome depends on an implementing instrument that exists because of enabling clauses like this one — the rent-increase decree, an RDC procedural rule, or a RERA resolution. When a case hinges on which rule applies, the real question is usually which implementing instrument is in force, and that is decided by the Rental Disputes Settlement Centre on the facts.
MANJAZ helps landlords and tenants identify the exact instrument that governs their situation, prepare and translate the supporting file, and follow the procedure correctly. We are an explainer and service provider, not a court or a law firm, and we never guarantee an outcome.
The one thing to remember
Law 26/2007 is the frame, not the whole picture. Before you rely on a rent-increase percentage, a notice period or a registration step, confirm it against the decree, resolution or index in force today. That implementing layer, which Article 36 authorises, is where the operative detail lives.
Common misunderstandings
The mistakeTreating Law 26/2007 as the complete rulebook and stopping there.
The fixRead the law together with its decrees, resolutions and the current rent index — that is where most operational answers actually sit.
The mistakeAssuming a rule cannot change unless a whole new tenancy law is passed.
The fixMuch of the detail can be updated by decree or resolution under the implementing power, so verify the version in force at your renewal.
The mistakeConfusing an implementing regulation with the primary law when quoting it.
The fixCite the correct instrument — for rent increases that is Decree No. 43 of 2013, not an article of Law 26/2007.
The mistakeRelying on an old online summary for a percentage or procedure.
The fixConfirm against the official Dubai Legislation portal or the relevant authority before you act.
Article 36: questions and answers
The Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai. Article 36 of Law No. 26 of 2007 delegates to the Emirate's executive authority the power to issue the regulations, bylaws and resolutions needed to implement the law.
Yes. Law No. 33 of 2008 amended Law No. 26 of 2007 and Article 36 was one of the articles it refined. Its core function — delegating the power to issue implementing rules — remained the same.
No. It is an enabling clause, not a right or obligation for a specific party. Its effect is felt indirectly, through the decrees, resolutions and procedures it allows to exist.
No. The rent-increase brackets are set by Decree No. 43 of 2013, a separate instrument. Article 36 is simply the structural reason such operational detail lives outside the main law.
Because the law is a framework completed by an implementing layer. Rules on rent increases, registration and dispute procedure sit in decrees and resolutions, which can be updated without a new law — so the current instrument is what governs.
No. Implementing regulations must operate within the limits of the primary law and cannot contradict it. They add procedural and technical detail; they do not replace the rights the law grants.
No. The Smart Rental Index launched by Dubai Land Department in January 2025 is a valuation tool, not new legislation. It updates how the average market rent is calculated but did not change the Decree No. 43 of 2013 percentage brackets.
Official sources
- Dubai Legislation Portal — Law No. 26 of 2007 — original text; Arts 2, 3, 4, 9, 13, 14, 15, 25, 26, 29, 36 amended by Law 33/2008
- Dubai Legislation Portal — Law No. 33 of 2008 (amending Law 26/2007)
- Dubai Legislation Portal — Decree No. 26 of 2013 (Rental Disputes Settlement Centre)
- Dubai Legislation Portal — Decree No. 43 of 2013 (rent increase)
This content is for general information and awareness. It is based on the legislation and official sources available at the time of the last review, and procedures may differ according to the facts of each case and updates issued by the competent authorities. It is not legal advice, and MANJAZ is the publisher of this explanation, not the authority that issued the legislation.
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