United Arab Emirates Law and How It Bacame United - Essay Example

? United Arab Emirates Law and how it became united The United Arab Emirates, normally shortened just as theEmirates and abbreviated as the UAE, is located in the southeast area of Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf’s Western Asia. The United Arab Emirates borders Oman to the east while to the south, it borders Saudi Arabia. At the same time, the UAE shares common borders with Qatar to the west and Iran to the north. The UAE is composed of seven Emirates that are equivalent to principalities. Though each emirate is governed by a hereditary emir, the seven emirates are governed by a single national president. The seven emirates are; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm al-Quwain and Ras al-Khaimah. Abu Dhabi serves as the capital as well as being the state’s center of political, industrial and cultural activities. In 1971, prior to independence, the United Arab Emirates was referred to as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman. This was in reference to the truce entered between the local sheikhs, hereditary rulers and the United Kingdom in the 19th century. This paper is going to highlight the United Arab Emirates Law and how the seven principle emirates became united and formed a union called United Arab Emirates. United Arab Emirates History and Formation Sascha Noack (2007) asserts that archaeological evidence has some reasonable proof that there were settlements from as early as 4000BC. However, a population of high culture developed around 2500BC. Historical indications suggest that the population has a major composition of Bedouins and fishermen. Prior to 1820 before the conclusion of a contract between the Great Britain and the Sheikhdoms of Abu Dhabi, Sharja, Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm al-Quwain and Ras al-Khaimah, the area was commonly referred to as Pirate Coast. It is imperative to ascertain that the treaty brought political stability in the whole area which was eventually known as the Trucial States, since the sheikhdoms treaty became a colony under the British Protectorate. Moreover, the fundamental politics and the economy of the sheikhdoms were later on subjected to the restrictions by Britain (Noack, 2007 p12). Foreign trade is regarded to have played a fundamental role in the history of this strategic region, which later on flourished through the rearing of camels at the latter stages of the second millennium BC (Adias-uae.com). Additionally, at the beginning of the 1st century AD, overland caravan traffic begun between Syria and Southern Iraq cities. Furthermore, the existence of water prone transport to the important port of Omana, which is presently referred to as Umm al-Qaiwain, which later on ended up to India, came up. These routes played integral roles to the region since they were alternative transport zones to the Red Sea, which was mostly used by the Romans (UAE Interact). During the mid 19th Century, the United Arab Emirates economy was varied as a result of different population living in different areas and possessed different resources. Several industries came up in the UAE, including pearl fishing, dates, trade, fishing, handicraft and grazing. At this particular instance, the Bedouins and the fishermen enjoyed a simplistic type of life. The preceding years saw an important evolution in Abu Dhabi and Dubai due to pearl fishing and trade (Noack, 2007). The discovery of oil in Abu Dhabi in 1962 saw major transformation in the UAE. The oil boosted the economy of the UAE which ultimately made the Trucial States to gain political and national power, thus imposing adverse pressure on Britain, forcing it to withdraw from the region by 1968. This significant freedom made the rulers of the Emirates to hold a round table meeting and agree to form a union known as the United Arab Emirates in July 1971. The United Arab Emirates was formally established in on 2nd December 1971. Initially, the union was composed of six emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman Umm al-Quwain and Fujairah. Amazingly, Ras al-Khaimah joined the union as the seventh emirate in February 1972. However, Qatar and Bahrain, which are also entitled for membership, have up to date resorted to be independent states (Noack, 2007 p12). In the following 30 years, the UAE was able to adopt a modernized system of administration that continued to observe their past traditions. Through revenue collected from oil investment, and the adoption of a free economy policy, the UAE was able to turn itself into a world class business location which continues to enjoy significant growth records every year in all the sectors of its industry. United Arab Emirates Law The United Arab Emirates’ political system has its base on the constitution that was drafted in 1971, and is intricately connected by several governing bodies. Despite the UAE having a president, it is a federation of seven monarchies that is composed of different rulers (emirs) who retain reasonable powers within their respective emirates, thus implying that it is neither a republic nor a constitutional monarchy. Surprisingly, the emirs are mandated to appoint one of their members to become the federation’s president. Consequently, this does not have any negative impact on the character of the monarchy of how the individual emirate is governed. The United Arab Emirates is majorly concerned with the relations between the seven individual members of emirates federation and does not prescribe a constitutional government system. Politically, the UAE is entangled between the frameworks of a federal and the presidential form of a federation of hereditary monarchies. The president also serves as the head of state of the United Arab Emirates, while the Prime Minister also doubles as the head of government. The government of UAE is comprised of three branches, namely; the executive, legislature as well as the judiciary. On one hand, the executive arm of government consists of the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister, and Federal Supreme Council as well as the cabinet (Mallakh, 1981 p171), while on the other, the Federal Supreme Council consists of all the emirs of the seven emirates. The Federal Supreme Council is mandated to hold elections of the president, vice president, the cabinet and the judges of the Federal Supreme Court. The Supreme Council is also obliged to formulate important government policy, while at the same time proposing and ratifying national laws and treaties. Although the president and the prime minister are elected by the Supreme Council, the positions are essentially hereditary. Imperatively, the Abu Dhabi emir possesses the presidential position, while that of the prime minister is held by the emir of Dubai. The political might as well as the financial roles of the emirates are mostly reflected by their respective positions in the federal government (United Nations, 2010 p87). The federal judiciary is significantly independent and includes the Supreme Court and the Courts of First Instance. The Supreme Council, as mentioned earlier, appoints five judges who have been given power to make decisions concerning the constitutionality of federal laws. The judges are also arbitrators on disputes between the seven emirates and the federal government (Noack, 2007 p17). Since the formation of the UAE in 1971, the union has managed to modernize its system of government and politics while at the same time preserving the past traditions. The following statement released on the day of the UAE formation best highlights its philosophy: “The United Arab Emirates has been established as an independent state possessing sovereignty. It is part of a greater Arab Nation. Its aim is to maintain its independence, its sovereignty, its security and its stability, in defense against any attack on its entity or on the entity of any of its member emirates. It also seeks to protect the freedoms and rights of its people and to achieve trustworthy co-operation between the emirates for the common good” (Noack, 2007 p17). The UAE has embraced a civil law jurisdiction type which is majorly influenced by other laws such as the Islamic, Egyptian, Roman and the French Laws. Three types of practiced law compose the legal system of the UAE, namely; the Federal Law, the Emirate Law as well as the Islamic Law, commonly known as the Sharia. Federal Law is normally given first consideration, and is mainly embraced by Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain and Fujairah. On the other hand, Dubai and Ras Al- Khaimah are not fully integrated into the system at the moment and are therefore excluded from the Federal Law. In instances where the Federal Law does not provide an outstanding resolution, then the Emirate Law is given a second consideration. In this regard, each Emirate deserves the right to pass its own legislation so long as it does not have conflict of interests with the Federal Law (Noack, 2007 p18). This implies that while the UAE has a system of a federal government, each emirate has its own ruler, possesses some relevant degree of autonomy and can make its own laws (Oxford University, 2010 p735). For instance, the Text Law concerning Abu Dhabi ownership of Gas Resources was promulgated by the ruler of Abu Dhabi – Sheikh Zayed Ibn Sultan, concerning the state’s ownership of all gas resources in Abu Dhabi (Mallakh, 1981 p171). Currently, the Sharia law, the entity of Islamic law, is only applicable in certain cases related to family, inheritance and religious disputes among the Muslim world in the UAE. The Sharia Law has its roots from four sources; the Quran, the Central Religious Text of Islam; Hadith, which records prophet Mohammad’s sayings, conducts and behavior; Ijtima, the consensus of Mohammad’s disciples, and; Qiyyas, which advocates for the mental reasoning. The five sections of the Sharia Law cover Penal Law, Transactions Laws, Family Law, Divorce Law and the Succession Law (Noack, 2007 p18). Regionally, the UAE is one of the members of the League of Arab States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Arab States League, informally referred to as the Arab League, is an organization founded on political ambitions of having to strengthen the relations among the member states as well as promoting common interests in political, economical and cultural fields. The founding countries of the Arab League are Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan and Yemen. The Federal National Council (FNC) is the legislature, consisting of forty members coming from all the seven emirates. Half of the legislature is appointed by the rulers of the constituent emirates, while the other half are elected indirectly and are eligible to serve two terms. The year 2006 saw the first indirect elections whose goal is to have a council that is wholly elected. The council is mandated to oversee the country’s main consultative duties, and enjoys both the legislative and supervisory duties as envisaged in the constitution. Furthermore, the council carries out scrutiny and though it ultimately carries out amendment of the proposed legislation, it cannot hinder it from becoming a fully fledged law (United Nations, 2010). Additionally, it is imperative to note that the UAE leaders have come up with political reforms which will further see the development of the political institutions. Conclusion The United Arab Emirates was formed as early as 4000BC, though a high culture of settlement developed around 2500BC. The UAE has a political system which is under a constitution drafted in 1971. The UAE politics is entangled between the frameworks of a federal and a presidential form of a federation of hereditary monarchies. The discovery of oil in Abu Dhabi gave the nation economic and national power, imposing pressure on Britain, which had been colonizing it, to withdraw from the region, thus the formation of UAE in July 1971. The UAE has embraced a civil law jurisdiction type which is majorly influenced by laws such as the Islamic, Egyptian, Roman and the French Law. Additionally, there are three types practiced law that govern the UAE; Federal Law, Emirate Law and the Islamic Law. However, while the UAE has a federal system of government, each emirate has its own ruler, has some degree of autonomy and can make its own laws, so long as they comply with the federal law. References Adias-uae.com. Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey (ADIA). Retrieved from http://www.adias-uae.com/ on 2012-04-16.  Mallakh, R. E. (1981). United Arab Emirates. London, Great Britain: Croom Helm Limited. Noack, S. (2007). Doing Business in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. GRIN Verlag. Oxford University. (2010). International Succession (3rd Edition ed.). (L. Garb, & J. Wood, Eds.) Oxford University Press Inc. UAE Interact. (n.d.). A walk Through Time: 2000-200 years ago. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from uaeinteract.com: http://www.uaeinteract.com/history/e_walk/con_3/con3_1.asp United Nations. (2010). Law of the Sea. Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs-Law. United Nations. Read More