United Arab Emirates - Constitution
                                      

CAUTION! Although the provisions of the UAE constitution guarantee the right to litigation, non-discrimination, equality before the law etc., but the functions and verdicts of the Courts are frequently thwarted with impunity by the executive time and again. 

The Government at times abused persons in custody, denied citizens the right to a speedy trial and legal counsel during police investigations and restricted the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and religion.....Testimony

Summary of the UAE Constitution:

The UAE, however, was formed in 1971 and only adopted a permanent constitution in 1996.  The Constitution is the principal legislative instrument from which all its laws are derived, especially those concerning basic social and economic principles, public freedoms, civil, economic, social and cultural  rights. 

For example, chapter II of the Constitution, entitled “Basic social and economic principles”, contains the following articles:

Article 14: Society shall be based, inter alia, on equality, social justice, security, peace and equal opportunities for all citizens, who shall be bound together by the strongest ties of solidarity, mutual love and understanding;

The laws in force in the United Arab Emirates define the child as every human being below the age of 15 years and seek to uphold the rights of the child and to protect mothers and children in the State. 

This sound approach was reaffirmed in the declaration that the State promulgated pursuant to the provisions of International Labour Organization Convention No. 138 (1973) concerning minimum age for admission to employment, which are consistent with the provisions of its national law. 

Article 20: of the Labour Relations Regulatory Act No. 8 of 1980 prohibits the employment of juveniles of either sex who are under 15 years of age. Articles 21-26 of the same Act contain stipulations which are likewise in the interests of the child.

(It's noted that the UAE was one of the 19 countries in the world that the United States blacklisted for human trafficking. 

Boys from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have been trafficked to the United Arab Emirates to work as camel jockeys. 

Children as young as four have been trafficked and used as camel jockeys. 

Click the link for more details: 
                       The horrific practice of human trafficking!)


The constitution describes five federal institutions:

             Federal Supreme Council of the UAE. (FSC-executive)

             The President of the Union; the vice president

             The Council of Ministers of the Union

             The Federal National Council (FNC-legislative) 

             The Judiciary of the Union.

The Supreme Council of the seven emirate rulers (FSC-executive) has the highest constitutional authority in the UAE. These rulers are absolute monarchs in their own emirates. They hold the most power in UAE society and establishes general policies and sanctions federal legislation. 

The council’s decision requires the majority of five votes at least. The rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, both allowed veto power over all federal legislation. The Supreme Council meets four times a year, usually informally. The Supreme Council elects the head of state and government, the president and vice-president of the state. 

The FSC elected Abu Dhabi’s president Shaikh Zayed unanimously for the sixth time on December 2, 2001 as the President of the Union. (Through informal agreement, the ruler of Abu Dhabi serves as President, and the ruler of Dubai serves as Vice President and Prime Minister).

The president appoints a prime minister and council of ministers. The Federal National Council considers legislative proposals by the Council of Ministers. 

The Council of Ministers drafts decrees and various decisions. The prime minister and the members of the cabinet are responsible to the president and to the Federal Supreme Council (FSC), which is the highest executive body in the federation, made up of the rulers of the seven emirates.

The 1996 constitution governs the relationship between the federal government and the emirate governments by giving the central government specific powers and leaving an unspecified area of implicit powers to the emirates. Each emirate retains control over its own oil and mineral wealth and some aspects of internal security. The federal government asserts primacy in most matters of law and government.

Articles 120 and 121 of the constitution assigns responsibility to the federal government in areas such as foreign affairs, security and defense, nationality and immigration issues, education, public health, currency, postal, telephone and other communications services, air traffic control and licensing of aircraft and a number of other topics specifically prescribed, including labor relations, banking, delimitation of territorial waters and extradition of criminals.

Article 116 stipulates that “the Emirates shall exercise all powers not assigned to the Federation by this Constitution.” 

Article 122 further emphasizes that “the Emirates shall have jurisdiction in all matters not assigned to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federation, in accordance with the provision of the preceding two Articles.” The constitution also enables the rulers of the emirates, however, to relinquish, if they wish, certain areas of authority prescribed as being the responsibility of individual emirates to the federal government. 

The constitution prohibits torture or degrading treatment and prohibits illegal detention, or imprisonment. It provides for the independence of the judiciary, freedom of speech and equality before the law with regard to race, nationality, religious beliefs, or social status.