Page 402 - UAE Truncal States

The Formation of the Federation

the nascent central government with ample funds to assert itself and
eventually to prevail over regional tendencies in many aspects of the
new Slate’s political life.
Compared with the constitutions of other federations such as
Switzerland or the Federal Republic of Germany, the constitution of
the UAE neglects, deliberately, some principles which are most
carefully worded and jealously guarded by these federations. In the
UAE’s constitution one cannot detect a deliberate determination to
safeguard federalistic elements vis-a-vis the centralists trends. It
was deemed that individual shaikhdoms possessed enough of their
original determination for self-assertion to be retained even without
particular definition in the constitution.

The division of powers—legislative, executive and
judicial
The five central authorities which share political power are listed in
Article 45:1. The Supreme Council of the Union, 2. The President of
the Union and his Deputy, 3. The Council of Ministers of the Union,
4. The National Assembly of the Union, 5. The Judiciary of the
Union.
The Supreme Council is the highest authority in the country; its
members are the Rulers of the seven Emirates. It is vested with
legislative as well as executive powers. Laws and decrees of the
Union are ratified by the Supreme Council;130 this may not always be
a formality, since Article 110, paragraph 3(a), enables the Supreme
Council to ratify a law which has been rejected or amended twice by
the National Assembly. The Supreme Council’s executive power is to
exercise “supreme control over the affairs of the Union in general’’.
(Article 47, paragraph 7). The constitution stipulates (Article 49) that
procedural matters of the Council shall be decided by a majority vote,
with the qualification that “on substantive matters (decisions) shall
be by a majority of five of its members provided that this majority
includes the votes of the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.’’ No
catalogue of these “substantive matters” is given in the constitution,
leaving the door open for discussion and compromise. Should most
members of the Supreme Council feel strongly about a particular
issue, no decision would be taken without the agreement of the
Rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
In that the constitution does not stipulate how frequently the
Supreme Council shall meet,131 its legislative and executive powers

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