Page 403 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

Chapter Nine

may prove in practice to be not so supreme as the constitution
permits.
The position of the President of the Union is defined in Articles 51
to 54. His powers are wide-ranging, both legislative and executive; he
also has the traditional power to pardon criminals and to confirm or
commute a death sentence.132 Since he is also the President of the
Supreme Council of Rulers, a great deal of its power reverts to him
while the Council is not in session.
The President and his Deputy are elected from among the seven
Rulers. Their term of office is five years and both may be re-elected.
The eleven-point catalogue of the President’s powers in Article 54
describes his role as the ceremonial Head of State, appointing
members of the cabinet, ambassadors and senior officials, with the
exception of the president and judges of the Supreme Court. His
function is also to sign “Union laws, decrees and decisions which the
Supreme Council has sanctioned,’’ (Article 54, paragraph 4), to
promulgate them and to supervise their implementation through the
Union’s ministries, (Article 54, paragraph 8).
Further powers which may accrue to or be assumed by the
President stem from certain provisions of the constitution which do
not deal exclusively with his position. The President, in conjunction
with the Supreme Council, may overrule the National Assembly’s
amendments to a bill and promulgate the law in the version which
the Council of Ministers originally suggested.133 Article 113 gives the
President, together with the Council of Ministers, the authority to
promulgate urgently-required laws in the form of decrees. “Such
decree-laws must be referred to the Supreme Council within a
week ... for assent or rejection ... if they are approved they shall
have the force of law and the Union National Assembly shall be
notified at its next meeting.” The President’s legislative powers are
further enhanced by the provision that the Supreme Council may
authorise him together with the Council of Ministers to promulgate
decrees as long as they do not pertain to international agreements,
martial law, a defensive war, or the appointment of judges of the
Supreme Court. The constitution does not provide a catalogue of
those matters which may only be dealt with by law as opposed to by
decree. Legislation by ordinary decree does not involve the National
Assembly; it requires agreement between the President and the
Council of Ministers only.
The Council of Ministers’ functions are dealt with in Articles 55 to

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