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LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS xlvii
special treaty relationships with the United Kingdom, which
represented them as a group and assumed international
responsibility for their foreign relations during the last 150 years.
British protection of the Trucial States was based upon the
Exclusive Agreements” of 1892, concluded between the British
4 4
Government and the respective Rulers of those States. The
Agreements of 1892 were all terminated on the same date the
U.A.E. was announced.1 The termination of these and some other
supplementary agreements took effect by means of Exchange of
Notes,2 signed separately between each of the seven Rulers of the
Trucial States and the Political Resident in the Gulf, representing
the United Kingdom. Simultaneously, both the President of U.A.E.
and the British Political Resident signed a 10-year Treaty of
Friendship between the United Arab Emirates and the United
Kingdom.3 After the declaration of its independence on 2 December
1971, the new State was accorded international recognition by the
United Kingdom and foreign states. On 6 December 1971, it joined
the League of Arab States, and on 10 December 1971, it was
formally admitted to membership of the United Nations.4
A. Constitutional System
The Provisional Constitution of the United Arab Emirates which
became operative on the date of proclamation of the Union, on 2
December 1971, contains 152 Articles distributed over 12 chapters.5
Article 1 provides that ‘‘the United Arab Emirates constitute an
independent sovereign Arab State”, and that any independent Arab
State may join the Union upon the approval of its request for
membership by a unanimous decision of the ‘‘Supreme Council”.
Article 6 states that ‘‘the Union is part of the large Arab homeland,
connected with it by the bonds of religion, language, history and
joint destiny”, and that ‘‘the peoples of the Union are one united
people, which constitutes part of the Arab nation”. Article 2 states
that ‘‘Islam is the official religion of the Union” and that ‘‘the
Islamic Shari’a is a main source of legislation in the Union”.
Further, the Provisional Constitution describes the main Powers of
1. See this hook chapter 2 and pp. 70-74. below.
2. See Exchange of Notes concerning the Termination of Special Treaty Relations
between the United Kingdom and the Trucial States, 1 December 1971:
Treaty Series No. 34 (1972) Comnd. 4941.
3. See Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom and the United Arab
Emirates, Dubai 2 December 1971: Treaty Series No. 35 (1972) Comnd 4937.
The terms of this treaty are similar to those of the treaty with Bahrain. See this
Introduction, p. XXVII. above.
4. Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization 16 June 1971 —
15 June 1972 pp. 68-9. And see Arab Report & Record (1971). p. 622.
5. Official Gazette (UAE). No. 1 (1st Year) December 1971.