Page 79 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

INTRODUCTION 17
police, health, education, finance, etc. There is also a municipal com­
mittee and a chamber of commerce. Moreover, there is a court of
law in Dubai, administered by a qualified qadi. However, except in
certain cases covered by local custom and tradition, most of the legal
disputes are settled in accordance with the principles of Shari*ah law.
Similarly, in the rest of the Shaikhdoms the Rulers administer justice
in accordance with a loose system of Shari'ah law which is interpreted
arbitrarily by the Rulers or their religious qaclis.1
As in the case of Bahrain and Qatar, the Rulers of these Shaikhdoms
exercise jurisdiction only over their own nationals and nationals of
neighbouring Arab and Muslim countries. All other foreigners, in­
cluding Europeans and Commonwealth citizens over whom jurisdic­
tion has not been transferred to the Rulers, arc subject to the British
extra-territorial jurisdiction exercised by the British territorial court
(The Court for the Trucial States), with appeals lying to the ‘Chief
Court for the Persian Gulf’. In Abu Dhabi, however, all matters
regulated by the Abu Dhabi Traffic Ordinance, 1963, have been
transferred to the Ruler’s court.2
The Trucial States Council: this Council, on which all the seven
Rulers of the Trucial Shaikhdoms are represented, was set up some
years ago by the British Government to discuss problems of mutual
interest. It meets once or twice a year, with the British Political Agent
at Dubai presiding. For some years past this council constituted the
only symbol of administrative co-operation among these autono­
mous Rulers. But, due to British encouragement, the Rulers have'
recently shown more interest in co-operation on both the administra­
tive and economic levels. Accordingly, a new ‘deliberative council’,
consisting of one or two representatives from each State, has taken
shape. This council, which is subordinate to the Trucial States Council,
is supposed to implement the decisions taken by the latter. Also in
1965, the seven Trucial Rulers held a British-sponsored conference in
Dubai during which they agreed to establish the Trucial States
Development Office. The Rulers agreed on a programme of mutual
co-operation ‘whereby aid from the richer States, including Qatar,
Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, would be channelled through this office to
assist in the economic and social development of the poorer States’.
At present, only Abu Dhabi is an oil producing country in the whole
Trucial Coast.3
1 See Hay, op. cit., pp. 114, 116, 120; Europa Publications, op. cit., pp. 539-42.
According to Hay, op. cit., the Rulers ‘mostly administer “palm tree justice”
personally in cases which are not referred to a Qadhi for settlement according to
Muslim law . . .*
2 See the Trucial States Order, 1959, in Persian Gulf Gazette, Suppl. No. 25,
1 August 1959; The Trucial States (Amendment) Order, 1963, in Persian Gulf
Gazette, Suppl. No. 43, January 1964. And see Europa Publications, op. cit.
3 According to Hay, op. cit., p. 115, the Trucial States Council was formed in