Government

Government#

federation of monarchies

System

federation of monarchies

Capital

Abu Dhabi

Head of state

President MUHAMMAD BIN ZAYID Al Nuhayyan (since 14 May 2022)

Head of government

Prime Minister and Co-Vice President MUHAMMAD BIN RASHID Al Maktum (since 5 January 2006)

Legislature

legislature name: Federal National Council (Majlis Watani Itihadi); legislative structure: unicameral; number of seats: 40 (20 indirectly elected; 20 appointed); electoral system: other systems; scope of elections: full renewal; term in office: 4 years; most recent election date: 10/7/2023; percentage of women in chamber: 50%; expected date of next election: October 2027

Judiciary

highest court(s): Federal Supreme Court (consists of the court president and 4 judges; jurisdiction limited to federal cases); judge selection and term of office: judges appointed by the federal president after approval from the Federal Supreme Council, the highest executive and legislative authority consisting of the 7 emirate rulers; judges serve until retirement age or the expiration of their appointment terms; subordinate courts: Federal Court of Cassation (determines the constitutionality of laws); the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ra’s al Khaymah have parallel court systems; the other 4 emirates have incorporated their courts into the federal system

Constitution

history: previous 1971 (provisional); latest drafted in 1979, became permanent May 1996; amendment process: proposed by the Supreme Council and submitted to the Federal National Council; passage requires at least a two-thirds majority vote of Federal National Council members present and approval of the Supreme Council president

Independence

2 December 1971 (from the UK)

Administrative divisions

7 emirates ( imarat , singular - imarah ); Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi), ‘Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah (Sharjah), Dubayy (Dubai), Ra’s al Khaymah, Umm al Qaywayn

Departments#

TODO. Ministries and authoritative sites, to be filled out.

Hierarchy#

How power is wired. The diagram below carries the generic template; refine the boxes and edges to match the current regime.

        flowchart TD
  HoS["Head of State"]
  HoG["Head of Government"]
  Leg["Legislature"]
  Jud["Judiciary"]
  Cab["Cabinet"]
  Foreign["Foreign Affairs"]
  Interior["Interior"]
  Defense["Defense"]
  Finance["Finance"]
  Justice["Justice"]

  HoS --> HoG
  HoG --> Cab
  Cab --> Foreign
  Cab --> Interior
  Cab --> Defense
  Cab --> Finance
  Cab --> Justice
  HoS -.- Leg
  HoS -.- Jud

Resources#

Public-facing portals the people use day to day. Operators monitor these for policy changes, official notices, and civil-registry data.

Resource

Site

Purpose

National portal

to be filled

One-stop government services for citizens.

Tax / revenue

to be filled

Income tax, VAT, customs.

Civil registry

to be filled

Births, deaths, marriages, national ID.

Immigration

to be filled

Visas, residency, naturalisation.

Health

to be filled

Public health, advisories, vaccination records.

Education

to be filled

Curricula, school directories, transcripts.

Statistics

to be filled

Census, economic indicators, opendata.

Police / emergency

to be filled

Reporting, missing persons, emergency contacts.
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