Abstract
This chapter addresses the constitutional and legislative system in the State of Qatar. This system is the institutional foundation of the policy-making process in the country, and while there are a host of informal features and dynamics in that process (discussed in following chapters), they are all anchored in the country’s basic legal architecture. The chapter outlines the key provisions of the Qatar Constitution, how legislation is proposed, debated and promulgated, who the competent political authorities are in the legislative process, and how effective the system is in constraining state authority. However, before delving into the details, it is essential first to understand the nature of Qatar’s monarchical system and its influence on the legislative system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
To avoid confusion, the Council of Ministers will sometimes be referred to as the “Cabinet” when comparing it to the Shura Council.
- 2.
See Emiri Decree No. (29) of 1996 regarding the Cabinet resolutions submitted to the Emir for ratification and publication. Published in the Official Gazette, Issue 12, of 1996.
- 3.
All these functions are stipulated by the Permanent Constitution of the State of Qatar, whose provisions regarding the elected Shura Council are not yet enforced. Currently, this council is fully appointed by the Emir and performs an advisory role only.
- 4.
Law 10 of 2003—Par. 5 of Art.63 on issuing the Judiciary Law.
- 5.
Regarding the ratification by the Emir on the executive regulations, Par. 2 of Art. 121 of the Constitution stipulates the Cabinet functions of approving regulations and resolutions prepared by ministries and other government agencies, each according to their competency, to execute the laws according to their provisions. However, according to Par. 1 of Art. 1 of the Emiri Decree No. 29 of 1996 regarding the Cabinet resolutions that are submitted to the Emir for ratification and publication, “the regulations and the decrees issued or adopted by the Cabinet in implementation of the laws must be submitted to the Emir for ratification and publication.”Regarding the regulations, Article 67 of the Constitution stipulates the functions of the Emir regarding the establishment and regulation of ministries and other government agencies, and the assignment of their functions. Par. 4 of Art. 121 of the Constitution stipulates that the Cabinet functions to propose the establishment and regulation of government agencies, authorities, and public institutions. However, according to Par. 2 of Art. One of the Emiri Decree No. 29 of 1996 regarding the Cabinet resolutions that are submitted to the Emir for ratification and publication, the regulations and resolutions issued or approved by the Cabinet regarding the establishment of agencies and public entities must be submitted to the Emir for ratification. Finally, regarding emergency regulations, Art. 70 of the Constitution authorizes the Emir, in exceptional circumstances that require urgent and expedient measures while the Shura Council is not in session, to issue decrees that are as powerful as a law.
- 6.
That was on November 16, 1998. It was part of the Emir’s speech: “In order to achieve this, we have decreed, with God’s help to form a committee of qualified and competent individuals to develop a Permanent Constitution for the state where the basic items would be the formation of an elected parliament through direct public election in order to complete our endeavor to establish public participation as a foundation for the rule of law and to achieve the ultimate objective that guides our hopes and ambitions for the future.”
- 7.
The Drafting Committee of the Permanent Constitution included six members of the Royal Family, including HH Emir and former Minister, Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr, and other members of the Executive such as the following: Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Atiah, Deputy Prime Minister at the time, Ahmad Bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud, Minister of Energy, Hassan Bin Abdullah AlGhanem, Ali Bin Saeed AlKhayareen, Ahmed Bu Sherbak Al Mansouri, Mohamed Bin Saleh Al Sadah, Sultan Bin Hassan Al Dosari, and Ali Bin Fetais Al Marri.
- 8.
For example, the Qatar Income Tax Decree (1954), Qatar Customs Laws (1955), Qatar Traffic Decree (1954), and the Constitution of Doha Municipal Council (1955).
- 9.
Clauses 2 and 3 of Art. 1 of Law No. 1 of 1962 governing the Higher Administration of the Government.
- 10.
Clause 1 of Art. 1 of the Law Governing the Higher Administration of the Government, ibid.
- 11.
Article 34 of the Amended Provisional Basic Law, published in the Official Gazette, Issue: 5 of 1972.
- 12.
The Constitution was ratified on June 8, 2004, but it was published in the Official Gazette after one year, Issue6 of 2005.
- 13.
Art. 105 of Qatar Constitution.
- 14.
Ibid.
- 15.
Established by virtue of Law No. 1 of 1962 governed by the Higher Administration of Government.
- 16.
The Department of Legal Affairs was presided by the government legal consultant Dr. Hasan Kamle, by virtue of Decree No. 1 of 1962, related to the appointment of the government legal consultant, published in the official gazette No. 1 of 1962. Mr. Hasan Kamel was also appointed as General Director of the Government at the same time, in addition to his initial position as Legal Advisor to the Government. See Resolution No. 1 of 1962, published in the Official Gazette, Issue: 1 of 1962. In 1967, the position of Legal Advisor to the Government was canceled and the position of Legal Affairs Director was created by virtue of Resolution No. (18) of 1967 related to the creation of the Legal Affairs Director position. Published in the Official Gazette, Issue7 of 1967.
- 17.
Clause 6 of Art. 1 of the Resolution No. 4 of 1962 governing the functions of the Legal Affairs Department in the Government of Qatar, published in the Official Gazette, Issue1 of 1962.
- 18.
Article 2 of the Resolution No. 4 of 1962 governing the functions of the Legal Affairs Department in the Government of Qatar.
- 19.
See Law No. 6 of 1964 on the Establishment of the Shura Council, Arts. 2 and 3, published in the Official Gazette, Issue3 of 1964.
- 20.
Article 9 of the Law on the Establishment of the Shura Council.
- 21.
Article 16 of the Law on the Establishment of the Shura Council.
- 22.
Article 55 of the Amended Basic Law (1970).
- 23.
See clause (1) of Art. 33 and clause 3 of Art. 51 of the Amended Provisional Basic Law of 1972.
- 24.
Article 36 of Law No. 6 of 1979 related to the Internal Regulations of the Shura Council. This law was issued on September 29, 1979, and published in the Official Gazette, Issue 5 of the same year. It was later called “the Shura Council Internal Regulations.”
- 25.
Article 105 of the Qatar Permanent Constitution and Art. 64 of the Shura Council Internal Regulations.
- 26.
Article 15 of the Shura Council Internal Regulations; however, Art. 94 of Qatar Permanent Constitution stipulates that these committees shall be formed within two weeks, starting the annual session term of the Council, and not within one week, as the current practice of the present appointed Council.
- 27.
Article 15 of the Shura Council Internal Regulations specifies these committees and outlines at least five members for each committee, provided that each member of the Council participates in one committee at least and two committees at most. Articles 19 to 23 specify the functions of these committees.
- 28.
Article 65 of the Shura Council Internal Regulations.
- 29.
Article 66 of the Shura Council Internal Regulations.
- 30.
Article (66) of the Shura Council Internal Regulations; moreover, Arts. 67 to 72 govern the deliberation process in the second phase of the first deliberations cycle.
- 31.
Article 67 of the Shura Council Internal Regulations.
- 32.
Article 71 of the Shura Council Internal Regulations.
- 33.
Article 69 of the Shura Council Internal Regulations.
- 34.
Article 96 of Qatar Permanent Constitution stipulates that the order maintenance in the Council falls within the president’s functions; Articles 47 to 50 of the Council’s Internal Regulations provide for the president’s power of managing sessions.
- 35.
Article 73 of the Council’s Internal Regulations.
- 36.
Article 105 of the Council’s Internal Regulations describes the mode of voting and confirms the public nature of the vote while authorizing the secret ballot as an exception to the general rule if requested by the government or the competent minister or the president or five members of the Shura Council.
- 37.
See Art. 65 of Kuwait Constitution.
- 38.
Some constitutions define, as a general rule, the date of publishing the law as the date of its entry into force. For example, the Basic Law of the Sultanate of Oman, issued in 1996, stipulates in Art. 74 that “the law enters into force on the date of its publications unless otherwise stipulated.”
- 39.
The decree issued on July 2, 2007, to promulgate Law No. 9 of 2001, published in Issue9 of the year 2001.
- 40.
See Art. 4 of Law No. 4 of 2004, relevant to the promulgation of the Labor Law.
- 41.
The Amended Provisional Basic Law of the State of Qatar, Art. 40 states that “the Advisory Council may give its opinion to the Emir and cabinet in performing their functions. This Council is called ‘Advisory Council,’ and expresses its opinion in the form of recommendations.”
- 42.
Issued on 3/26/2007 and published in the Official Gazette, Issue4 of the year 2007.
- 43.
See Article 13 of the Law.
- 44.
Law No. (12) /2008 on the establishment of the Supreme Constitutional Court, issued on 18/6/2008, and published in the Official Gazette, Issue: (8) of the year 2008.
- 45.
Jadda (2013) considers that the establishment of a Constitutional Court “highlights the leaders’ keenness on ensuring control over the constitutionality of laws thus preserving rights and freedoms within the society. By doing so, Qatar has entrusted the control duty with an independent constitutional court, rather than with the ordinary judiciary institutions. This action, by itself, strengthens the principle of control over the constitutionality of laws.”
- 46.
The Supreme Judiciary Council is composed of the president of the Court of Cassation, the president, and the senior vice presidents in the Court of Cassation, vice presidents, and the membership of the senior judges in the Court of Cassation, the president of the Court of Appeal, the oldest vice presidents in the Court of Appeal, and the president of the Court of the First Instance. The Council has many functions as stipulated in Article (23) of the Judiciary Law, the most important of which is ensuring the independence of the Judiciary, advising on the appointment, promotion, delegation, transfer, secondment and retirement of judges thereunder. The Council holds an ordinary meeting at least once a month.
- 47.
Published in the Official Gazette, Issue4, May 13, 2007.
- 48.
See Art. 3 of Administrative Dispute Adjudication Law.
Bibliography. Qatar: Policy Making in a Transformative State
Al Saleh, Othman Abdulmalek.2003. Constitutional System and Political Institutions in Kuwait [in Arabic]. Kuwait: Dar AlKutub.
El-Gamal, Yehia. 1992. Al-Qada’ Al-Dustoori fi Masr [The Constitutional Judiciary in Egypt]. Cairo.
Fahmy, Mostafa Abu Zaid.2006. Political Regimes and Constitutional Law. Alexandria: University Press House.
Knaul, Gabriella.2015. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers. New York: Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, General Assembly, United Nations.
Mansour, Ahmed.2011. Authenticating Study on Historical Development of Qatari Court Jurisdiction in Administrative Disputes [in Arabic]. Doha: Special issue attached to the Legal and Judiciary Journal, Center of Legal and Judiciary Studies, Qatar Ministry of Justice.
Tolba, Abdullah.1986. Administrative Law: Judiciary Control over the Administrative Work. Damascus: Damascus University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Al-Sayed, H. (2016). Qatar’s Constitutional and Legal System. In: Tok, M., Alkhater, L., Pal, L. (eds) Policy-Making in a Transformative State. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46639-6_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46639-6_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-46638-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-46639-6
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)