Rule of Law in the U.A.E.: The Peaceful Path to Nation-building in Abu Dhabi and the U.A.E. Through Global Best Practices

• Author: Valerie J. Pelton
• Position: Valerie J. Pelton is an attorney, mediator and former U.S. Air Force ('USAF') Officer who has represented U.S. and international technology, telecommunications and aerospace companies in Europe, Asia, and the Persian Gulf. She currently works for the U.S. Postal Service ('USPS'). Prior to practicing law, Ms. Pelton served as a USAF Officer in...
• Pages: 87-107

Rule of Law in the U.A.E.: The Peaceful Path to

Nation-building in Abu Dhabi and the U.A.E.

Through Global Best Practices

V

ALERIE

J. P

ELTON

*

I. Introduction

The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) emerged from the British colonial

era

1

to forge a modern nation in 1971 with an economy built on the

burgeoning oil industry. Over the course of forty years, the emergence of

Abu Dhabi and the U.A.E. as regional and global economic powers was

based, in part, on the strategic vision of the first President of the U.A.E. and

Ruler of Abu Dhabi, H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in

establishing a framework of government suited to the needs and culture of

the U.A.E. and Abu Dhabi, and, in part, on economic planning and

development initiatives.

2

A firm commitment to rule of law was established

through early adoption of global business best practices as the framework for

transformation into a stable and prosperous nation. To better understand

the significance of the U.A.E.’s efforts to peacefully develop into a modern

* Valerie J. Pelton is an attorney, mediator and former U.S. Air Force (“USAF”) Officer

who has represented U.S. and international technology, telecommunications and aerospace

companies in Europe, Asia, and the Persian Gulf. She currently works for the U.S. Postal

Service (“USPS”). Prior to practicing law, Ms. Pelton served as a USAF Officer in the areas of

Signals Intelligence and Adversary Electronic Combat Operations. She is admitted to practice

in Virginia, New Jersey, California and the District of Columbia. Ms. Pelton was awarded an

LL.M. with Highest Honors in National Security & U.S. Foreign Relations Law from The

George Washington University (“GWU”) Law School, a Masters Certificate in Government

Contracting from the GWU Business School, a J.D. from Whittier College, an M.A. in

Political Science by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and a dual baccalaureate in Modern

European Studies and French from Vanderbilt University. She is active in Washington area

business, legal and sailing groups, and enjoys studying Mandarin, dancing Argentine tango, and

sailing Flying Scots. In addition, she is published in the Journal of Air Law and Commerce and the

Journal of World Energy Law & Business.

The views expressed in this Article are the author’s, and do not necessarily represent the views

of USPS or the United States.

1. Saif Mohammad Obaid Bin-Abood, Britain’s Withdrawal from the Gulf: With Particular

Reference to the Emirates, 80, Apr. 1992, (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of

Durham) (on file with University of Durham Faculty of Social Science at Durham E-Theses

Online, available at http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6021/).

2. M

OHAMMED

A

L

F

AHIM

, F

ROM

R

AGS TO

R

ICHES

: A S

TORY OF

A

BU

D

HABI

, 135–136

(2001).

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

AN ANNUAL PUBLICATION OF THE ABA/SECTION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

PUBLISHED IN COOPERATION WITH

SMU DEDMAN SCHOOL OF LAW

88 THE INTERNATIONAL LAWYER [VOL. 51, NO. 1

nation by adopting and adapting international business best practices, it is

helpful to understand its colonial past.

II. Overview of U.A.E. Federal Structure

Before the U.A.E. formed as a federation of semi-autonomous emirates

3

on December 2, 1971,

4

it was under British colonial rule as Trucial Oman

for 151 years.

5

Trucial Oman was a colonial administrative entity resulting

from a series of treaties, beginning in 1820 with a peace treaty signed at the

conclusion of British naval and military engagements against the Qasimi

Confederation, ostensibly ending the slave trade and piracy while securing

vital sea routes to India and access to the lucrative pearl trade.

6

It was

governed from India until 1947, then directly administered through a

Political Resident, who administered justice in and over the external affairs

of Trucial Oman as head of the Trucial States Council until 1965, when

leadership was turned over to its constituent sheikhdoms.

7

A. F

ORMATION OF THE

U.A.E.

In 1968, faced with mounting domestic economic pressures and the

spiraling cost of maintaining British interests against the rising tide of

nationalist movements throughout Africa and the Muslim world, the British

government announced its intention to withdraw from the U.A.E. in 1971.

8

It was very important to Sheikh Zayed that the U.A.E.’s federal law and

governmental institutions have an Emirati character while maintaining

continuity with existing commercial and legal structures and preventing

economic and political volatility (including potential land grabs by

neighboring nations such as Iran and Saudi Arabia),

9

which would disrupt

3. Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah have

sovereignty over their own territories and territorial waters in all matters which are not reserved

to the UAE federal government under the UAE constitution. C

ONSTITUTION

Dec. 2, 1971, art.

3 (U.A.E.).

4. C

ONSTITUTION

Dec. 2, 1971, art. 152 (U.A.E.).

5. A. A

QIL

. K

AZIM

, T

HE

U

NITED

A

RAB

E

MIRATES

A.D. 600

TO THE

P

RESENT

:

A

S

OCIO

-

D

ISCURSIVE

T

RANSFORMATION IN THE

A

RABIAN

G

ULF

, 1–2 (2000).

6. Id. at 137-145.

7. India won its independence in 1947. A Political Agent (based initially in Sharjah and then

Dubai) and a Political Officer (based in Abu Dhabi, later raised to the level of Political Agent in

1961), reported to the Political Resident (based initially in Bushire and then Bahrain). Id. at

137.

8. Symposium, 2004 Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) Conference,

Tore T. Petersen, Richard Nixon Confronts the Persian Gulf, 1969-1972, (Nov. 18, 2004), http://h-

net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-diplo&month=0411&week=c&msg=FLdWfd

Onga0sEnrD61m8bg&user=&pw= [hereinafter Petersen]. See generally, T

ORE

T. P

ETERSEN

,

R

ICHARD

N

IXON

, G

REAT

B

RITAIN AND THE

A

NGLO

-A

MERICAN

A

LIGNMENT IN THE

P

ERSIAN

G

ULF AND

A

RABIAN

P

ENINSULA

: M

AKING

A

LLIES OUT OF

C

LIENTS

, (Sussex Academic, Press

2009).

9. Petersen, at 3-4.

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AN ANNUAL PUBLICATION OF THE ABA/SECTION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

PUBLISHED IN COOPERATION WITH

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