Cabinet nod for Haj, Umrah draft law

Cabinet nod for Haj, Umrah draft law (Wam) / 15 July 2013 His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has said that the Arab community in the UAE lives in unity, solidarity and tolerance during the holy month of Ramadan, the month of serenity, fraternity, social networking and hard work. Shaikh Mohammed made his remarks during the ordinary Cabinet meeting held at the Presidential Palace on Sunday evening. The session was attended by Lt-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs. The Council of Ministers approved during its session the issuance of a draft law regulating Haj and Umrah contracting work. The new resolution puts forward a unified national system to organise the Haj and Umrah journeys. It is applicable on the contractor as well as on Emirati and expatriate pilgrims. The draft law specifies the terms of reference of the Haj and Umrah administration, the competent licensing committee, and general conditions for practising the business and procedural aspects. It also includes the conditions for licencing and renewal thereof of Haj and Umrah mission organisers and measures to increase the number of authorised pilgrims for a contractor during the pilgrimage season, sanctions for violating the licence terms, the obligations of contractors, procedures for the transfer of pilgrims from one contractor to another, and other relevant procedures in this respect. It includes the imposition of clear sanctions and fines on Haj and Umrah contractors who are found negligent in providing the necessary services to pilgrims. The move aims to improve the services provided to pilgrims in the UAE. The Cabinet approved the request of the Federal National Council to discuss the general policy of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). It also approved the issuance of a federal law amending the federal law on renaming the National Centre for Documentation and Research, so that it will become “The National Archive”. The amendment aims to express the reality of the actual work and terms of reference assigned to the centre as the National Archive of the State. It also endorsed the restructuring of the Board of Directors of the National Centre for Statistics, under the chairmanship of Reem Ibrahim Al Hashimi, Minister of State. The Board of Directors includes representatives with competence and efficiency from all emirates. It also approved the appointment of Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director-General of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council for Tourism and Antiquities. Regarding the international conventions, the Cabinet approved a number of agreements between the UAE and Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka, in the area of legal and judicial cooperation. It also ratified a series of cooperation agreements in the field of air transport with Senegal, Ukraine and Algeria. The Cabinet also approved the ratification of the Convention with Belarus on the exemption of visas for holders of diplomatic passports. It also approved the appointment of 16 judges at different levels of the federal courts.  Taylor Scott International