On behalf of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum will inaugurate the third ordinary session of the 16th legislative chapter of the Federal National Council, FNC, on Wednesday, 25th October, 2017.

The ceremony will begin after the arrival of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Crown Princes and Rulers' Representatives to the Zayed Hall, where the verses of the Holy Quran will be recited.

Following this, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed will inaugurate the third ordinary session of the 16th legislative chapter of the FNC. The Decree of the President of the UAE calling for the FNC to convene will then be read, following which, Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of the FNC, will deliver her speech.

The FNC will then hold its first meeting of the third ordinary session of the 16th legislative chapter, which will be chaired by Dr. Qubaisi.

The session will begin with the election of supervisors, according to Article No. 84 of the Constitution, which states that the FNC should have a bureau comprising a chairman, a first and second vice-chairman and two supervisors to be chosen by the FNC from among its members. The term of the chairman and the two vice-chairmen at the end of the FNC or its dissolution, according to the provisions of the second paragraph of Article No. 88, and the term of the supervisors will end with the appointment of two new supervisors at the beginning of the annual ordinary session. If a position in the bureau is vacant, then the FNC will choose someone to fill it for the remaining period.

The FNC will form its permanent committees, namely, those on Constitutional, Legislative Affairs and Appeals; Defence, Interior and Foreign Affairs; Financial, Economic and Industrial Affairs; Education, Culture, Youth, Sports, and Media; Health and Environment; Social Affairs, Labour, Population and Human Resources, as well as Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Public Utilities, and one on Complaints.

It will also review the government’s approved international agreements and treaties, which include Federal Decree No. 48 for 2017 on security and counter-terrorism co-operation between the governments of the UAE and Morocco, and the related Federal Decree No. 49 for 2017 between the UAE and Bangladesh, and Federal Decree No. 50 for 2017 on deporting convicts between the UAE and Bangladesh, and Federal Decree No. 51 for 2017 on air transportation services between the UAE and Denmark, and Federal Decree No. 52 for 2017 between the governments of the UAE and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on air services between their regions and beyond.

The FNC will also review three messages issued to the government on the repeated requests for approval, to discuss the policies of the Ministry of Justice regarding judicial training and studies, and the FNC’s recommendations on the policies of the Ministry of Education, and the monitoring of the FNC’s recommendations on general topics, as well as the Federation’s overall draft budget for 2018.

The FNC will study messages from the Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs regarding its recommendations on the policies of the Ministry of Health and Prevention, as well as the policies of the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation on regulating the job market, and its monitoring of general topics.

Regarding the clause issued by the FNC, it will also review its statement issued for World Youth Day.

The FNC will then study three draft laws from the government, which were referred to relevant committees, including a federal draft law on certificates of origin, which was referred, based on a decision by Dr. Al Qubaisi, to the Financial, Economic and Industrial Affairs Committee, and a federal draft law regarding the "security of the products," which was similarly referred to the Committee on Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Public Facilities, and a federal draft law on approving the consolidated final account of the Federation and independent bodies for the end of the 2016 financial year, which was referred to the Financial, Economic and Industrial Affairs Committee.