UAE, March 28, 2016 - The Supreme Legislation Committee (SLC) has recently explored Singapore’s legislative best practices, during a high-level official visit to Singapore. The visit is in line with the SLC endeavors to strengthen strategic partnerships with prominent regional and international legislative and judicial bodies as well as to exchange, enrich, and deepen legal knowledge to develop a comprehensive legislative system that supports Dubai plans for sustainable development. Heading the high-ranking SLC General Secretariat delegation was H.E. Ahmad bin Meshar, the Secretary General, accompanied by Legal Advisor Dr. Mansoor Abdul Rahman Al Osaimi, Director of Legislation Directorate; Legal Advisor Dr. Belaisha Ali Bin Belaisha, Director of Legislative Audit Office; and Omar Khalifa Al Suwaidi, Director of Strategic Planning and Institutional Excellence Office. 

The SLC General Secretariat delegation began its official visit at the UAE embassy where they met H.E. Advisor Abdullah Al Mandoos, Charge d'Affaires of the UAE Embassy in the Republic of Singapore. Al Mandoos commended the SLC vigorous efforts to consolidate effective communication with the regional and international legislative and legal community in order to develop the legislative process in line with the international best practices. Members of the SLC General Secretariat delegation offered their sincere thanks and appreciation to H.E. Al Mandoos for the warm reception and excellent coordination and organization that ensured the success of the visit, which aims at boosting cooperation in transferring modern legal knowledge and exploring the legislative best practices in Singapore. On his part, H.E. Ahmed bin Meshar offered a memorial shield to H.E. Abdullah Al Mandoos in appreciation of the earnest efforts exerted by the UAE Embassy in the Republic of Singapore to build bridges of civilization, economic and cultural communication between the two countries.  

The SLC General Secretariat’s delegation visited the Singapore Attorney General's Office, where they were received by H.E. Terence Aung, First State Advisor for Legislative Affairs at the Attorney General's Office, who gave a detailed account of the legislative procedures adopted in Singapore and highlighted the role played by the Attorney General’s Office to support them,  showcasing the process implemented to develop the legal and judicial systems. 

During a meeting with H.E. Justin Yu, Assistant Advisor for Parliamentary Affairs in the Ministry of Law of Singapore, H.E. Ahmad bin Meshar and the accompanying delegation attended a presentation on the functions and responsibilities of the Ministry of Law of Singapore in supporting the legislative process and its role in supervising legislative development. The presentation detailed the Ministry’s efforts to provide specialized legal advice to various government agencies.

The SLC official visit to Singapore was concluded by a meeting with H.E. Xiao Han Ping, Deputy Leader of the House of the Singapore Parliament, who elaborated on the functioning of the legislative process in Singapore, highlighting the methods adopted to overcome the obstacles and challenges facing its development.

H.E. Ahmad Saeed bin Meshar stressed the importance of the visit in exploring the best practices and the latest approaches adopted to improve the Singaporean legislative system, an international success story in legal system development. Bin Meshar pointed out that the Supreme Legislation Committee is keen on establishing effective and direct communication channels with leading international legislative bodies. Bin Meshar reaffirmed the SLC’s commitment to developing the legislative process and upgrading and improving the legislation in line with rapid local and international developments, with the ultimate goal of achieving the SLC vision to build a legal system that is compatible with the future prospects and ambitious objectives of the Dubai Plan 2021; foremost among which is  to catapult the UAE into the ranks of the most advanced nations in the world.    

“The visit to Singapore is a perfect opportunity to build strong relationships with peer legislative bodies in Singapore. The visit also paves the way for the SLC to acquire the know-how and expertise to improve the quality of legislation in order to develop a distinguished legislative structure that is realistic and forward-looking, and upholds the principles of the rule of law and legality, in implementation of the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and following the instructions of H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Chairman of the Supreme Legislation Committee”, confirmed Bin Meshar. 

The visit to Singapore is part of a series of international official visits included in the  SLC General Secretariat’s strategic plan aimed at opening new channels for the transfer of knowledge and exchange of best practices and successful experience with prominent regional and international regulators. The visits also further the SLC objective to develop a legal system and a legislative framework that are consistent with the ambitious expectations  of the Emirate of Dubai. As part of this series of official visits, the SLC General Secretariat had earlier paid a visit to the USA to explore the applied best practices and exchange experience in the development of legislative systems at the local level in the states of California and New York and at the federal level in Washington, DC.