Territorial congress

In the Union of Arab Republics (UAR; usually known informally as the Arab Union), there exist 13 territories, which unlike the 20 republics of the union are afforded only the level of autonomy granted to them by the Arab Union federal government. Out of the thirteen territories, ten are "organised territories" while the remaining three are "unorganised territories", the difference being that an organised territories have their own local territorial government while unorganised territories do not, and are governed unilaterally by the federal government.

The organised territories' governments exist via the process of devolution, meaning that the Arab Congress (the legislative branch of the federal government) passed a bill allowing for the creation within the respective territory of a territorial congress, which is the constitutional term for the legislative assembly that the organised territory is permitted to form. A territorial congress, like a republican congress (the legislative branch of the governments of the 20 republics), is unicameral in nature, meaning that it possesses a single chamber consisting of a number of deputies who each represent a particular electoral district within the territory of more or less equal population.

A territorial congress serves as the highest institution of state power within an organised territory. The territorial congress appoints a territorial court or series of courts (the judicial branch of the territorial government) and, lastly, the premier (head of government) of the territory; the premier is elected by his/her constituents indirectly, in that the party or coalition of parties holding the most seats in the territorial congress nominates their leader or another individual to serve as premier, who is confirmed by the [[President of the Arab Union.

As mentioned above, the term "territorial congress" is used to refer generically to the territories' legislative assemblies. Each territory's territorial congress has an official name, which is always named after the territory. For example, Kurdistan, the most populous territory of the Arab Union, calls its assembly the Congress of Kurdistan, and Malta calls its assembly the Congress of Malta.