Act of Congress (Arab Union)

In the Union of Arab Republics (UAR; commonly known as the Arab Union) an Act of Congress (Arabic: قانون مؤتمري qānūn mu’tamrī; lit. "congressional law") refers to any statute proposed to either the federal Arab Congress or one of the republican congresses, which if passed serves as primary legislation in its respective jurisdiction. Acts of Congress are to be distinguished from statutes or other policy originating from republican or federal government agencies of the executive government, or from the executive (head of government) in its own right, which constitute secondary legislation.

At the federal level, an Act of Congress is generally first proposed in the Council of Deputies, the "lower chamber" of the Arab Congress; some categories of legislation, however (especially legislation likely to vary substantially in effect manifested in the different republics and/or territories), are instead required to be introduced in the "upper chamber" (the Council of Republics. After passing in the first chamber, the proposed legislation proceeds to the second chamber and is deliberated upon; if passed again by the second chamber, the legislation is ratified and becomes the law.

At the republican level, the process is simpler, due to the unicameral (that is, single-chamber) structure of a republican congress: following its introduction by one or more elected deputies of their respective congress, the proposed legislation is debated upon and subsequently put to vote, and, if passed, becomes law within the republic.

The main difference between federal and republican Acts of Congress is that, when it comes to domestic matters, criminal law is exclusively federal whereas non-criminal law (civil law, torts, corporate and financial regulation, etc.) is almost entirely the responsibility of the republics. The only legislation passed at the federal level not concerning criminal law is that legislation affecting the federal government and/or the union itself, whether manifest at home or abroad. The territories of the Arab Union also have their own legislative bodies dealing with the same jurisdictional matters as the republics, the only difference being that territorial legislative assemblies derive their legitimacy from statute passed by the federal Arab Congress, and as such are devolved governments rather than the constitutionally entrenched, permanent republican governments.