Act of Congress (Arab Union)
In the Union of Arab Republics (UAR; commonly known as the Arab Union) an Act of Congress (Arabic: قانون المؤتمر qānūn al-mu’tamr; lit. "congressional law" or "law of congress") refers to any statute proposed to either the Arab Congress of the federal (union) government, or to the congress of one of the 20 republics of the Arab Union, which if passed serves as primary legislation in the respective jurisdiction. Acts of Congress are to be distinguished from policy originating from executive governmental agencies, which constitute secondary legislation.
At the federal level, an Act of Congress is typically 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 on different republics), are instead introduced in the "upper chamber" (the Council of Republics). After being deliberated upon and passing in the first chamber, the proposed legislation proceeds to the second chamber and is again deliberated upon; if also passed by the second chamber, the legislation is officially ratified by the Presidium of the Arab Congress and becomes 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. Some 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 legislatures derive their legitimacy and authority from statute passed by the federal Arab Congress, and as such are devolved governments rather than the constitutionally entrenched, permanent republican governments; the essential difference is that, because of the constitutional enumeration of the 20 republics, republican governments cannot be unilaterally dissolved by the federal government, whereas territorial governments (whether legislative assemblies or thereby-elected executives) can be—this is in fact the primary difference between a republic and a territory.
