Law No. (1) of 2022 was passed on January 5, 2022, by amending some provisions of Law No. (1) of 2017 on the Financial System of the Government of Abu Dhabi, in which new definitions were added to some of the words contained in it, including that the Supreme Council is meant to be "the Supreme Council for Finance and Economic Affairs, which was established under Law No. 24 of 2020 referred in the new law.
The new law amended, changed and replaced the provisions of many paragraphs and articles in the previous law, including "that the Department of Finance of the Emirate follows the ruler, and its headquarters shall be in the city of Abu Dhabi . However, it becomes permissible, if the ruler permits by a decision to establish branches on the recommendation of the head of the department as well as with regards to any approvals, appropriations or decisions related to the department , including executive, administrative, financial affairs, human resources, retirement, contracts and procurement of the Financial department.
It was further stipulated that among the duties of the head of the department, in addition to the tasks mentioned in the previous law, is to prepare the organizational structure of the department and supervise the preparation of the annual draft budget for the financial department, ,submit them for approval by the Ruler, to submit an annual report on the department’s work to the Ruler, and any other tasks assigned to it by the Ruler,
It also states, "Governmental institutions and companies prepare their annual budgets in line with their ownership policy, provided that their budgets are approved by their board of directors and, a copy of them is sent to the department, no later than the end of December of each fiscal year.
and Governmental institutions, companies and subsidiaries may not increase the capital, borrow or provide debt guarantees as well as lend, except in accordance with the rules issued by the department and approved by the Supreme Council."
The new law authorized the head of the department to agree to incur expenses to deal with emergencies without the need for financial appropriation and in accordance with the powers delegated to him by the Ruler or the Supreme Council, provided that these expenditures are included in the government's financial statements for approval, and if any emergency situations arise during the implementation of the general budget for any year emergency situations or an exceptional decrease in public financial resources collected compared to the financial resources that were estimated for the same year, , the Head of the Department may develop the necessary measures and procedures to address these exceptional situations or this decrease, including the reduction of the general budget and the restriction of the disbursement of all or some of its provisions, to be submitted to the Ruler or the Supreme Council for Accreditation.
The new law gave the head of the department to open bank accounts in the name of the emirate or the government and enter into agreements with banks to collect, pay and transfer funds inside or outside the emirate and pay and collect interest and any other banking transaction.
In that respect, the head of the department is prohibited from combining his or her job with any other private job without the Ruler's consent and it is also prohibited for him to engage in financial, commercial or professional activities that conflicts with his duties or undermines his appearance and credibility.
The text of the second and third paragraphs /B of Article 16 has been replaced, and the new text does not allow imposition, modification or cancellation of any fees to be imposed, amended, or abolished except by law, an Emiri decree or decision of the Supreme Council or the Executive Council.
It also stipulates the entities that the Supreme Council or the Executive Council decides to exempt, in whole or in part, from fees and taxes for charitable, humanitarian, educational, cultural, national, or any other reasons.
The new law also allows the head of the department on behalf of the government to borrow money from any person or entity, whether inside or outside the emirate for the benefit of the government or government agencies after the approval of the Supreme Council. Any powers and rights related to it in accordance with the powers granted to it, and it is not permissible to exempt some or all of the amounts due to the government for any reason except with the approval of the Supreme Council or the Executive Council, according to the subordination of the entity requesting the exemption, or its delegates.
The law is implemented from the date of its issuance, as it was issued on 5 January 2022. The new law was published in the first issue of the Official Gazette for the year 2022, which is issued by the General Secretariat of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.