Samer Bitar

General Secretariat of the Cabinet - UAE

The General Secretariat serves as a support unit to the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs. Its mandate includes preparing the Cabinet's agenda and arranging its meetings. It also ventures as far as drafting the Cabinet's resolutions and following up on implementation. Alongside these tasks, the General Secretariat also provides legal, administrative and technical support on the issues presented to the Cabinet and forwards the appropriate recommendations to assist the Cabinet in the decision making process. The General Secretariat also contributes to the preparation and finalization of draft laws, taking into account all appropriate constitutional procedures. It takes responsibility for drafting all Federal decrees and organizational resolutions issued from the Cabinet. As an advisory body, the General Secretariat provides recommendations to the Cabinet on developing the functions of ministries and Federal entities, institutions and other authorities, while following up on the performance evaluations of councils and committees formed by the Cabinet. Hence, the General Secretariat becomes the primary intermediary and communication liaison between the Cabinet and the various ministries, institutions and authorities of the UAE government. The General Secretariat proposes guidelines and procedures for Cabinet functions as well as draft laws, rules, regulations, and decisions which impact the activities carried out by the General Secretariat. It also drafts the annual budgets and final accounts of the General Secretariat. Most notably, the General Secretariat represents the Cabinet and the General Secretariat if any legal action is filed by or against them, whereby the General Secretariat may appoint a lawyer or a legal team from inside or outside the Government to handle legal actions. As part of its wider mandate, the General Secretariat supports any other functions assigned to it by the Cabinet or the Prime Minister.