·        The Constitution,

·        Federal Law No. 1 of 1972 concerning the Jurisdiction of Ministries and the Authorities of Ministers, as amended,

·        Federal Law No. 9 of 1974 concerning the Regulation of Statistics and Census in the State,

·        The Penal Code enacted pursuant to Federal Law No. 3 of 1987, as amended,

·        The Criminal Procedure Code enacted pursuant to Federal Law No. 35 of 1992, as amended,

·        Federal Law No. 9 of 2006 concerning the Population Registry and Identity Card,

·        And pursuant to the report of the Minister of Economy, and approval by the Cabinet, the Federal National Council and ratification by the Supreme Council,

 

hereby enact the following law:

 

 

 

Definitions:

In implementing the provisions of this law, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings set forth adjacent to them except where the context requires otherwise:

State                                                  : The United Arab Emirates.

Bureau                                               : The National Bureau of Statistics.

Board of Directors                               : The board of directors of the Bureau.

Chairman of the Board of Directors       : The Chairman of the Board of Directors

                                                          of the Bureau.

Director General                                 : The Director General of the Bureau.

Government Agencies                         : Ministries, authorities, public corporations and similar entities.

Local Statistical Centers                       : In each Emirate, local government   

Respondent                                       : A person located within the territory of the State,

Administrative Records                      : Paper or electronic records, at various

Data                                                : Numbers and information collected through 

Personal Data                                   : Any data that reveals the identity of the 

Statistical Documents                        : Maps, charts, records, questionnaires, manuals, 

National Accounts                            : An accounting framework that aims to measure

 

 

 

A bureau for statistics called the “National Bureau of Statistics” is hereby established. It has legal character, an independent budget and full capacity to conduct its affairs and those legal transactions which are necessary for performing its duties. It is responsible for preparing the national statistical system, and will report directly to the Cabinet.

 

 

 

The Bureau shall be considered the sole           official            statistical source for the State and            the source of its official statistical data. The headquarters of the Bureau shall be in the city of Abu Dhabi, but pursuant to a resolution of the Board of Directors, it may establish branches or offices within the State.

 

 

 

The Bureau has the following functions:

1.        Recommending a strategic plan for statistical work in the State in coordination with Government Agencies and Local Statistical Centers.

2.        Implementing international standards for all aspects of statistical work.

3.        Enacting, studying and coordinating programs of statistical work at the national level in cooperation with Government Agencies and Local Statistical Centers.

4.        Collecting, classifying, storing and analyzing economic, social, demographic, agricultural, environmental, energy and other data, in cooperation with Government Agencies and Local Statistical Centers.

5.        Establishing national statistical databases covering all the various economic, social,   demographic, environment, energy and other fields.  

6.        Conducting censuses, and economic, social, demographic, agricultural, environmental and other surveys.

7.        Preparing and providing data, information and statistical indicators and disseminating them in various public media.

8.        Preparing and issuing the National Accounts.

9.        Providing data which are comprehensive, accurate, consistent, continuous and up-to-date.

10.     Unifying applied standards which are used in statistical work in the State and the definitions, methodologies and classifications thereof in coordination with Government Agencies and Local Statistical Centers.

11.     Applying professional and technical best practices that are adopted in the field of handling, analyzing and publishing statistical data. 

12.     Achieving quality control of statistical work in the State and the analysis of Data received by the Bureau from Government Agencies and Local Statistical Centers.

13.     Representing the State with respect to statistical affairs at the national, regional and international level in cooperation with concerned authorities of the State.

14.     Recommending the State’s entry into international cooperation agreements that promote the development of the national Statistical system in the State in accordance with prevailing legislation and in coordination with the concerned authorities.

15.     Coordinating with local, regional and international agencies and providing them with available data and information.

16.     Providing training, technical and other support to Government Agencies and Local Statistical Centers to promote the ideal performance of national statistics compiling in the State.

17.     Participating in building a statistical culture and the progressive development of statistical awareness in the State.

18.     Any other tasks or functions related to the operation of the Bureau that is assigned to it by the Cabinet.

 

 

 

A Board of Directors shall undertake management of the Bureau. A Cabinet resolution shall form the Board of Directors and define the rules pertaining to it; provided that it shall include a representative of each Emirate, nominated by such Emirate, who shall be properly qualified whenever possible.

 

 

 

The Board of Directors shall be the supreme authority for the Bureau and shall have the following specific powers:

1.        Preparing the general policy for the Bureau’s operation and supervising its performance.

2.        Coordinating and monitoring statistical work at the national level.

3.        Defining the responsibilities of Local Statistical Centers that relate to implementing the annual plan for the statistical surveys in the State.

4.        Monitoring implementation of the national policy for disseminating statistical data and monitoring implementation of the annual statistical surveys plan in the State.

5.        Determining the Bureau’s organizational structure and human resources policies, which will be issued in a Cabinet resolution based upon a recommendation from the Director General.

6.        Issuing organizational regulations for the Bureau based upon a recommendation from the Director General.

7.        Adopting a draft budget and final accounts for the Bureau and referring these to the Cabinet for approval.

8.        Reviewing annual performance reports regarding the accomplishments of the Bureau and making the necessary comments thereon.

9.        Any other functions assigned to it by the Cabinet.

 

 

 

The Bureau shall have a Director General appointed by a Cabinet resolution. He shall be in charge of directing the operations of the Bureau and representing it in its relations with third parties and before the            judiciary. Specifically, he may:

1.        Recommend and prioritize plans of action, projects and programs related thereto and present these to the Board of Directors for approval. 

2.        Monitor the performance of plans, projects, programs and activities that the Bureau is supervising, administering or performing.

3.        Approving training and qualification           plans and programs.

4.        Supervise the Bureau’s administrative activities and all those working for the Bureau to carry out and monitor performance of resolutions of the Board of Directors and regulations that have been approved.

5.        Prepare the annual draft budget and final accounts and present them to the Board of Directors.

6.        Prepare the organizational structure, human resources policies, and organizational regulations and present them to the Board of Directors.

7.        Refer periodic reports on the Bureau’s operation to the Board of Directors.

8.        Any other task or power assigned to him by the Board of Directors.

 

 

 

Government Agencies and Local Statistical Centers are obligated to provide statistical data as required by the Bureau.

 

 

 

1.        Federal Government Agencies shall provide the necessary support to the Bureau and shall provide statistical data to it to enable the Bureau to perform its mandate. In furtherance of this, they are specifically obligated as follows:

a) To coordinate with the Bureau to set up statistical units subordinate to them; provided that such Government Agencies must comply in their         fields of activity with the Bureau’s requirements in the field of statistics regarding methodologies, definitions, classifications, technical standards and forms that have been approved by the Bureau.

b) To coordinate with the Bureau and obtain its consent before making any changes to the format of the records or statistical mechanisms used by them so as to achieve the compliance of such records, forms and mechanisms with the requirements of statistical work.

c) To facilitate the mission of the Bureau’s employees and the persons authorized to carry out statistical work by ensuring their smooth interaction with the concerned entities and by providing them with all the data and information they require for statistical purposes.

2.        Federal Government Agencies may, in coordination with the Bureau, conduct specialized surveys in the field of their activities to gather specific statistical data. The Bureau shall be the entity supervising compliance with the necessary technical standards for the survey, in the field of sampling design and selection, reviewing the questionnaire and otherwise. The results shall become official after they are approved by the Bureau.

3.        The implementing regulations to this law shall specify the types of surveys that non-governmental entities are permitted to conduct and the conditions and criteria thereof.

4.        As an exception to paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, academic entities are permitted to conduct specialized surveys that relate to their activities.

 

 

 

The fiscal year of the Bureau commences on the first of January and ends on 31 December of each year. As an exception to this, the Bureau’s first fiscal year begins on the date of the Bureau’s establishment and ends on 31 December of the following year.

 

 

 

The Bureau is authorized to collect fees for statistical permits to conduct surveys, in respect of requests for statistical data, information and publications; or for providing information services and technical or technological consulting for conducting customized surveys upon request; or training; or for hosting conferences, seminars and workshops.

A Cabinet resolution specifying the fees shall be issued based on a recommendation from the Board of Directors.

 

 

 

1.        The financial resources of the Bureau shall consist of:

a) Annual appropriations allocated to it in the general budget of the State.

b) Revenues from activities performed by the Bureau.

c) Gifts, donations, grants and financial assistance provided to           the Bureau and accepted by the Board of Directors.

2.        All revenues of the Bureau shall accrue to the General Federal Treasury.

 

 

 

Every relevant person must facilitate the task of the Bureau’s employees in verifying the accuracy of data and information, including their examination of records, papers, documents, other information storage media and similar items.

 

 

 

1.        All personal data submitted to the Bureau that is related to any survey or census shall be deemed confidential. Neither the Bureau nor any of its employees are permitted to allow any person or entity, public or private, to examine it, disclose it or use it for any purpose other than to perform statistical work unless this is pursuant to a request from the judicial authorities.

2.        When publishing official statistics, the Bureau is obligated to not reveal any personal data in order to preserve its confidentiality.

3.        The Bureau must take adequate steps to safeguard collected and stored data in places that fulfill the conditions of safety and security.

 

 

 

As an exception to the provisions of Article 14 of this law, personal data may be used in the following two circumstances:

1.        To prove violations committed in contravention of this law or the regulations issued thereunder.

2.        Upon the written consent to such use by the person or entity to which the personal data relates.

 

 

 

A person shall be deemed to have refused to provide data if it is proven that he has been served with a request to do so at least thirty days prior to the time specified for its provision, unless he            proves that he has a lawful excuse that prevents him from doing so. Census operations that specify times for submitting data pursuant to a Cabinet resolution are exempted from this.

 

 

 

Confinement            for a period not less than one year and a fine of not less than one hundred thousand dirhams, or one of the two penalties, shall be the punishment for:

1.        Any person who discloses any confidential statistical information or data specified in this law, or any industrial or trade secret or other business method that is considered to be secret, of which he became aware by virtue of his work.

2.        Any person who intentionally retains possession of any confidential statistical document containing data or who intentionally destroys or forges any statistical document.

 

 

 

Confinement            for a period not more than one year and a fine of not more than forty thousand dirhams or one of the two penalties, shall be the punishment for:

1.        Any person who wrongly passes himself off as having the authority of an employee of the Bureau or the authority of anyone authorized to perform a task related to the census or a statistical survey or other statistical work.

2.        Any person who intends deliberately to hinder the work of the census or a statistical survey. 

3.        Any person who deliberately provides misleading data to anyone authorized to conduct the census or a survey.

4.        Any person who obtains confidential statistical data from any employee of the Bureau or its registries or records by means of fraud, threat, deceit or by any other means that violates the law.

5.        Any person who intentionally publishes or causes the publication of incorrect statistics or census results.

 

 

 

A fine of not less than fifty thousand dirhams but not more than two hundred thousand dirhams shall be the punishment for:

1.        Any person who, because of negligence, loses any statistical document of a confidential nature that contains data.

2.        Any person who refuses to submit data after being served with a notice in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of this law.

 

 

 

The imposition of the penalties specified           in this law shall not prejudice a more severe penalty prescribed by any other law.

 

 

 

Civil servants            specified in a            resolution of the Minister of Justice pursuant to an agreement with the Chairman of the Board of Directors shall have the status of judicial investigative officers, each within the scope of his authority, for the purpose of proving violations of the provisions of this law.

 

 

 

Every provision that contradicts or is inconsistent with the provisions of this law is repealed. Federal Law No.9 of 1974 concerning the Regulation of Statistics and Census in the State is also repealed.

 

 

 

Except for the regulations and resolutions that the Cabinet has jurisdiction to adopt pursuant to this law, the Chairman of the Board of Directors shall adopt the regulations and resolutions necessary to implement the provisions of this law.

 

 

 

This law shall be published           in the Official            Gazette and shall come into effect on the date of its publication.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: 23 Jumada I 1430 A.H.

Corresponding to: 18 May 2009