Qatari law Essay

Qatar is located in a peninsula jutting out 100 miles into the Persian Gulf from Saudi-Arabian-Arabian Arabia. The country is mainly barren and is situated with Saudi Arabia on its west and United Arab Emirates on its southern border. Qatar occupies a total land bea of 11,437 square kilometers. (Infoplease, 2007) Climate experienced in this region is in general hot and dry referable to the desert landscape. The air is usually humid still is sultry during the summer time. Naturally occurring disasters experienced in the area are haze, dust storms and sandstorms.Qatar has only 1% of its land area that is classified as arable while 5% of the land is used for raising pastures. Qatar has an estimated population of 1,000,000 (in 2007), and near 200,000 are citizens. Nearly all Qatari profess Islam approximately 95% of the population. Majority of the population migrated due to the availability of employment for the anele sedulousness in Qatar. Arabic serves as the official language w hile English and other languages are also spoken in Qatar. Many Qataris trace back their grow to natives of the Arabian Peninsula.Migratory tribes have settled in Qatar during the 8th century. There were also migration from gulf Emirates and as easily as Persian merchants. Today, most of Qatars inhabitants cluster in Doha, the capital city. Foreigners with temporary status comprise 52% of the total population and make up approximately 89% of the total workforce. In 2004, the country had a total population of approximately 1,000,000 (in 2007), of whom approximately 200,000 were believed to be citizens. Of the citizen population, Shia Muslims account for approximately 3 percent and Sunni Muslims comprise the remaining 97 percent.The majority of the estimated 800,000 non-citizens are individuals from South and South East Asian and Arab countries working on temporary employment contracts in most cases without their accompanying family members. They are of the determineing(a) faiths Sunni Muslims, Christians, Hindis, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Bahais. Most foreign workers and their families live near the major employment centers of Doha, Al Khor, Messaeed, and Dukhan. The Christian community is a diverse mix of Indians, Filipinos, Europeans, Arabs, and Americans.It includes Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Anglican, and other Protestant denominations. The Hindu community is almost exclusively Indian, while Buddhists include south and East Asians. Most Bahais in Qatar may come from nearby Iran. Religion is not indicated on national identity cards and passports, nor is it a criterion for citizenship in Qatar according to the Nationality Law. However, Qatari citizens are either Sunni or Shia Muslims with the exception of a Bahai and Syrian Christian and their respective families who were granted citizenship.Shia, both citizens and foreigners, may attend a small number of Shia mosques. There is some limitation of the spectral liberty of Christians. No foreign missionary gr oups operate openly in the country. Culture Qatar explicitly uses Sunni law as the basis of its government, and the vast majority of its citizens follow Hanbali Madhhab. Hanbali (is one of the four schools (Madhhabs) of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam (The other three are Hanafi, Maliki and Shafii).Sunni Muslims believe that all four schools have correct focal point, and the differences between them lie not in the fundamentals of faith, but in finer judgments and jurisprudence, which are a result of the independent reasoning of the imams and the scholars who followed them. Because their individual methodologies of interpretation and extraction from the primary sources were different, they came to different judgments on particular matters. Qatari law When contrasted with other Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, for instance, Qatar has comparatively liberal laws, but is quiet not as liberal as some of its neighbors like UAE or Bahrain.Women can legally drive in Qatar, where as they may not in Saudi Arabia. The country has undergone a period of liberalization and modernization after the authoritative Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, came to power after becoming Emir in prepare of his father. Under his rule, Qatar became the first Arab country in the Persian Gulf where women gained the right to vote. Also, women can dress mostly as they please in public (although in practice local Qatari women generally don the black abaya). Before the liberalization, it was taboo for men to wear shorts in public.The laws of Qatar tolerate alcohol to a certain extent. However, public bars and nightclubs in Qatar operate only in expensive hotels and clubs, much like in the UAE and Bahrain, though the number of establishments has yet to twin that of UAE. Qatar has further been liberalized due to the 15th Asian Games, but is cautious of becoming too liberal in their law making the country viable pass immigration from their western neighbor. Overall Qatar has yet to reach the more western laws of UAE or Bahrain, and though plans are being made for more development, the government is cautious EconomyBefore the discovery of rock oil the economy of the Qatari region focused on fishing and collecting. After the introduction of the Japanese cultured pearl into the world market in the 1920s and 1930s. Qatars pearling industry faltered. However, the discovery of oil reserves, beginning in the 1940s, completely transformed the states economy. like a shot the country has a high standard of living, with many social services offered to its citizens and all the amenities of any modern state Qatars national income earlier derives from oil and natural gas exports.The country has oil estimated at 15 billion place (2.4 km3), while gas reserves in the giant northwestward field (South Pars for Iran) which straddles the border with Iran and are almost as large as the peninsula itself are estimated to be between 800 900tcf (Trillion Cubic Feet 1tcf is equal to around 80 one thousand thousand barrels of oil equivalent) (Anonymous, 2005). Qatars primary source of income relies on its oil reserves, which constitutes more than 30% of its Gross Domestic Product. An estimated reserve of 3. 7 billion barrels is predicted to last up to 23 years with sustained level of output (Qatar Background, 2007).Qatar also has one of the worlds largest reserves for Natural Gas, estimated to be more than 5% of the worlds total reserve or amounting to 7trillion cubic meters. These two natural resources constitutes the backbone of Qatars economy (Qatar, 2002). Oil industry in Qatar On 1935, a 75-year oil concession was granted to Qatar Petroleum Company, which was owned by Anglo-Dutch, French and USA. At Dukhan, located at the western fount of Qatar, high quality oil was discovered. Oil exploitation was delayed due to the onset of World War II and Qatar was only able to export oil during 1949.Due to the increase in revenue from oil export during th e 1950s and 1960s, Qatar entered the start of its modern history. This was the start of Qatars prosperity, rapid immigration was experienced due to employment brought about by the oil industry and substantial social changes was experienced. When UK announced in 1968 the policy of ending the treaty relationship with the Gulf Shiekdoms, failed talks with the other sheikdoms in a plan to form the United Arab Emirates resulted to Qatar declaring independence on September 3, 1971.Oil still forms the cornerstone of Qatars economy well into the 1990s. Today Oil still accounts for about 62% of total government revenue. In 1973, income generated from oil production and exportation gradually increased the countrys revenue. This has helped Qatar move from previously ranked as one of the worlds poorest countries into one of the highest per capita income in the world. In 2006, the country has a per capita income of $62,000, which is ranked as ordinal in the world (Beureau_of_Eastern_Affairs, 2 007).During the 1990s, OPEC or Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had lower oil production quotas resulting to fall in oil prices. The result was an unpromising spotter in the international markets and reduced earnings in oil products led to recession in Qatar. Many small businesses were affected and expatriate staffs were affected by massive lay off. However the country was able to regain economically by the late 1990s and expatriate population have grown again. Qatars oil production is currently estimated around 835,000 barrels a day.It is expected to reach 1. 1 million barrels per day by the year 2009. With the current rate of producing oil, reserves in Qatar are expected to last up to more than 40 years. However Qatar has other resources that are also exploited for production. Its proven reserves of natural gas are the third largest in the world. The gas reserves of North Fields in Qatar exceed more than 900 trillion cubic feet or 14% of the worlds total gas reserves . Qatar is the largest producer of Liquefied Natural Gas with more than 31 million metric scads per annum.By 2010, Qatar is expected to produce 77. 5 million metric tons per annum and will account for one third of the worlds LNG supply (Beureau_of_Eastern_Affairs, 2007). Qatars oil fields are estimated to be depleted by 2023. But with the discovery of natural gas in the Northern fields, Qatar economy received a spectacular boost from gas reserves income generated from exportation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas. Currently Qatar exports gas to Korea, India and China via shipping lines while gas is delivered via pipelines to Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain. ExplorationEarly exploration took place in May 1935 as part of an agreement between the English-Persian Corporation and the Sheikh of Qatar at that time Abdullah Bin Jassem Al-Thani to explore oil for a term of 75 years. The agreement was executed by a corporation, which is later known as Qatar Oil Associated Corporation. Exploration, however , was adjourned due to border problems with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, but eventually started in 1938 extensively (Country profile Qatar, 2008). In 1949, Qatar started to export oil through Mesaieed port on the East Coast.The first exported quantity was 80,000 tons on board President Liner on 31/12/1949 for a price of 5. 9 million Indian rupees received in 1951. Qatar positive its production speedily and in 1951, it reached 46,500 barrels a day compared to only 34,000 a day before that time (Energy and ResourcesSources and Definitions, 2003). The State of Qatar became number 11 among oil exporting countries in 1952, with a production of 67,700 barrels a day, i. e. , 0. 5% of world production. Consequently, oil revenue increased to 4. 2 million US dollars in 1951, and 12 US million dollars in 1952.