The Shura Council State of Qatar

The Shura Council held on Monday its regular weekly session, in "Tamim bin Hamad Hall", headed by HE Speaker of the Shura Council Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim.

During the session, the Council approved a draft law amending some provisions of Law No. (6) of 2014 regulating real estate development, in its amended form, after reviewing the report of the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee, and discussing the provisions of the draft law by Their Excellencies the members of the Council.

The most prominent amendments in the aforementioned draft law included a number of definitions of terms and phrases contained in the draft. The draft also stipulated the establishment of a special register for those licensed to practice real estate development, and another register for those licensed to practice the profession.

The amendments also came to define the obligations of the real estate developer, while the draft regulated the relationship between the developer and the bank so that it stipulated the opening of an account by agreement between both parties, according to which the rights and obligations of each of both are determined.

The amendments included obliging the developer to submit an accounting statement of the amounts he spent on the project, granting the employees of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority the judicial authority, and establishing a "licensing committee" in the authority, entrusted with the competence to issue licenses for real estate development, licenses for developers, and licenses for companies operating in the field of managing and maintaining real estate under development.

The Council also approved a draft law amending some provisions of Law No. (24) of 2006 issuing the Law (Regulation) of Fertilizers and Agricultural Soil Improvers in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which was referred to the Council by the esteemed government, after reviewing the report of the Services and Public Utilities Committee.

On the other hand, the Council approved a request to extend the work of the Cultural Affairs and Information Committee to study a draft law on documents and archives.

At the end of the session, HE Speaker of the Shura Council Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim, briefed their Excellencies the members on the proposal submitted by a member of the Council, related to the Shura Council taking the initiative to request the inclusion of an emergency clause on criminalizing contempt for religions and spreading hatred among peoples, and calling for the promotion of the values of coexistence, tolerance, international peace and security, on the agenda of the 146th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which will be held next March.