Personnel Risk:
High
Score:
38/100
Leadership Behaviour
Q34
17/100
Do the Defence Ministry, Defence Minister, Chiefs of Defence, and Single Service Chiefs publicly commit, through, for example, speeches, media interviews, or political mandates, to anti-corruption and integrity measures?
View Question
There is a very little commitment by the MoD and its personalities. During a few events, and visits by the commander in chief of…
Explore
The UAE leadership is also the head of the armed forces, and they issue many public statements committing the country and its leadership and…
Explore
There is little stated commitment on behalf of any defence personnel (commanders are mostly from the royal families) about building integrity and countering corruption…
Explore
Q35
38/100
Are there effective measures in place for personnel found to have taken part in forms of bribery and corruption, and is there evidence that these measures are being carried out?
View Question
There is a range of clearly defined offences in law that apply to the defence sector concerning bribery and corruption, and for this reason.…
Explore
In cases of corruption by noncitizens, they would be prosecuted and then deported and prohibited from employment in the UAE. However, there is no…
Explore
Q36
42/100
Is whistleblowing encouraged by the government, and are whistle-blowers in military and defence ministries afforded adequate protection from reprisal for reporting evidence of corruption, in both law and practice?
View Question
In the UAE, there is a clear and enforced legal provision for the protection of whistleblowers at the federal level in the country. The…
Explore
Whistleblowing is encouraged in public and inside units. There are many placards inside the units and offices that encourage personnel to report any corruption…
Explore
There is little trust among officials that whistleblowers would be provided with the necessary protections. However, there are internal cases in which whistleblowers were…
Explore
Q37
0/100
Is special attention paid to the selection, time in post, and oversight of personnel in sensitive positions, including officials and personnel in defence procurement, contracting, financial management, and commercial management?
View Question
As the UAE is a rentier state monarchy, sensitive positions are held by particular people who are loyal. However, there is no restriction on…
Explore
Open recruitment is not the standard operating procedure, even though conflict of interest policies are existent. As previously explained (Q37A), appointments and selection for…
Explore
There seems to be very little, if any independent oversight, over the selection and appointment of personnel in sensitive positions within the defence sector.…
Explore
Payroll, Promotions, Appointments, Rewards
Q38
33/100
Is the number of civilian and military personnel accurately known and publicly available?
View Question
According to the annual IISS Military Balance, the number of soldiers employed is 63,000 (44,000 Army, 2,500 Navy, and 4,500 Presidential Guards) (1). However,…
Explore
There is no transparency at all about the number of civilian and military personnel that are employed. There are no official numbers available through…
Explore
There are no ghost soldiers in the UAE armed forces. There is no evidence of ghost soldier; the institutional mechanism of financial auditing is…
Explore
Q39
13/100
Are pay rates and allowances for civilian and military personnel openly published?
View Question
Research has revealed that salary scales and pay rates are published only for selected civilian and military personnel. The official websites of the Ministry…
Explore
There is no publicly available information on allowances for military and civilian personnel in the UAE. It has been established that the official websites…
Explore
Q40
67/100
Do personnel receive the correct pay on time, and is the system of payment well-established, routine, and published?
View Question
Research has revealed that the government in the UAE has strict rules and regulations concerning timely payments for private and public sector employees. Federal…
Explore
There is no evidence to suggest that incorrect payments to staff are made within the defence sector. All legislation and regulations show that the…
Explore
The military payment system is not published. There is a general lack of transparency about military conduct in the UAE. Despite the existence of…
Explore
Q41
25/100
Is there an established, independent, transparent, and objective appointment system for the selection of military personnel at middle and top management level?
View Question
There is a formal process in place concerning the appointment system for the selection of military personnel at almost all levels in the UAE.…
Explore
There is limited scrutiny over the appointment of senior and middle personnel. The fact that senior and middle-level personnel are appointed by a royal…
Explore
Federal Law No. 6 of 2004, which sets out the appointment system for the selection of military personnel at the middle and top management…
Explore
Q42
8/100
Are personnel promoted through an objective, meritocratic process? Such a process would include promotion boards outside of the command chain, strong formal appraisal processes, and independent oversight.
View Question
Research has revealed that the UAE has a formal process for promoting military personnel. Federal Law No. 6 of 2004, namely articles 13, 14,…
Explore
Federal Law No. 6 of 2004, as previously explained, places the responsibility of promotions in the hands of an ‘officers committee’, and explains that…
Explore
There is little information released about postings and promotion cycles within the armed forces in the UAE. Information is not available on the official…
Explore
There is little information released about postings and promotion cycles within the armed forces in the UAE. Information is not available on the official…
Explore
Conscription and Recruitment
Q43
67/100
Where compulsory conscription occurs, is there a policy of not accepting bribes for avoiding conscription? Are there appropriate procedures in place to deal with such bribery, and are they applied?
View Question
Research reveals that there is a range of clearly defined policies and strict rules relating to bribery in general in the UAE, and those…
Explore
There are sanctions imposed that exist in law; however, it is rare that anyone is prosecuted. The maximum imprisonment is one year and fines…
Explore
There has never been a case of bribery to avoid conscription. Avoidance and dismissal usually happen through special decrees for some influential families and…
Explore
Q44
67/100
is there a policy of refusing bribes to gain preferred postings? Are there appropriate procedures in place to deal with such bribery, and are they applied?
View Question
There is a range of clearly defined offences in law that apply to the defence sector concerning bribery. Although there is not a specific…
Explore
As previously explained UAE laws include anti-bribery policies that apply to the defence sector concerning bribes to gain preferred postings. These laws and regulations…
Explore
There are anti-bribery policies and sanctions that apply to any attempt to gain preferred postings within the defence sector. Paying bribes in UAE to…
Explore
Salary Chain
Research has revealed that the chains of command are strictly separated from chains of payment throughout the ministry of defence and armed forces. The…
Explore
Values and Standards
Q46
25/100
Is there a Code of Conduct for all military personnel that includes, but is not limited to, guidance with respect to bribery, gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, and post-separation activities? Is there evidence that breaches of the Code of Conduct are effectively addressed?
View Question
There is a clear and well-defined code of conduct within the UAE armed forces. This code of conduct is simple and available in the…
Explore
There is a military code of conduct; however, it is not available for all military personnel and not available for the public at all.…
Explore
The code of conduct is not enforced and can be thought of as a superficial code based on information of our sources. They are…
Explore
There is no guidance provided during the training period or ad hoc training for middle/ senior officers (1).
Explore
Q47
56/100
Is there a Code of Conduct for all civilian personnel that includes, but is not limited to, guidance with respect to bribery, gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, and post-separation activities? Is there evidence that breaches of the Code of Conduct are effectively addressed?
View Question
There is a clear and well-defined code of ethics and professional conduct available for all public and private personnel working under the Federal Authority…
Explore
The code of ethics and professional conduct is available for all public and private personnel online, and also employees are provided with a signed…
Explore
There are rare cases when investigations occur as a result of a breach of the Code of Conduct. This usually happens with foreign employees…
Explore
There is no guidance provided during ad-hoc training or in the induction period. There is only a paper referencing the code of conduct that…
Explore
Q48
0/100
Does regular anti-corruption training take place for military and civilian personnel?
View Question
There is no evidence of any anti-corruption training taking place within the defence sector. Despite the fact that the UAE has been vehemently expressing…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable as there is no evidence of anti-corruption training taking place for military and civilian personnel in…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable as there is no evidence of anti-corruption training taking place for military and civilian personnel in…
Explore
Q49
0/100
Is there a policy to make public outcomes of the prosecution of defence services personnel for corrupt activities, and is there evidence of effective prosecutions in recent years?
View Question
There is no evidence to suggest that there is a policy within the defence institutions to make the outcomes of prosecutions publicly available. Furthermore,…
Explore
There is a total lack of transparency about making the outcomes of the prosecution of defence personnel available to the public. Researchers could not…
Explore
This sub-indicator has been marked as Not Applicable, as there is no defence institution policy to make the outcomes of prosecutions publicly available, as…
Explore
Q50
83/100
Are there effective measures in place to discourage facilitation payments (which are illegal in almost all countries)?
View Question
According to many sources, facilitation payments are prohibited in the UAE and are considered illegal under the laws that criminalise bribes (1), (2), (3).…
Explore
The UAE does not make information about the investigation and prosecution of cases of corruption in the defence sector and the armed forces accessible…
Explore
According to the assessor’s interviews with officers within the UAE armed forces, facilitation payments are very rare and not a common practice within the…
Explore