The legislative steps in the state of Qatar have begun since the fifties. The first Decree was issued in 1954 on income tax. In 1955 the Qatar Customs Duty Law was promulgated, after which the Law No. (1) of 1961 was issued establishing the official gazette of the government of Qatar for the purpose of publishing all laws and government decrees and other matters to make them official and have legal force from the time of such publication.

Care for further legislative steps continued with the state. In 1962 a special administration for the legal affairs was established by the Deputy Governor’s Decision No. (4) of 1962 regulating the functions of the Administration of Legal Affairs. According to the above Decision, the Administration was chaired by the State Legal Advisor until 1967 when the post of the ‘Director of the Administration of Legal Affairs’ was created. Legal matters and affairs remained connected to this Administration until 1970 when a new era dawned on the State of Qatar. The first government ever formed in Qatar included among other organs a ministry for the legal affairs called the Ministry of Justice. This was based on Law No. (5) of 1970 defining the competences of ministers and the functions of the ministries and government organs. Paragraph (4) of Article (6) defined the functions of the Ministry of Justice as including:

• The administrative and financial regulation of the Courts Procedures (excluding the Sharia Courts), the supervision and inspection of Courts.
• The administrative and financial supervision over the judges, regulation of their affairs, and technical inspection on them.
• The undertaking of legal studies, rendering of legal opinion and performing all other legal work needed by the various ministries in accordance with the rules and regulations.
• The supervision of the registration of the real property deeds.

The Ministry of Justice used to comprise the following:

• The Court of Justice or (Mahkama Adliya) (later became the courts of justice)
• The Labour & Traffic Court (later merged into the courts of justice)
• The Qatar Municipality Affairs Court (cancelled)
• The Administration of Legal affairs (cancelled)
• The Administration of Real Estate Registration & Authentication.

In 1989, the Minister of Justice was appointed among the other ministers, hence this was considered a new era for the Ministry of Justice, which proceeded thenceforward in steady and rapid strides towards laying down the foundation for administrative and technical stability. The Ministry was staffed by a batch of legal experts and researchers to help develop the mechanism of its works. In 1990, the Permanent Committee for Legislative Affairs was established by the Emiri Decision No. (3) of 1990, which was later amended by the Emiri Decision No. (14) of 1991 to regulate the methods and procedures for preparing legislations. The Ministry of Justice was reorganized and its powers redefined by Decree Law No. (14) of 1991, which cancelled and replaced the former ministry by establishing the Department of Legal Opinion & Legislation, and the Department of State Cases in place of the Administration of Legal Affairs, beside the Departments of Real Estate Registration, the Administrative & Financial Affairs and the Planning & Follow-up Unit, which were already set up by the Emiri Decision No. (4) of 1989 Establishing the Supreme Council for Planning. Sections and divisions of the Ministry were also set up by the Ministerial Decision No. 6) of 1994, ‘ Setting up Sections of the Administrative Divisions of the Ministry of Justice and Designating their Functions’ which finalized the organs of the Ministry with a new vision for carrying out its designated role in the most perfect manner.