Should the administration assistant be experienced in the HR procedures & the local labor law & why?

It should be mandatory to have an awareness of the local labor law, not only for the admin people but to all people working.

admin person should have known about the HR procedures & the local labor law because at first he should see the the staffs.
if he doesn't have any experience then he should take some training or he should consult with the senior.
To go to senior in the working hour for inquiry will be problem so, in my general understanding admin person should know about all the office processions.

I think he would prefer an experienced ..but if the person does not have experience but have the skills for this job could be the appropriate person with some training

I think yes, he must has a good experience in the HR procedures especially in the local labor because of his responsibilities that he must do in time of absence for HR and/or Admin manager.
Other hand we have to admit that admin issues is considered one of the large activities of the HR process and processes at many firms now a days.
For Example...
when i was senior consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers at 2007 i designed HR and Admin policies and procedures for AAAID (Some of the governmental Agriculture organization).

Yes its the must for administartion assistant to have knowledge and to be aware about HR procedures and labour law as part of his roles is to advise employees and labours in some HR procedures and issues related to labour law.
But we should ensure that he is well trained in HR procedures and labour law issues.

Administration roles are quite diverse in nature moving from company to company and region to region.
It isn't necessary that every administrative role have a requirement for HR and labour law awareness.
It's entirely dependent on the nature of the role as defined by the company.
Having said that, knowledge in HR practice can sometime be a stepping stone to a more senior or diverse Administrative opportunity.

I believe if there is an appropriate training provided, well-informed about HR procedures and UAE labor code law, the administrator assistant will do his/her task efficiently and effectively among those who experience as well.

currently with the flexible firm model, employer seek flexibility of the work force to respond easily to market fluctuations; that is why the administrative assistance knowledge of the labour law, HR procedures and government regulations add to her credit.

Although it helps when the candidate has a good background about the work, it's not always necessary that the Administration Assistant should have extensive knowledge in HR Procedure, so long as he is interested to learn and to be trained.
Speaking from my own experience, I never had a prior experience as Administrative Assistant because I was working in another field (journalistic writing and publishing).
But then, the top management of another company, who as an associate with my superior, pointed out to the latter that I had the potential to do Administrative work (they saw how I worked); and so, I was just picked out to be trained, first as Administrative Assistant, by my superior.
Humility aside, I was given an orientation for only one and a half days; after which, I was left on my own.
After two, months, my company elevated me to higher position because they were satisfied with my performance, and saw in me that I can deliver more.

I believe that she/he needs to have basic knowledge if drafting offer letters are part of their responsibilities and probably build on that skill if they aim to be promoted for an HR role.

As the immediate heir in waiting and the very first contact person, he is well versed with the laws ; a case in point is frequent disciplinary cases,wage bills,recruitment and selection procedures  which we do it with full knowledge of the laws but clearly depending on the Human Resource Manual of the organisation which is in agreement with the laws.