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Law Updates

New Amendment to the Penal Law

His Majesty Sultan Hitham issued yesterday Royal Decree 11/2025 amending article 71 of Omani Penal Law. The previous text of article 71 gave the courts the power to stay the execution of a punishment, i.e. choose not to implement it, if the circumstances of the convict justify this (such his age or the history of his behaviour).

The new amendment to article 71 of the Penal Law limits the ability of the court to choose not to implement a punishment by stipulating that this power of the court is only available in regard to punishments other than those relating to state security crimes, offenses that undermine the stature of the state, or terrorism and terrorism financing crimes.

This means that if someone is convicted in one of these newly listed crimes, the court has no choice but to implement the punishment imposed against them and the judge will not have the power to stay the execution of these punishments no matter the circumstances of the convict.

This new amendment will enter into force next week. You can read the full texts of Royal Decree 11/2025 in English on the link below:

Royal Decree 11/2025 Amending Some Provisions of the Omani Penal Law
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Article

Paths to Omani Nationality Under the Law

Now that it has been established that obtaining an Omani passport does not equate to obtaining Omani nationality, this post will explore the paths set by the Omani Nationality Law promulgated by Royal Decree 38/2014 for obtaining Omani nationality. Pursuant to this law, there are three paths for obtaining nationality in Oman: by origin, by reinstatement, and by grant from His Majesty the Sultan. This post will provide details on each one of these three paths.

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Law Updates

CBO Issues ESG Circular

In October last year, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) issued a circular on “Promoting Sustainable and Green Financial Practices“. The circular clarifies the phases in which ESG should be implemented in banks, with the circular itself being part of “Phase 2: Regulatory Expectations 2024”. The next phase is going to be during the period 2025-2027, and is named “Phase 3: Implementation and Monitoring”.

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Announcements

2025: What’s Next for Decree?

The year 2024 was a big year for Decree. In terms of content, Decree remains the biggest and most comprehensive database of English-translated Omani legislation ever created, and this year alone, we added more than 500 new and old legislative items to our catalogue, including essentially every single new royal decree and ministerial decision published in the Official Gazette in 2024.

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Article

Types of Passports under the Omani Passports Law

The Omani passport and the Omani nationality are closely interlinked topics, but they are governed by two separate pieces of legislation: The Law of the Omani Passport and the Omani Nationality Law. A passport is a travel document given by a state, but it does not equate to nationality. In this blog post, we are going to highlight the six different kinds of passports or travel documents available in Oman and the conditions for obtaining them, which as will be illustrated below, does not always require Omani nationality.

The types of passports are determined by the Law of the Omani Passport. However, due to the fact that some types of passports are issued by the Foreign Ministry, and not the Royal Oman Police, certain provisions relating to those passports are also governed by the Law Governing the Foreign Ministry.

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Special Feature

Royal Decrees of 2024: The Year in Review

69 royal decrees were issued in the year 2024 that had a transformational impact on the economy and the Omani legal system at large, from the promulgation of a new Advocacy and Legal Consultancy Law and a new System for Signing Government Contracts, to the creation of a new Financial Services Authority and the appointment of a new Chairman for the Tax Authority. This blog post reviews the most significant royal decrees that came out this year.

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Special Feature

Decree Picks of the Year 2024

As we wrap up the month of December, we thought it would be fun to ask members of the Decree team to tell us about the legal developments that they personally found to be most interesting in the year 2024. To allow for some diversity in the answers, nobody was allowed to mention the new Advocacy and Legal Consultancy Law in their answers, since this was the biggest legislative development for the legal profession in Oman in a very long time.

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Intel Update

Intel Update: December 2024

Decree Intel is a database of original Omani legal research material that provides explanatory notes, overviews of government entities, and summaries of Supreme Court cases and MJLA Fatwas.

Case Summary: Supreme Court (Civil Circuit) 293/2016 (Characteristics of Adhesion Contracts): In a dispute between a bank and a corporate client, the Supreme Court held that the standard terms and conditions of the contract signed between a bank and this corporate client do not fulfil the characteristics of an adhesion contract, and therefore these terms and conditions cannot be set aside on this ground.

Case Summary: Supreme Court (Civil Circuit) 64/2016 (Objection to Court Jurisdiction Over Dispute Subject to Arbitration Clause): In a contractual dispute over rent payments, the Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeal in Sohar cannot, at its own initiative, set aside the judgment of the Primary Court in Suwaiq on the basis that the court has no jurisdiction due to the existence of an arbitration clause in the contract if none of the parties to the dispute raised this as a defence.

The Ministry of Information: This is the entity responsible for disseminating information about the Sultanate of Oman and regulating media in the country.

The Ministry of Economy: This is the entity responsible for formulating the macro-economic policy of the state, approving the annual development budget of the government, and approving projects for the five-year plans of the government.

Categories
Law Updates

MTCIT Updates Ship and Port Facility Security Regulation

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology (MTCIT) issued a new Ship and Port Facility Security Regulation, which repealed the Ship and Port Facility Security Regulation of 2016.

Both regulations are based on the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code), which Oman ratified by Royal Decree 63/2004. The new regulation comprehensively updates the governance of ship and port facility security. For example, it incorporates a new structure for port facility security verification, introduces new obligations for different stakeholders, establishes a new framework to license private companies to carry out certain tasks related to ship and port facility security including ship security verification, and imposes administrative fines that the MTCIT can impose if the regulation is not complied with.

You can read the decision in full in English on the link below:

SHIP AND PORT FACILITY SECURITY REGULATION
Categories
Law Updates

TRA Issues Guideline on Environmental Sustainability for the Postal Sector

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) recently published on its website a non-binding Guideline for Enhancing the Contribution of the Postal Sector in Preserving the Environment and Reducing Harmful Emissions.

This guideline is based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and prescribes a number of actions under different headings that postal companies can adopt to reduce their carbon emissions. For example, under the heading Vehicles and Means of Transport, it is suggested that postal companies should ensure that an annual percentage is set for converting their delivery vehicles to modern and environmentally friendly vehicles.

Even though this guideline is not legally binding, it is highly recommended that postal companies consider them, especially as the guideline states that the TRA will issue—in cooperation with other government entities—directives with implementation targets and timelines.

You can read this guideline in full in English on the link below:

Guideline for Enhancing the Contribution of the Postal Sector in Preserving the Environment and Reducing Harmful Emissions