Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant royal decrees and laws issued in the previous month.
Ten royal decrees were issued in April and one of them related to the amendment of a law (the Law of the Administrative Court). These royal decrees can be summarised as follows:
The System of the Administrative Apparatus of the State governs at a high level how government entities are created and managed. This royal decree modified this system by introducing provisions that grant the Council of Ministers the power to exempt certain public authorities and establishments from having a board of directors, and also created a mechanism for appointing an accounts auditor for public authorities and establishments.
This royal decree removed NCSI from being under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy and instead made it directly subordinate to the Council of Ministers.
Royal Decree 16/2022 Granting Omani Nationality
This royal decree granted Omani nationality to a number of individuals in accordance with the provisions of the Omani Nationality Law.
Royal Decree 17/2022 Ratifying the Agreement between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of the Republic of Chile on the Mutual Visa Exemption for Holders of Diplomatic, Special, Service, and Official Passports and Royal Decree 21/2022 Ratifying the Agreement between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on the Mutual Visa Exemption for Holders of Diplomatic, Special, Service, and Official Passports
These two decrees ratified a visa exemption agreement between Oman and Chile and another one between Oman and Bangladesh. This is a routine agreement that Oman signs with countries from around the world to facilitate the travel of certain classes of diplomats and government officials (i.e. holders of diplomatic, special, and service (mission) passports). Since none of these passports is usually held by ordinary Omani citizens, such agreements do not have a significant impact on the travel of Omani people at large. Read the Law of the Omani Passport to learn more about the different kinds of passports issued by the Omani government.
This royal decree modified the organisational structure of the Ministry of Information. The actual details of the new structure are not yet available as the attachment of the royal decree will only be made public when the Official Gazette is published after the Eid holiday.
Royal Decree 19/2022 Appointing an Undersecretary for the Ministry of Information
This royal decree appointed Mohammed bin Said bin Mohammed Al-Balushi as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information. His Excellency Mohammed Al-Balushi was previously the undersecretary of the same ministry for radio and television, and he has now become the only undersecretary in the ministry for all of its functions. We assume that the new structure of the ministry only has one undersecretary and not two.
Royal Decree 20/2022 Extending the Membership of the Members of the Oman Human Rights Commission
The Oman Human Rights Commission is a government entity established in 2007 for monitoring the protection of human rights in the country. The members of the commission are appointed by royal decree from among the members of Majlis Al-Shura, Majlis Oman, OCCI, along with civil societies and members of the public at large for a period of three years for each term. This royal decree extended the membership of the existing members until the end of next year.
This royal decree ratified an amendment to the IAEA Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. This amendment extends the scope of the original convention to cover the physical protection of nuclear facilities and nuclear material used for peaceful purposes in domestic use, storage, and transport.
Royal Decree 23/2022 Amending Some Provisions of the Law of the Administrative Court
This royal decree made some changes to the Law of the Administrative Court, i.e. the court that has the jurisdiction to hear cases against government administrative decisions and in regard to the implementation of administrative government contracts. The details of the amendments are not yet available as the attachment will only be made public when the Official Gazette is published after the Eid holiday.