Anyone who reads Omani legislation runs into two similar-sounding instruments: the royal decree and the royal order. Both are issued by the Sultan, but the Basic Statute of the State, in its current 2021 form, uses them for different purposes. The difference is not just naming convention.
According to the Basic Statute of the State, royal decrees are the instrument of lawmaking and institutional structure. They ratify and issue laws, establish or abolish specialised councils, govern local administration, appoint members of Majlis Al-Dawla, and set up the Supreme Judicial Council. Senior appointments, including deputy prime ministers, ministers, undersecretaries, senior judges, and senior military and security officers, are also made by decree, as is the appointment of a prime minister. Royal decrees are, with rare exception, published in the Official Gazette.
Royal orders, by contrast, deal with matters internal to the state rather than lawmaking. For example, article 61 leaves minister’s financial allocations, during and after their term, to a royal order. Furthermore, article 65 provides that the committee responsible for monitoring ministers’ performance is formed by royal order.
Some royal orders are published in the Official Gazette, like the granting of an award for special achievements. However, the majority are never published and remain internal to the state. This is not very effective for certain matters that the Basic Statute of the State reserves for royal orders. For example, the crown prince is appointed by royal order, as is the governance of the Royal Family Council. Due to the significance of the two matters it would have been more effective if they were governed by a public instrument like a royal decree.
In short, watch for decrees when the law changes or an institution is restructured, and orders for royal appointments or internal administration, some published and some not. Neither term is interchangeable with the other, and the gaps between them are worth keeping in mind when reading Omani legislation more broadly.
Everyone is recommended to read the Basic Statute of the State. It is available in full in English at the link below:
