In accordance with article 17 of Law of Majlis Oman, His Majesty called the brand new members of Majlis Al-Shura for an extraordinary session to be held today 9 November 2023 to elect the new chairman and the two deputies of the chairman of Majlis Al-Shura for its tenth term. On this occasion, we are writing this blog post to explore the role that Majlis Al-Shura plays in the Omani legal system, its structure, and its function. If you are interested in the upper house of Majlis Oman, i.e. Majlis Al-Dawla, you can learn more about it in our previous blog post.
Composition and Structure
Majlis Oman, i.e. the Omani parliament, is made up of two organs, Majlis Al-Dawla and Majlis Al-Shura, with Majlis Al-Dawla being a body appointed by His Majesty the Sultan, and Majlis Al-Shura, the subject of this post, being a body elected by the people. The two primary legal instruments that govern Majlis Oman are the Basic Statute of the State and the Law of Majlis Oman.
Majlis Al-Shura is composed of 86 members elected by direct secret vote to represent each wilayat of the Sultanate of Oman, with a single member representing a wilayat whose population does not exceed 30,000 people and two members representing a wilayat whose population exceeds this number.
To be eligible for candidacy, an individual running for Majlis Al-Shura must be an Omani national by origin, must be at least 30 years old by the Gregorian calendar on the commencement date of candidature, and must be educated with at least a General Education Diploma level. This is a more stringent requirement than the requirements for the membership of Majlis Al-Dawla which does not require the candidate to be Omani by origin or to have a minimum level of education.
The law prohibits members of Majlis Al-Shura from remaining as government employees once they are successfully elected as members of the Majlis.
Term
The Term of Majlis Al-Shura is four years.
Mandate
The primary function of Majlis Al-Shura is legislative in nature. Like Majlis Al-Dawla, in the combined role of Majlis Al-Shura and Majlis Al-Dawla as Majlis Oman, Majlis Al-Shura contributes to making proposals for new laws and proposals for amending existing laws. Majlis Al-Shura also has the mandate to review all draft laws as well as draft amendments of the laws that are submitted to them by the Council of Ministers, before they are submitted to His Majesty the Sultan by the Council of Oman with any remarks by Majlis Al-Shura and Majlis Al-Dawla.
In addition to the legislative function of Majlis Oman, the Majlis is also responsible for reviewing new development plans that the government prepares as well as the General Budget of the State. An interesting aspect of the review of development plans and the General Budget of the State is that the session conducted to review them is usually confidential and not open to the public or the press.
Majlis Al-Shura also has some supervisory functions that are unique to it and do not apply to Majlis Al-Dawla. For example, Majlis Al-Shura has the mandate to review economic and social international agreements that Oman intends to sign with other countries (such as double taxation agreements, investment treaties, and free trade agreements). Furthermore, Majlis Al-Shura has the power to interrogate ministers, question them, and submit urgent statements to the Council of Ministers.
Conclusion
Majlis Al-Shura is without a doubt the most important body in the Majlis of Oman as it provides key checks and balances to the Omani legal system.
