A country’s constitution is the most essential legal document in a legal system for a variety of reasons: It regulates the country’s governance structure, sets the fundamental rights of individuals, and is the most supreme legal document in a country that prevails over all other laws. Therefore, it is of vast importance to identify the constitutional statutes to apply laws correctly and to fairly regulate life and society.
The Omani Basic Statute of the State was first promulgated in 1996 by Sultan Qaboos by Royal Decree 101/96, as a gift to the people of Oman. The Basic Statute of the State provided a general legal framework upon which Oman operates, establishing its status and role as a constitution in Oman. However, since it is not formally called a constitution (or a Dostour in Arabic) and was promulgated merely by royal decree, some may doubt its legal status as the constitution.
To answer this question, this post will examine the Basic Statute of the State from a number of dimensions, namely, its name, its supremacy over other documents, its content, and its entrenchment, all of which are key attributes of constitutional documents.
Name of the Basic Statute of the State
Constitutions are commonly titled as constitutions, or the Dostour in Arab countries, to clarify their legal status. Therefore, since the Basic Statute of the State is not labelled as the Omani constitution, it can be perceived as a regular law. Nonetheless, this on its own should not be the determining factor for denying the Basic Statute of the State its constitutional status as not all internationally recognised constitutions are formally named as constitutions. For example, in Germany, the constitution is called the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. Furthermore, the term Dostour originates from the Farsi language, not Arabic, and therefore it is not unreasonable for an Arab country to choose not to name its constitution as a Dostour and use an alternative Arabic name for it.
Supremacy of the Basic Statute of the State
A key aspect of any constitution is that it is the most supreme document of the land. Oman’s Basic Statute of the State declares itself as the supreme legal authority in Oman in article 96 which explicitly mandates that all laws, decrees, and regulations must conform to its provisions, and in article 97 which mandates that no entity can issue any form of law that contradict the Basic Statute of the State. This is also confirmed in practice as every single royal decree that was issued after the promulgation of the Basic Statute of the State starts by referencing the Basic Statute of the State as the legal basis for issuing these royal decrees.
Contents of the Basic Statute of the State
Constitutions around the world are meant to outline the governance framework by which a government operates and set the fundamental rights that are guaranteed to the people. In Oman, the Basic Statute of the State carries out this exact function. Across the different Books of the statute, the Omani framework of governance and the branches of the state and their powers have been detailed to include the Sultan, Council of Ministers, Majlis Oman, and the judiciary. Each of these bodies echoes similar functions as the three main branches of the state (the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary) found in traditional constitutional charters. Furthermore, Book Three of the Basic Statute of the State grants the people various fundamental rights such as the right to life and dignity, the right to equality and security of life, the right not to be arrested, searched, detained, or imprisoned, the right not to be subject to torture, the right to freedom of religion, the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the right to private life, and many more. These elements reflect the key elements found in other constitutions around the world.
Entrenchment of the Basic Statute of the State
Constitutions are traditionally entrenched, i.e. difficult to change, by highly demanding repeal or amendment requirements to ensure the stability of the foundations of the legal system. The Omani Basic Statute of the State appears to lack this attribute, since article 98 of the Basic Statute of the State provides that its articles can be amended the same way they were promulgated, which is merely by a royal decree without any requirements for the change to go through Majlis Oman. However, even though issuing a royal decree can be seen as an easy thing to do, history demonstrates that the Omani Basic Statute of the State is not easy to amend since it has only been amended twice since its promulgation in 1996, the first was in 2011 when the entire Arab World was going through a massive wave of change during the Arab Spring, and in 2021 after Sultan Haitham came into power. Accordingly, even though the Basic Statute of the State might appear to be capable of amendment at any time, the history of Oman demonstrates that it is rarely ever amended and only in extreme circumstances.
Conclusion
To conclude, even though the Basic Statute of the State is not officially labelled as the Omani constitution, it enjoys many of the attributes of formal constitutions recognised around the world, especially in regard to the supremacy and contents of the document.
Being the most important legal document in the country, I highly recommend that everyone reads the Omani Basic Statute of the State, which is available for free in English at this link:
