Author: Azza Al-Abri

Azza a legal intern at Decree. She has previously interned in the banking sector and in private practice. She is interested in corporate law. She holds a LLB from the University of Leeds.

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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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Law Updates

New Labour Decision on Temporary Transfer of Non-Omani Manpower

The Ministry of Labour (MOL) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new regulatory decision that governs the temprary transfer of non-Omani manpower between private sector establishments. This is a brand new area of regulation that did not exist in the past that sets the requirements for transferring non-Omani workers and imposes obligations on the establishment the worker is transferred to along with other matters.

Under this new decision, for a transfer to be legal, the worker must consent to the transfer, the profession to which the worker is transferred must not be an Omanised profession, and the two entities involved in the transfer must comply with Omanisation percentages. There are also other requirements relating to the visa of the worker, the duration of the transfer, and the overall percentage of workers transferred between the entities involved. Other matters governed by this new decision include pay, the nature of the new position, and other general rights and obligations.

It is important to note that there is a legal requirement to register the transfer of the worker with the Ministry of Labour.

This new decision has already entered into force. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

Ministry of Labour: Ministerial Decision 730/2024 Regulating the Temporary Transfer of Non-Omani Manpower Between Private Sector Establishments
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Is the Basic Statute of the State a Constitution?

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.

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Law Updates

MOCIIP New Quality Mark Regulation

Yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion published Ministerial Decision 718/2024 Issuing the Quality Mark Regulation that repeals the old Omani Quality Mark Regulation of 2011. The new regulation governs the controls for obtaining an Omani quality mark licence, sets the obligations of the licensee, and determines the quality monitoring and follow-up processes, fees, and administrative penalties.

A key change in the new regulation is that it no longer requires the application for the Omani quality mark to be an Omani entity. Furthermore, the scope to which the quality mark can be obtained has been expanded from applying only to goods to applying to services and processes as well. There is also a new provision in the regulation that gives the ministry the authority to make a requirement for certain establishments to obtain a quality mark as a pre-requisite for offering certain goods.

It is also worth noting that the new regulation also provides additional details regarding the required information for the application, and creates a two-step process for obtaining the licence involving a preliminary approval followed by a final approval that is issued after inspecting the quality management system of the applicant.

The new regulation also adopts technology by mandating that a QR code is included along with the quality mark logo and requiring that the ministry publishes the details of all products licensed through a dedicated government platform.

The new regulation enters into force next month. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

the quality mark regulation