Author: Riyadh Al-Balushi

Riyadh is the CEO at Decree. Prior to co-founding Decree, Riyadh worked for over 16 years of as a lawyer for the government of Oman. His areas of subject matter expertise include public international law, technology law, and intellectual property. He holds an LLB from the University of Cardiff, an LLM in IT and Commerce from Southampton University, and a PhD from SOAS, University of London. Riyadh is also a co-founder of Open Data Oman.

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Announcements

Decree Search Goes Advanced

We are adding a new search engine for Decree with Advanced Search options such as search in title only, exact phrase, date range, and the option to select a mix of legislation types and legislation issuers to filter the results.

Our extremely fast original search engine will remain the primary search engine associated with our search button, and those wishing to utilise the new advanced search options will be able to quickly access the new search form from the search side bar.

We have built this new search form with power users in mind who need to conduct a thorough research of our database. If you would like to see additional options and filters added to the new search form, feel free to get in touch with us.

Advanced Search is available to all Decree members.

Use Advanced Search
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Announcements

Introducing: Decree Alerts Chrome Extension

Today we are launching Decree Alerts, a free Chrome extension that provides users with alerts on new items published on Decree along with the ability to quickly search Decree directly from within the extension.

You can download the Decree Alerts extension from the Chrome Web Store:

Decree Alerts Chrome Extension
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Announcements

MSX Disclosures on Decree Risk

We are announcing today the addition of Muscat Stock Exchange Disclosures to Decree Risk, which makes it possible to search for the contents of these disclosures, receive email alerts for disclosures made by companies tracked using Risk Watchlist, and subscribe to a new MSX Digest daily newsletter.

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Law Updates

New Omani Nationality Law Issued

The new Omani Nationality Law was published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette which repeals the Omani Nationality Law of 2014 and lowers the requirements for obtaining Omani nationality.

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Intel Update

Intel Update: December 2024

Decree Intel is a database of original Omani legal research material that provides explanatory notes, overviews of government entities, and summaries of Supreme Court cases and MJLA Fatwas.

Case Summary: Supreme Court (Civil Circuit) 293/2016 (Characteristics of Adhesion Contracts): In a dispute between a bank and a corporate client, the Supreme Court held that the standard terms and conditions of the contract signed between a bank and this corporate client do not fulfil the characteristics of an adhesion contract, and therefore these terms and conditions cannot be set aside on this ground.

Case Summary: Supreme Court (Civil Circuit) 64/2016 (Objection to Court Jurisdiction Over Dispute Subject to Arbitration Clause): In a contractual dispute over rent payments, the Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeal in Sohar cannot, at its own initiative, set aside the judgment of the Primary Court in Suwaiq on the basis that the court has no jurisdiction due to the existence of an arbitration clause in the contract if none of the parties to the dispute raised this as a defence.

The Ministry of Information: This is the entity responsible for disseminating information about the Sultanate of Oman and regulating media in the country.

The Ministry of Economy: This is the entity responsible for formulating the macro-economic policy of the state, approving the annual development budget of the government, and approving projects for the five-year plans of the government.

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Law Updates

New Public Noise Control Regulation

The Environment Authority published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new Regulation for Noise Control in the Public Environment that replaces an old regulation on the same topic from 1994.

The new regulation completely overhauls the framework for controlling noise generated by business operations in public places (such as construction, mining, and airports), creates a classification for noise levels for daytime vs nighttime without reference to working days and holidays, introduces new duties on project owners to take noise measures and carry out noise modelling as part of environmental impact studies, and sets new administrative penalties of up to 500 rials for those who violate the regulation.

It is worth noting that this regulation repeals the old Regulation on Noise Control in the Public Environment of 1994, but does not repeal the Regulation on Noise Control in the Work Environment of 1994, which continues to remain in force.

The new Regulation for Noise Control in the Public Environment enters into force tomorrow. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

Regulation for Noise Control in the Public Environment
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Law Updates

New System for Signing Omani Government Contracts

A royal decree was issued last week promulgating a new System of Signing Contracts and Financial Commitments of the State that repeals Royal Decree 48/76 regarding the Signing of Foreign and Domestic Financial Transactions and sets new formalities for signing government contracts.

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Law Updates

New Omani Media Law Issued

His Majesty issued earlier this week a royal decree promulgating a new Media Law that overhauls the legal framework for the dissemination of media through all mediums including newspapers, radio and TV channels, cinemas, and physical artwork and medium, setting unified rules for all forms of media irrespective of the platform.

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Law Updates

New Data Sharing Requirements Under the National Records Law

His Majesty issued yesterday a new law called the National Records Law that requires all government entities, government-owned companies, and certain private companies to directly integrate with Royal Oman Police to store the data that ROP deems required to maintain a newly created national records database. If an entity is not able to directly integrate with ROP to electronically provide the data that ROP requests, the entity is required to provide the data to ROP using traditional means. In both cases, it is not permitted to require ROP to pay any fees for the cost of integration or transfer of the requested data.

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Commentary

New Omani Advocacy and Legal Consultancy Law Issued

The new Omani Advocacy and Legal Consultancy Law was promulgated two days ago, and it introduces major changes to the regulation of the legal profession in Oman. The new law requires advocates to pass written exams to qualify to appear before the different levels of Omani courts, and permits international law firms to open legal consultancy offices in Oman without a local Omani partner, among many other significant changes. This new law will enter into force after six months.

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