Decree BlogRiyadh 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.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new Regulation Governing the Activity of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones) that replaces the Regulation Governing Practising the Aerial Activity and Aerial Works Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle of 2020.
The Capital Market Authority (CMA) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new Regulation Governing Electronic Linkage of the Health Insurance System that sets the legal framework for using its Dhamani electronic insurance system.
The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new Regulation of the Returned Direct Debit and Cheques System that replaces the Regulation of the Returned Cheques System of 2007.
Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant updates on Decree in the previous month.
Twelve royal decrees were issued in September, with the most significant being Royal Decree 62/2023 Amending Some Provisions of the Civil Aviation Law. Royal decrees were also issued establishing an embassy for the Sultanate of Oman in Australia, ratifying civil aviation agreements with Senegal and Belarus, and acceding to the Convention on the International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation.
A new provision in the Labour Law that very few people are talking about is the new mechanism under Part Eight (Settlement of Collective Labour Disputes, Strike, and Closure) for resolving collective labour disputes, and its confusing reference to arbitration and the Law of Arbitration in Civil and Commercial Disputes.
The Capital Market Authority published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette the Regulation Governing Electronic Insurance Operations. This regulation introduces new additional approval requirements for insurance companies and brokers wishing to provide their services on the internet. For example, Bima.om will now be required to comply with this regulation.
Decree Intel is a database of original Omani legal research material that provides explanatory notes, overview of government entities, and summaries of Supreme Court cases and MJLA Fatwas.
– Overview of the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre: The Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre (مركز عمان للتحكيم التجاري) is an Omani public-interest private entity established in 2018. It provides arbitration, mediation, and conciliation services.
– Overview of the Legislative Process in Oman: This document provides an overview of the process for issuing primary legislation (laws) and secondary legislation (regulations) in Oman. Even though the legislative process in Oman is formal and systematic, it is not actually outlined in full in any single legal instrument. The information on this page is collected through personal engagements with the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs and from explanatory material published in Arabic on its website.
– Overview of Treaties in Oman: The Omani legal system grants treaties the power of law upon their ratification, making them extremely important. This document will provide an overview of treaties, the process under the Omani legal system for joining a treaty, and a highlight of some of the most important treaties that Oman routinely ratifies.
– Fatwa Summary: MJLA Fatwa 192717255: The Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs (MJLA) deemed that the contractor had no rights under a contract it signed with the government due to the failure to comply with the requirements of Royal Decree 48/76 regarding the Signing of Foreign and Domestic Financial Transactions. The MJLA noted in its fatwa that the contractor can take legal action against individuals in their personal capacity whose actions resulted in the contractor suffering harm.
– Overview of the Court System in Oman: This document was updated to reflected the changes made by Royal Decree 63/2023.
The Tender Board published in today’s issue of the Official Gazette a brand new Regulation Governing Consolidated Procurement that requires government entities subject to the Tender Law to procure certain works and services through a new consolidated procurement procedure. The aim of this new procedure is to optimise government spending by obtaining better rates for routine works and services through consolidated purchases instead of procuring them individually by each government entity in an ad hoc manner.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion (MOCIIP) published a new Governance Regulation for Electronic Commerce in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette to regulate online stores.
Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant updates on Decree in the previous month.
Decree Intel was launched providing explanatory notes, overviews of government entities, and summaries of Supreme Court cases and MJLA Fatwas to Decree subscribers. You can learn more about this in our announcement post.
No royal decrees were published in the Official Gazette in the month of August.
Five ministerial decisions were published in the Official Gazette during this month, with the most significant ones being MEM’s Amendment to the Executive Regulation of the Mining Law, MOH’s decision Specifying Medicines that May be Dispensed without a Prescription, EA’s Regulation on Environmental Permits, and SMEDA’s new SME Financing Regulation.
Applications are still open for the Middle East School on Internet Governance co-hosted by Decree.
Our blog featured two posts by Mohammed Al-Farsi titled “New Omani Labour Law: 5 Employee Rights and 5 Employer Rights” and “Banned Barbie: Censorship Law in Oman“, along with a guest post by Duniya Al-Nabhani titled “Protection of the Rights of the Disabled under Omani Law“, a guest post by Bassam Al-Balushi titled “Biotechnology: Ethical Dilemma and Financial Issues“, a guest post by Adeeb Al-Mazroui titled “Smart Homes and Privacy Risks“, and a guest post by Faris Al-Said titled “Ranked Choice Voting: A Missed Opportunity in the New Shura Elections Law“.
Decree signed an MOU with the Omani Lawyers Association to provide special subscription rates for small and medium Omani law firms.