Author: Riyadh Al-Balushi

Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant legislation issued in the previous month.

Royal Decrees

Seven royal decrees were issued during March, with the most significant being Royal Decree 19/2023 promulgating the Maritime Law—the text of which will be published on Sunday in the Official Gazette—followed by Royal Decree 16/2023 Approving the Accession of the Sultanate of Oman to the Arab Charter on Human Rights. Other royal decrees include Royal Decree 15/2023 Establishing the Oman Across Ages Museum and Determining Its Competences, and Royal Decree 13/2023 Ratifying a Maritime Transport Agreement with the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Ministerial Decisions

11 ministerial decisions were published in the Official Gazette during this month, with the most significant ones being MHUP’s  Regulation for Providing Some of its Services through Engineering Offices and Engineering Consultancy Offices and APSR’s Regulation of the Prevention of Risks from Ground Works and Installations Relating to the Water and Wastewater Sector.

Blog Updates

Our blog featured a number of short law updates on MHUP introducing permits for the promotion of international real estate within Oman and the new regulation for providing some of its services through engineering offices.

Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant legislation issued in the previous month.

Royal Decrees

Five royal decrees were issued during February. Three involved the appointment of an Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion, non-resident ambassadors, and Supreme Court judges. Royal Decree 10/2023 was the most significant and it related to the allocation of land for the purpose of renewable energy and clean hydrogen projects, while Royal Decree 12/2023 ratified a joint-committee agreement with the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.  

Ministerial Decisions

18 ministerial decisions were published in the Official Gazette during this month, with the most significant ones being CAA’s new Civil Aviation Executive Regulation, MOSD’s NGO Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-terrorist Financing Regulation, MOCII’s National Product Brand Regulation, MTCIT’s amendments of the Executive Regulation of the Law of Carriage by Land, and PASMED’s Riyada Card Regulation.

Blog Updates

Our blog featured this month a commentary article by Yousuf Al-Busaidi titled “Oman Doubles Down on Hydrogen” exploring the ramifications of Royal Decree 10/2022, a guest post by Dr Bader Al-Maskari titled “Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Oman: The Significance of the Reciprocity Principle” exploring article 352 of the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law, along with a number of short law updates on MOL’s new job performance measurement system for civil servants, NCSI’s new Statistics and Information Regulation, MOCIIP’s new National Product Brand Regulation, CAA’s new Civil Aviation Executive Regulation, MTCIT’s amendments to the Carriage by Law Regulation, CPA’s amendment to the Executive Regulation of Consumer Protection.

Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant legislation issued in the previous month.

January was a relatively slow month for royal decrees as only seven royal decrees were issued and none of them related to the promulgation or amendment of laws. The first royal decree of the year was the usual royal decree ratifying the General Budget of the State for the year 2023, this was followed by two royal decrees declaring public benefit status to construct dams in Wadi Adnoub and Wadi Annar in Dhofar, and four royal decrees ratifying the following treaties: 

Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant legislation issued in the previous month.

The month of November was busy with a number of important royal decrees and ministerial decisions issued.

In regard to royal decrees, Royal Decree 70/2022 appointed Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Hinai as Oman’s first-ever Ambassador-at-Large (Sheikh Abdulaziz was more recently known for being Oman’s ambassador to the UK before this role), Royal Decree 71/2022 declared areas in the Wilayat of Yanqul as having public benefit status to allow them to be expropriated by the government for a project to develop mines in Block A1-12, Royal Decree 72/2022 approved Oman’s accession to the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation, while Royal Decree 73/2022 overhauled the organisational structure of the State Audit Institution.

In regard to ministerial decisions, many significant decisions were issued including CMA’s Decision 144/2022 on the Visitors Health Insurance Policy Form, MOCIIP’s Decision 574/2022 on the Governance Regulation for Foreign Investor Applications Approval Offices, MJLA’s Decision 113/2022 on the Code of Conduct for Experts, and TRA’s Decision 1152/2/3/2022-5 on the Regulation Governing Domain Names.