Author: Mohammed Al-Farsi

Earlier this month, the new Law Regulating Wildlife Trade was promulgated by His Majesty. This is a brand new law that complements other laws for protecting wildlife, such as the Nature Reserves and Wildlife Conservation Law of 2003 and the Nature Reserves and Wildlife Conservation Law of 2003.

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Labour issued in the Official Gazette Ministerial Decision 617/2024 regarding the System of Complaints and Grievances, which is a brand new system under the Labour Law in Oman that applies to any company in Oman that has 50 employees or more. The system requires the company to have a system in place for allowing employees to challenge any decision made against them by submitting a complaint to their line manager, who must respond to this complaint within 2 working days. If the employee does not receive a response from his line manager, or if the response he receives is a rejection of this complaint, the employee has the right to submit a complaint to the actual employer, who must respond to this complaint within 5 working days.

The FSA published in this week’s Official Gazette a Decision Amending Some Provisions of the Regulation Governing Clearing and Settlement which included a minor change to article 14 of the regulation.

Article 14 of the regulation outlines that upon executing a sale or purchase transaction, the securities are recorded in the electronic system under the status of “Deemed Sold Awaiting Settlement” or “Deemed Bought Awaiting Settlement, Sale Permitted,” respectively. Ownership is registered to the buyer on the day of settlement, and this settlement is considered final.

The amendment makes a small specific change to the wording of the original article 14 by stipulating that the settlement cannot be “conditional or deferred”.

This amendment enters into force tomorrow. You can read the text of the decision in full on the link below:

ROP published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette Decision 88/2024 Issuing the Controls for Providing Vehicle Technical Inspection Service which creates a framework for outsourcing Traffic Law related inspection to private sector establishments.

By virtue of this new decision, a private sector establishment wishing to apply for a licence to offer vehicle inspection services must be wholly owned by Omanis, must equip its garages with approved tools, must maintain an electronic database linked to the Directorate General of Traffic, and must employ qualified technicians who adhere to safety standards during inspections.

The controls impose a number of obligations on establishments licensed to offer this service, such as the prohibition against inspection of vehicles involved in accidents or the sale or installation of spare parts to bypass inspection.

Penalties for violating the new controls include warnings, fines of up to 100 Rial Omani (double upon repetition), as well as licence suspension or cancellation.

You can read the text in full in English at the link below:

Articles 22 and 23 of the Social Protection Law provide for the creation of a medical committee and a number of medical grievance committees. The medical committee is responsible for licensing health establishments to issue reports for disability assessment, while the grievance committees are responsible for reviewing challenges made to the reports issued by these health establishments.

The Ministry of Interior issued in today’s Official Gazette a brand new Regulation Governing Cemeteries. This is Oman’s first ever legal instrument that governs the cemeteries and it outlines the management, establishment, and operational standards for cemeteries along with the requirements for burial practices, cemetery maintenance, and public health compliance.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) issued in today’s Official Gazette a new Decision E/25/2024 Issuing the Governance Regulation for the Account for the Treatment of Visitors in Emergencies. Under this new regulation, visitors to Oman will be able to request a subsidy of up to 5,000 Rial Omani from the government to cover their medical emergencies if they exhaust the limit of their existing health insurance, have an expired health insurance policy, or do not have any health insurance at all.