Categories
Law Updates

MHUP Issues Regulation for Providing Some of Its Services through Engineering Offices

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning issued the Regulation for Providing Some of Its Services through Engineering Offices to allow these offices to provide planning and survey services to the public on behalf of the ministry.

Under this regulation, MHUP services relating to detailed cadastral survey of land plots; modification of approved land plots; placement and delivery of markers for approved land plots; merging, splitting, and dividing approved land plots; and issuing a certificate of completion of the implementation of service routes may be provided by engineering offices and engineering consultancy offices, provided that they obtain a certificate from MHUP to provide these services.

The regulation specifies the procedures and requirements for obtaining the certificate, the rights of service applicants, the consequences of committing violations by the engineering offices, and the mechanism for sharing the fees between MHUP and the engineering offices.

This regulation entered into force on 20 March 2023.

You can read the regulation in full in English on the link below:

Categories
Law Updates

MHUP Introduces Permits for the Promotion of International Real Estate Within Oman

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning issued Ministerial Decision 38/2023, which amends schedule 12 of the Regulation of Values, Fees, and Prices Collected by the Ministry of Housing. This amendment adds a new item to schedule 12 for applying through the electronic system to obtain a permit for the promotion of international real estate within Oman. The fee for issuing this permit amounts to 500 Rial Omani.

The amendment came into force on 13 March 2023.

You can read the amendment in full in English on the link below:

Categories
Law Updates

MTCIT Issues Amendments to the Carriage by Land Regulation

The Ministry of Transport, Communication, and Information Technology has issued amendments to the Executive Regulation of the Law of Carriage by Land. The amendments place special emphasis on installation of tracking systems on licensees for transporting goods. This obligation extends to vehicles not registered in Oman, when they enter or transit through its lands.

The regulation sets out an administrative penalty if the tracking systems are tampered with or re-installed by unauthorised entities amounting to a fine of 400 (four hundred) Rial Omani for the first time, which is doubled in the event of repetition, and will lead to cancellation of the licence when repeated for the third time.

You can read the amendments in full in English on the link below:

Categories
Law Updates

CAA Issues New Executive Regulation of the Civil Aviation Law

The Civil Aviation Authority has issued a new Executive Regulation of the Civil Aviation Law. This regulation is issued pursuant to the new Civil Aviation Law of 2019 and replaces the executive regulation of 2007.

The regulation addresses all stakeholders in the aviation sector including airports, manufacturers, carriers, and passengers. The regulation covers a variety of topics ranging from the requirement for forming a national airspace planning committee, the approval process for establishing airports, the regulation of aerodrome obstacles, the requirements relating to the operation and airworthiness of aircraft, the duties and authorities of the captain of the aircraft, licensing of carriers, exemption from civil aviation fees, and procedures for investigating aviation accidents in line with the Chicago Convention.

The regulation also covers wider topics relating to aviation such as meteorology and the CAA’s obligation to publish a regulation on passenger rights.

You can read the regulation in full in English on the link below:

Categories
Law Updates

Ministry of Labour Issues New Job Performance Measurement System for Civil Servants

The Ministry of Labour recently issued a new System for Job Performance Measurement that applies to civil servants. This system requires all civil servants to set objectives and key results to be achieved during a specific period of time that are tied to the strategic goals of the entity and as agreed with their respective line managers. The system identifies five grades for the evaluation of civil servants, and stipulates that the names of those achieving the highest scores are published within the government entity in question.

The Ministry of Labour has been trialling this system under a programme named “Ejada” since the beginning of 2022. The issuance of this system marks its graduation from being a trial and its official adoption as a requirement on all civil government units.

Categories
Commentary

Oman Issues New AML/CFT Regulation for Lawyers

The Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs recently published last month in the Official Gazette a brand new Regulation on the Supervision of Lawyers, Law Offices, and Civil Law Firms regarding Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorist Financing. This regulation is part of a suite of regulations that the Omani government issued last month to comply with the latest recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This particular regulation updates the regulation from 2021 covering the same topic. Failure to comply with the new regulation exposes lawyers, law offices, and civil law firms to penalties including fines up to 100,000 Rial Omani and the suspension of their licences.

Categories
Announcements

Treaties Section Launched on Decree

We are launching on Decree today a new section for publishing the full text of treaties ratified by royal decree. 

In Oman, treaties obtain the power of law upon their ratification by royal decree and become directly applicable in a manner identical to domestic legislation. Therefore, they are key legislative instruments that all legal professionals need to access. 

The treaties section on Decree is identical to the treaties section on Qanoon, and has over 600 bilateral and multilateral treaties that Oman has ratified from 1974 onwards in the area of taxation, free trade, investment, environment, human rights, and all other aspects of life.

Treaties uploaded to Decree are tagged by counterparty and topic. This will enable our users to easily view all the treaties signed with, for example, the United Kingdom, or view all the treaties signed in the area of, for example, avoidance of double taxation.

You can also browse all the treaties available on Decree by using the brand new Browse button found on the main page of Decree.