Category: Commentary

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.

Earlier this month, the Council of Europe adopted a new legally binding international agreement on AI called the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law that was signed by the EU, the UK, Norway, the US, and others. This convention is the first legally binding multilateral instrument governing artificial intelligence and is intended to create a legal framework for ensuring that all activities within the AI lifecycle respect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

The Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology (MTCIT) recently announced a public consultation regarding a draft National Artificial Intelligence Policy. This draft policy suggests that the MTCIT does not wish to impose any serious restrictions on the ability to use AI systems in Oman as the policy will not be a legally binding document and will not impose any concrete obligations on the providers or deployers of AI systems in Oman. This is a reasonable approach for the MTCIT to take as the technology of AI is still developing and imposing unreasonable restrictions at this stage might deprive Omani society of the ability to experiment with and explore the possibilities offered by AI.

Late last month, the EU formally adopted the EU AI Act, the first comprehensive and legally binding AI framework adopted anywhere in the world. Somewhat like the GDPR, the EU AI Act has extraterritorial application, and it is likely for this act to become the international legislative standard that countries around the world replicate when developing their AI legal frameworks.

After almost 2 years from the issuance of the Personal Data Protection Law, the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette the long-awaited Executive Regulation of the Personal Data Protection Law. When the Personal Data Protection Law was issued in 2022, it was a groundbreaking development for the Omani legal system since it was the first comprehensive privacy legislation to be issued in the country, however, due to the fact that the law left many of the practical implementation details to the executive regulation, many organisations in Oman had struggled waiting in frustration as they were unable to comply because the regulation was not issued, which was extremely problematic because this law grants the courts the power to impose fines up to 500,000 Rial Omani against those who fail to comply with the law.

I hope that I can say that the wait is finally over now that the regulation is finally out, but, realistically speaking, it will probably take the government at least several months to be able to create the processes required for them to receive and process applications relating to the permits envisioned by the law, and for this reason, the decision issuing the executive regulation has given another 1 year grace period for all parties involved to comply with the regulation and, by association, comply with the law.

This blog post will highlight some of the key features of the new regulation.

In accordance with article 17 of Law of Majlis Oman, His Majesty called the brand new members of Majlis Al-Shura for an extraordinary session to be held today 9 November 2023 to elect the new chairman and the two deputies of the chairman of Majlis Al-Shura for its tenth term. On this occasion, we are writing this blog post to explore the role that Majlis Al-Shura plays in the Omani legal system, its structure, and its function. If you are interested in the upper house of Majlis Oman, i.e. Majlis Al-Dawla, you can learn more about it in our previous blog post.

His Majesty Sultan Haitham promulgated yesterday a royal decree appointing the new members of Majlis Al-Dawla—the upper house of Majlis Oman, we thought that this would be an appropriate moment to write a blog post exploring the structure and functions of this important entity in the Omani legal system.

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 world of artistic expression and censorship are often found at crossroads in various parts of the world, owing to differing cultural, religious, and societal norms. One recent subject of these crossroads is the 2023 live-action movie ‘Barbie’, based on the globally recognised Barbie dolls by Mattel. While this film has gained significant popularity worldwide, it has also been banned in several countries, including countries in the GCC. Oman has yet to clarify its stance on ‘Barbie’, but anticipation is growing about potential prohibitions, given the precedent established by neighbouring GCC countries. This blog post will provide an overview of Omani law in the area of movie censorship, the government entity responsible for censorship, and the legal mechanisms for challenging censorship decisions.

Back in late 2020, Royal Decree 131/2020 regarding the Water and Wastewater Sector made an unusual reference—it referred to a law that was not yet promulgated, stating that this yet-to-be-issued law would regulate the water and wastewater sector.