Category: Guest Post

This guest blog post is contributed by Wadhah Al-Hinai – Legal Researcher at Sultan Qaboos University.

Contracts are the foundation of business relationships, outlining rights, obligations, and expectations between parties. However, despite careful planning and collaboration, disputes can arise, leading to costly and time-consuming legal battles. That’s where a well-crafted Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) clause comes into play. ADR refers to the different ways people can resolve disputes without a trial. Common ADR processes include mediation, arbitration, and neutral evaluation. In this article, we will explore the significance of including an ADR clause in contracts and how it can provide a fair and efficient means of resolving conflicts.

This guest blog post is contributed by Wadhah Al-Hinai – Legal Researcher at Sultan Qaboos University.

In today’s interconnected business landscape, where information flows rapidly and collaborations thrive, maintaining confidentiality has become more critical than ever. For individuals and organizations alike, protecting sensitive information is vital for maintaining trust, fostering innovation, and preserving competitive advantage. This article explores the importance of confidentiality clauses in contracts and their role in safeguarding valuable assets and maintaining healthy business relationships.

This guest blog post is written by Budoor Al Suwaid – LLM in Commercial and Corporate Law Graduate.

An employee’s right to peacefully strike plays a fundamental role in advocating for their rights and improving their work conditions. The newly released Labour Law, promulgated by Royal Decree 53/2023, boldly emphasises the rights of employees and employers in strikes and closures. It achieves this by dedicating the entirety of Section 2 of Part 8 of the Labour Law (Articles 128-136) to such matters.

This guest blog post is contributed by Faris Al-Said – Philosophy and Politics Graduate.

With the promulgation of the newly revised Majlis Al-Shura Elections Law, the country has taken steps forward towards a more robust framework for the elections of Majlis Al-Shura. The addition of detailed provisions for electronic voting will hopefully increase the accessibility of voting polls and puts it at the tip of our fingers, while the Electoral Grievance Committee will provide candidates as well as voters with a mechanism to voice grievances. This new law is a noteworthy legal development, but it still missed an opportunity to further improve voter representation through the introduction of ranked choice voting.

This guest blog post is contributed by Duniya Al-Nabhani – Law Master’s Student and SQE Candidate.

The recently issued Social Protection Law confirmed the importance that Oman gives to persons with disabilities by providing several rights and benefits to this vulnerable social group. These rights and benefits include providing a monthly guaranteed financial subsidy to every person with a disability and also allowing persons with disabilities to retire 10 years earlier than persons without disabilities. These fundamental rights granted by this new groundbreaking law are not the first or the only rights granted by Omani law to persons with disabilities as the Omani legal system has long recognised the need to provide them with special protections to address the inequality they face due to their disability. This post will highlight some of the other Omani laws that recognise the rights of the disabled.

This guest blog post is contributed by Dr Bader Al-Maskari – Assistant Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Research at the College of Law in Sultan Qaboos University.

Similar to most jurisdictions around the world, the enforcement of foreign judgments is a complicated matter in Oman in the absence of a bilateral treaty for the mutual recognition of judgments. Under Omani law, the enforcement of civil and commercial judgments is governed by article 352 of the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law promulgated by Royal Decree 29/2002. This article examines one of the key elements required by article 352: reciprocity in the enforcement of Omani judgments in the jurisdiction from which the judgment sought to be enforced is made.

This guest blog post is contributed by Dr Saud Al-Farsi – Director of Legal Opinions and Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs.

The energy sector is one of the most critical industries in any country and is considered by many as the bloodline of new economies. This sector is not concerned only with the introduction of energy, but covers a variety of issues such as the exploration and extraction of fossil fuel, the transport, storage, and distribution of energy to both industrial and household consumers through pipelines or LNG ships, transport through transmission and distribution networks, and access by power generators and end-users. As the Sultanate of Oman, through the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and other stakeholders, plan for the energy transition and the future of the energy sector, it is important to reflect on what energy law means and the guiding principles that Oman should recognise when developing its energy policies and laws.

This guest blog post is contributed by Amira Taqi – Group Legal Counsel at Minerals Development Oman.

The mining industry in the Sultanate of Oman is diversifying and developing at an appreciable pace. The Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) has deployed a new strategy to expand the mining sector by recently granting Minerals Development Oman (MDO), a strategic government-owned investor, concessionary exploration-to-mining rights over areas covering 21,500²km. This blog post aims to explain to readers the importance of the said concession agreements, their purpose, comparative advantage to the conventional licensing mechanism, and strategic importance to investors and to Oman.