Domestic workers are excluded from the scope of the Labour Law as they are considered to be one of the categories that are governed by special laws or systems. The new regulation has expanded the scope of those excluded categories from just domestic workers to 12 distinct categories including nannies, drivers, and others as listed in article 12 of the regulation. The new regulation introduces rules that are at times more restrictive and at other times less restrictive than the Labour Law. For example, the regulation requires the worker to be at least 21 years of age, whereas the Labour Law requires the worker to be at least 18 years of age and has provisions that allows hiring juvenile workers who are at least 15 years of age. The regulation also has some rules that are less restrictive than the Labour Law. For example, the working hours for domestic workers and their equivalent can be up to 12 hours per day, while the Labour Law caps this to 8 hours per day.

A significant new provision is introduced under article 31, which establishes an end-of-service gratuity for domestic workers upon the end of their employment contracts. This benefit was absent in the previous decision and is no longer found in the Labour Law.

This decision also amends pre-existing requirements regarding healthcare coverage. The previous decision only required employers to provide free local medical treatment throughout the contract period, the new decision mandates health insurance coverage for domestic workers.

The new regulation has already entered into force and employer have three months to comply with the law. You can read the decision in English in full on the link below:

One of the most signed treaties by the Sultanate of Oman is a DTT, also known as a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA). It is a bilateral agreement between two countries that aims to prevent the same income from being taxed by both jurisdictions, thus facilitating the flow of foreign investment. A DTT clearly outlines which country has the primary taxing rights, this clear structure and the elimination of the burden of double taxation are great advantages to foreign investors.

It is very rare for DTTs to have identical provisions, as the process of signing one involves starting with a model agreement and involves a cycle of negotiations between the governments regarding priority over taxing rights and the exact anti-abuse policies they want to implement. For example, a principal purpose test is a provision that can deny the benefits of the treaty if the true purpose was only to exploit those benefits. Model agreements are published by large organisations like the UN and the OECD, and many countries follow the models with small tweaks to better suit their interests. A provision mandating tax withholding by parties in the Sultanate is not uncommon in treaties it signs.

The Sultanate has signed at least 40 DTTs with countries across the globe, the most recent one being signed with Bahrain earlier this year and recently ratified by Royal Decree 62/2025. While it might seem unusual that Oman has signed DTTs with only two countries in the GCC, one of its closest groups of allies, but this is due to the relatively new implementation of tax systems in GCC countries, and it is very likely that we will see such treaties emerge with the complete implementation of tax systems in GCC countries.

In a practical example of the application of a DTT, if a consultant based in Spain was hired for a project by a company based in Oman, under article 52 of the Omani Income Tax Law, the Omani company should withhold tax in connection with any payment made to the Spanish consultant. However, to avoid double taxing the same revenue twice, the DTT between Oman and Spain stipulates in article 14 that income derived by such a consultant can only be taxed in the country of residence and not the other countries, which eliminates the requirement of withholding tax in Oman, and therefore reduces the tax liability of this consultant when doing work in Oman.

Double Taxation Treaties are essential tools in international tax law. They provide clear guidelines for investors and governments on their rights and responsibilities—clarity that is crucial when dealing with multiple tax jurisdictions.

You can use Decree search to locate DTTs signed by the Omani government, and you can view the most recent one signed between Oman and Bahrain on the link below:

Written by:

Al-Julanda Al-Rashdi

Al-Julanda is a Legal Intern at Decree. He has previously interned in international and Omani law firms in addition to interning in an in-house legal team in the banking sector. He is interested in commercial law and banking law. He holds an LLB from the University of South Wales.

The amendment makes it clear that the Official Gazette is to be published electronically, and that the MJLA can, if it wishes, publish it in a paper format as well. The amendment also stipulates that the MJLA may published certain items from the Official Gazette before the full publication of the issue. These two practices are already adopted by the MJLA and these amendments merely add a legal basis for the practices of the ministry.

Another change that is not based on current practices is the removal of the mention of the Directorate General of the Official Gazette from the law and its replacement with a generic term for the “competent division”. This suggests that the MJLA might be in the process of a restructuring that would move the mandates relating to the Official Gazette into another administrative division within the ministry.

You can read the full text of the new amendments to the Law of the Official Gazette on the link below:

You can also read the consolidated version of the Law of the Official Gazette on this link:

Companies subject to this law are required to comply with this obligation within a year from the date of the commencement of the commercial activity of such company.

Existing companies have up to 6 months to comply with this obligation starting from the date of renewal of the commercial register, or the issuance or renewal of the work license, whichever occurs first.

It is worth-noting that even though this is a new obligation under the Executive Regulation of the Foreign Capital Investment Law, the Ministry of Labour has previously issued instructions in the form of a circular requiring both foreign investor companies and local companies to employ at least a single Omani national.

The new amendment to the Executive Regulation of the Foreign Capital Investment Law enters into force today. You can read it full in English on the link below:

You can also view the consolidated version of the Executive Regulation of the Foreign Capital Investment Law on the link below:

Legal Status

Law firms must be established as either advocacy firms or as consultancy firms, and the two cannot be combined and they must be owned by advocates or legal consultants and they cannot be partners in more than one firm.

This segregation of the two specialisations assumes that their work is sufficient as a stand alone service, however the truth of the matter is that they are complimentary services, a system like the UK’s LLP structure allows both to work together. This will have ramifications to firms with foreign investment as they will not be able to register as advocates, and those having two teams of corporate and litigation will most likely have to split. Another consequence will occur to clients who had their work previously done by one firm, as now they will have to go to two distinct firms to manage their disputes and contracts.

Limited liability

Article 51 of the Executive Regulation of the Advocacy and Legal Consultancy Law stipulates that a “partner in the firm is personally liable towards the firm and the rest of the partners for his professional mistakes, and the firm is liable for the mistakes of the partners before third parties”. This can be contrasted to the shareholders of an LLC, who are liable up to the extent of their contribution to the capital, and their personal assets are protected. This demonstrates that the partners of a law firm do not have limited liability provided by LLCs and one-person companies.

It can be argued that these distinctions illustrate that law makers hold law firms to a higher standard as their value is derived from their professionalism and not the unique name, thus requiring them to offer more value than a mere alluring marketing scheme.

Naming

According to article 40 of the Advocacy and Legal Consultancy Law, the “name of the firm must be derived from the name of its owner or one or more partners in it”. In the case of a death of one of the partners, their name should be amended unless the partners obtain the written consent of the heirs to keep the deceased name, as stipulated by article 59 of the executive regulation.

This limitation does not exist for LLCs and one-person companies as their name does not have to be tied to the identity of the shareholders, which provides LLCs and one-person companies with more freedom to be unique and distinctive.

Succession

A major difference between law firms and traditional LLCs and one-person companies is the mechanism by which the ownership of the law firm is transferred to the heirs of the owner. For a law firm owned by a single person, the law firm ceases to exist after his death, unless the shares are collected by heirs who are advocates or legal consultants. If the law firm is a partnership, the law firm does not cease to exist, but the shares do not transfer to the heirs unless they are advocates or legal consultants, if they are not, they must transfer the shares to a registered advocate or legal consultant within 90 days of the death of the partner as stipulated in article 58 of the executive regulation.

This is not the same as a traditional LLC or a one-person company where there is no pre-requisite for the successors to meet certain professional qualifications before they inherit the shares.

Conclusion

This post provided a few examples of the differences between law firms and traditional companies types such as LLCs and one-person companies. To learn you more about the process for establishing a law firm, you can read the Advocacy and Legal Consultancy Law and its executive regulation in English in full on the link below:

Written by:

Abdullah Al-Azri

Abdullah is a Legal Intern at Decree. He has previously interned in an international and in an Omani law firm. He is interested in corporate law and holds an LLB from the University of Sheffield.

Why Access Matters

A decade ago, Omani legislation was generally only accessible in print. You could find some royal decrees and ministerial decisions online, but those were limited to some of the more recent ones (at the time). Legislation with amendments incorporated was, of course, non-existent. I remember being shocked about this when I first started my career, and equally impressed with my seniors’ ability to remember which laws were amended and by which royal decrees exactly!

I did not (and still do not) have the memory skills or the mental capacity to memorise all of this legal information, so I decided to join forces with Dr Riyadh Al Balushi and build Qanoon so that we can change all of this.

And change did, in fact, happen. By digitising all of the Omani legislation and legal materials, integrating amendments, and making this plethora of information easily searchable, Qanoon definitively transformed the legal landscape in Oman. Today, whether you’re a legal professional, an academic, or a citizen that would like to know their legal rights and obligations, it’s possible to locate and understand the law without needing to dig through multiple legislative volumes and reconcile conflicting legal information.

Accessibility and Inclusion

Perhaps one of the less recognised but equally important aspects of Qanoon is accessibility. For many years, people with visual impairments had no practical way to navigate Oman’s legislation. By moving from PDF to text, which is fully searchable and screen-reader friendly, Qanoon has opened the door to users who were previously excluded from this essential public resource.

Reliability and Continuity

From the very beginning, we committed to consistency. For the last 10 years, we have for every single week uploaded the Official Gazette on time, separated its contents into dedicated pages for each and every royal decree and ministerial decision, and converted all of this PDF content into text format within record time. This rhythm has built trust—users now know that Qanoon reflects the latest legal information, week after week, without interruption.

Search and Usability

Qanoon’s search function has developed over time to become one of Qanoon’s most valued features. Instead of sifting through volumes of legal information or hundreds of PDFs in poorly-organised PC folders, users can now use Qanoon’s powerful search engine to quickly locate legislation and legal information, as well as the content within such legislation and legal information, in a blink of an eye.

In parallel, Qanoon’s sister site—Decree.om has grown over the last few years to become the most comprehensive database of English translations of the Omani legal corpus to ever exist. To enable our Qanoon users to easily access this valuable resource easily, we introduced the “EN” buttons for every royal decree and ministerial decision on Qanoon, and similarly introduced “Arabic” buttons on Decree, thereby allowing our users to toggle between the Arabic and English texts with ease.

Broader Impact

The availability of reliable, up-to-date legislation has consequences extending far beyond helping Omani lawyers and citizens find the laws they need. Indeed, transparency in the legal system is a public good—it benefits practitioners, reassures international organisations, and signals to foreign investors that the rule of law is both readily accessible and taken seriously. UNCTAD, WIPO, ILO, and the World Bank are among the many international organisations that regularly cite Qanoon, underscoring its credibility as a trusted source for Omani legislation.

For investors, access to up-to-date legal information is also equally important. It reduces the friction of doing business in Oman by cutting time, cost, and uncertainty, which are precisely the dimensions measured by the World Bank’s Business Ready (B-Ready) framework. Perhaps this may explain why Oman’s standing under B-Ready shows measurable improvement compared to where it once stood under the older World Bank “Doing Business” framework.

Looking Back, Marching Ahead

Qanoon has always been free. We do not charge for access and we do not monetise the platform. The costs for us, both monetary and time-wise, are significant. This was a deliberate choice—legislation should be available to everyone without barriers, and access to legal information should not be a privilege tied to one’s financial means.

Our philosophy extends beyond Oman. Qanoon is now available for Saudi Arabia and its database is growing day by day, which is also accessible for free.

The Road Ahead

A decade in, Qanoon has become more than a website—it is a fundamental infrastructure for legal access. It has changed how people read and use legislation in Oman, and it continues to support legal professionals, researchers, businesses, and policymakers both within and outside the borders of the Sultanate. We are proud to contribute to this cause and are committed to the work that lies ahead.

Finally, as Qanoon turns 10, we wanted to thank our community of users, colleagues, and supporters who have made this journey possible. Your engagement and encouragement has been central to keeping Qanoon active, accurate, and relevant.

Written by:

Yousuf Al-Busaidi

Yousuf is a co-founder at Decree and Qanoon. He is also a dual-qualified lawyer (Omani law and English law) with over 15 years of experience in private practice, government, and in-house roles. He has extensive experience in infastructure and energy projects, and regularly advises on the energy transition. He holds an LLB from the University of Hull, an LLM in International Commercial Law from the University of Birmingham, and an MBA from Waseda University in Japan.

Confidentiality

Arbitration has the key advantage of confidentiality in its proceedings, where no unrelated party has access to hearings or any related documents. Contrary to that, in traditional courts, all court hearings are public unless an application is submitted under specific circumstances, regulated by the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law, which most commercial cases do not fall under. This can jeopardise sensitive information included in the contract or the dealings in dispute.

Choice of Language

Traditional courts are bound to deal only in the Arabic language, if the dealings and paperwork are in any other language a certified translation of the document must be submitted instead. Arbitration on the other hand is versatile when it comes to the choice of language, the parties have the choice to select the language in which the arbitration can be conducted. This can, for example, allow the parties to conduct the arbitration in English if they wish to.

Governing Law

Similar to the choice of language, in arbitration, the law gives the parties the power to choose the governing law that is used to decide on the matter of the dispute. It is very common to see arbitrations all around the world that are governed by English law. In traditional courts, you are bound by the governing law of the Sultanate and the parties to do not have the power to change this law.

Selection of Judges and Arbitrators

The selection of Judges is outside the control of the party litigating in traditional courts. On the other hand, arbitration allows the parties choose the number, criteria, and the actual arbitrators that will decide on the matter in dispute. This may be more efficient if the case has many technicalities, in this case the arbitrator can be an expert in the same field instead of traditional courts employing an expert themselves. 

Conclusion

Arbitration provides many advantages through its flexibility and customisability to suit business needs. I highly recommend anyone interested in business disputes to familiarise themselves with the Law of Arbitration in Civil and Commercial Disputes.You can read it in full in English on the link below:

Written by:

Al-Julanda Al-Rashdi

Al-Julanda is a Legal Intern at Decree. He has previously interned in international and Omani law firms in addition to interning in an in-house legal team in the banking sector. He is interested in commercial law and banking law. He holds an LLB from the University of South Wales.

1. Utility Models

Utility models provide protection to novel inventions that have a sufficient inventive step and are capable of industrial application. This form of protection is very similar to patent protection, but the required degree of inventiveness is lower. The protection of utility models lasts up to 10 years.

Utility models are not very famous because the inventions they protect are of a lower degree of inventiveness. There are many example of inventions that are protected by utility models, such as the “Nissin Cup Noodle” which offers an inventive way of making cup noodles but falls below the required level for patent protection.

2. Industrial Design

Industrial design right protects the 3D design of a product, whether with or without colours if the designs offers a unique and special appearance that can be recognised distinctively. It is important to note that design right does not protect the technical functionally of the product and only covers its aesthetic and design. The design right can be protected for periods of 5 years that can be renewed up to 15 years.

For example, Christian Dior registered the design of the bag seen in the image below in Official Gazette 1613.

3. Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits (Semi-conductors)

The right of a layout design of an integrated circuit protects the topographical design of a silicon chip for layout designs that are original. The protection lasts for up to 10 years.

The legal framework has provided for this protection since 2008, however we have not been able to locate the registration of a layout design in Oman.

4. Geographical Indications

Geographical indications protect the names or indication that identify goods as originating from a specific location. Geographical indications are similar to trademarks and their protection can last indefinitely. For example, in theory, geographical indications can be used to protect the name “Omani Halwa” so that it is used to refer to halwa made specifically in Oman and to prohibit others from calling halwa made elsewhere Omani.

Conclusion

These were only some of the example of industrial rights protected by Omani law. It is highly recommended that you familiarise yourself with the full text of the Omani Industrial Property Law. You can read it in English in full in the link below:

Written by:

Abdullah Al-Azri

Abdullah is a Legal Intern at Decree. He has previously interned in an international and in an Omani law firm. He is interested in corporate law and holds an LLB from the University of Sheffield.

This regulation supplements the Executive Regulation of the System of the Ownership of Real Estate in Integrated Tourism Complexes by adding new obligations to developers, buyers, and owners in Jebel Sifah Resort. Some of the new key obligation for developers under the new regulation include obligations to use an escrow account, appoint an independent audit office, and insure all units.

This new Jebel Sifah Resort Regulation enters into force tomorrow. You can read it in full in English on the link below:

The Law Combatting Human Trafficking of 2025 adds new detailed definitions for human trafficking concepts that were not defined in the previous law, such as sexual exploitation and forced labour. The law also criminalises new trafficking activities such as deporting and detaining of humans in the context of human trafficking. The punishments under the law have also been increased so that the maximum prison sentence for general offences is increased from 7 to 10 years.

The Law Combatting Human Trafficking of 2025 has already entered into force. You can read it in full in English on the link below: