The Legal Status of a Special Zone

The AI Special Zone is a special economic zone governed by the Law of Special Economic Zones and Free Zones, issued by Royal Decree 38/2025, exactly like the Special Economic Zone at Duqm.

A zone created by virtue of this law is granted specific benefits so that the zone is attractive to foreign investment. For example, companies doing business in the zone get up to thirty years of exemption from corporate income tax, customs exemptions for imported and exported goods, and exemptions from minimum capital requirements. Furthermore, land within the zone is allocated by lease or usufruct outside the constraints of the regular Land Law.

One of the key benefits of the zone will be the creation of a one-stop shop that handles all licensing and permits required for the operation of companies in the zone. The law places a strict deadline for issuing the licences and permits within the zone. For example, labour permits for non-Omani employees must be issued within five working days.

There are also other benefits, like a single comprehensive approval for strategic projects and residency for the owners of the company.

How will it be operated?

The law requires the AI Special Zone to be operated by an operator appointed by the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones. This operator has to be a company. The news outlets have reported that the government has appointed an Omani company called Afouq Investment and Development United to both establish and operate the zone.

How does it differ from IFCO?

One of the biggest announcements of the year was the establishment of the International Financial Centre of Oman, and it’s important to point out the differences between these two projects.

The AI Special Zone provides a number of specific exemptions and benefits, but it is still governed by Omani law. For example, Omanisation rules still apply in the AI Special Zone, the Commercial Companies Law also applies, and Omani courts have full jurisdiction over the zone. In particular, the Omanisation rules prohibit the hiring of non-Omani software engineers, and therefore, this prohibition will apply to companies working in the zone.

Unlike the AI Special Zone, IFCO is a totally independent legal jurisdiction in which Omani law does not apply and has its own court system. This means that the Omanisation rules categorically do not apply.

However, even though the AI Special Zone will still be bound by Omani law, the ability of the zone to attract the AI industry will depend on factors beyond the law, such as its ability to provide infrastructure and services, as well as other facilities that make the zone an attractive destination for the AI industry.

You can learn more about special economic zones, such as the AI Special Zone, by reading the Law of Special Economic Zones and Free Zones in full in English on the link below:

The Sultanate of Oman is now a party to two of the most important international treaties governing cross border dispute resolution: The New York Convention, which deals with arbitration awards, and the Singapore Convention, which deals with settlement agreements resulting from mediation.

While both serve the same broad goal of making it easier to enforce the outcomes of alternative dispute resolution across borders, they differ in scope, mechanism, and history. This post examines what each convention does and how Oman has adopted them.

What Each Convention Does

New York Convention: Formally the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. This convention creates a uniform mechanism for enforcing arbitral awards issued in one contracting state within the territory of another, eliminating the need to relitigate the dispute from scratch.

Singapore Convention: Formally the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation. It does for mediation what the New York Convention did for arbitration, enabling direct enforcement of international mediation settlement agreements across member states.

Given the key difference between arbitration and mediation, the New York Convention is used to enforce the arbitral award decided by the arbitration tribunal, while the Singapore Convention is used to enforce the settlement agreement signed between the parties to a mediation process.

Oman’s Accession: A Timeline

Oman acceded to the New York Convention, which was entered into force in 1959, through Royal Decree 36/98, making it part of Omani law with effect from 10 June 1998.

Nearly three decades later, Oman joined the Singapore Convention, which entered into force in 2020, through Royal Decree 6/2026, issued on 11 January 2026. Oman is considered one of the early adopters of the Singapore Convention.

What This Means for Businesses

For international companies and investors in Oman, the practical significance is straightforward. An arbitral award issued in any of the 170+ New York Convention member states can be enforced in Oman without relitigating the merits.

Now, a settlement agreement resulting from mediation conducted in any Singapore Convention member state enjoys a similarly streamlined pathway. Mediation settlements are no longer “weaker” instruments; they are legally binding and enforceable.

Interaction with Omani Law

Given the maturity of the arbitration framework in Oman, the New York Convention operates directly and clearly within the legal framework of the Law of Arbitration in Civil and Commercial Disputes and the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law. Article 1 of the Arbitration Law expressly preserves the primacy of international agreements, while article 9 grants the Court of Appeal in Muscat jurisdiction over international commercial arbitrations. Article 58 stipulates that enforcement requires that the award does not violate Oman’s public order and that the award is final in its country of origin.

Oman does not currently have a proper legal framework for governing mediation as a form of alternative dispute resolution, nor does it have any legal provisions that govern settlement agreements arising out of mediation proceedings outside the general provisions of the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law that are triggered when the parties decide to settle a dispute that has already been presented before the court, not those that have independently been reached by the parties without starting litigation first. The Law of Public Notaries can be used to give settlement agreements the power of enforcement documents, but this requires both parties to notarise the agreement before the Public Notary, which is not usually possible if one of the parties is not in Oman.

It is worth noting that the mediation concept found in the Singapore Convention is not the same as the mediation concept found in the Omani Law of Mediation and Conciliation, which relates to mediation through official government tribunals, and not through an independent mediator.

This means that even though Oman is legally bound to provide a mechanism for recognising settlement agreements resulting from mediation, a domestic legal framework still does not exist for the courts to enforce such agreements.

Conclusion

This blog post highlighted the key differences between the New York Convention and the Singapore Convention and how each operates within the Omani legal framework.

For the Singapore Convention to achieve its objectives, Oman must consider issuing a standalone mediation law as well as specific provisions for the courts to enforce settlement agreements that meet the requirements of the Singapore Convention.

You can read the full text of the Singapore Convention on the link below:

The law gives the National Survey and Geospatial Information Authority, which is a department of the Ministry of Defence, broad oversight over geospatial matters in the country. For example, you need permission from the authority to conduct surveys, to produce any map or atlas, to export geospatial data outside Oman, or to use the maps of Oman commercially.

Failure to comply with this law results in penalties up to 3 years of imprisonment and fines up to 30,000 Rial Omani.

Entities affected by the law have 6 months from its entry into force to bring themselves into compliance. 

You can read the National Geospatial Data and Information Law in full in English on the link below:

Liquidators and Administrative Fees

According to article 46(2) of the Commercial Companies Law, first priority goes to the liquidation process itself before any debts are settled. The company pays the liquidator hired to sell the assets, along with any court fees and the costs of keeping the company’s property safe until it can be sold. If these administrative costs are not covered, the legal process cannot move forward.

Worker Dues

According to article 92 of the Labour Law, wages, rights, and all amounts due to a worker or to beneficiaries on his behalf by virtue of the Labour Law have priority over all other debts owed by the employer. This means that priority shifts to staff and employee salaries, end-of-service gratuity, and any unpaid amounts immediately after the payment of fees associated with the liquidation process itself.

Privileged Creditors

Once workers are paid, priority moves to claims by privileged creditors such as government-owed taxes, secured bank loans, and other claims in accordance with article 185 of the Bankruptcy Law.

General Claims

Article 185 of the Bankruptcy Law further details that once privileged claims are settled, the liquidator addresses all other general third-party claims. This category includes business partners, trade suppliers, and contractors.

The Bottom of the List: Partners and Shareholders

Finally come the business owners. The partners or shareholders of the company are at the very bottom of the list. They only receive a distribution if there is money left over after every other debt, tax, and salary is paid in full in accordance with article 46(3) of the Commercial Companies Law.

Conclusion

This post provides a simplified outline of the order in which creditors are paid when an LLC liquidates. The matter becomes more complicated when there are multiple privileged creditors that have to go through their own prioritisation process.

If you are involved in the process of liquidating a business, we highly recommend that you familiarise yourself with the Commercial Companies Law and the Bankruptcy Law.

Written by:

Nouf Al-Lamki

Nouf is a legal intern at Decree. She has previously interned in the banking sector, the aviation sector, and in private practice. She is interested in corporate. She holds a LLB from the Modern College of Business and Science.

Organise Your Workflow with Pinned Conversations

Managing multiple research threads is now easier than ever. Your conversation list is now divided into Pinned and Recent sections, so your high-priority projects stay front and center.

• Conversations Controls: We’ve added a simple “hold and press” gesture. Just long-press any conversation to pull up a menu of options to Rename, Delete, or Pin/Unpin your chats.
• Search Within Chats: No more endless scrolling. You can now use the search bar within your conversation history to instantly find specific topics or past advice.

Smart Notifications for Deep Research

Because our new agentic search performs deep synthesis of Omani legislation, complex answers can take a moment to generate. You no longer need to wait inside the app. Simply submit your query and switch to other tasks and Lex AI will send a push notification to your phone and allows you to receive notifications on the desktop as soon as your response is ready.

These updates are live for all users on both iOS and Android as well as the web version of Lex AI. Update your app on the App Store or Google Play Store to get started.

This blog post will highlight five key attributes of this agreement:

1. CEPA is a Free Trade Agreement

A CEPA at its core is a free trade agreement, which is an agreement that focuses on eliminating tariffs on the import of goods and services between countries. A CEPA attempts to be more comprehensive by incorporating additional matters such as collaboration in the area of SMEs and other topics between countries.

2. Oman-India CEPA is the biggest treaty that Oman has ever signed

Based on word count and the number of pages of the agreement, This agreement is the biggest and longest agreement that Oman has ever taken part in.

3. The treatment of goods and services between the two countries under the CEPA is asymmetrical

While most bilateral agreements provide equal treatment between the two countries, CEPA adopts a more delicate approach as the treatment of goods differs between the two countries so that, for example, one good would be exempt from tariffs going into country A, but not exempt from tariffs going into country B. This is intended to ensure that countries domestic businesses are not affected by the provisions of the agreement.

4. Oman-India CEPA allows the presence of some employees of service providers to stay in Oman for periods upto four years

One of the unique aspects of the Oman-India CEPA is the treatment of the employees of service providers which will be allowed in specific cases to allow them to enter Oman and stay for a period of up to two years extensible for an additional period of two years. It is worth noting that this applies to a specific category of employees, such as senior managers and those with special technical skills, and not all the employees of the service provider.

5. Oman-India CEPA has not entered into force

Oman-India CEPA was signed in December 2025 and ratified by Oman in February 2026. For the treaty to enter into force, both Oman and India are required to complete their legal formalties and communicate to each other that the treaty is effective from their side. At the time of writing this post, India has not published any updates on completing its internal procedures to commence the implementation of the treaty. However, it is expected for this to take place in the upcoming months.

Conclusion

Oman-India CEPA is one of the most significant treaties that Oman has ever signed, and it is expected to have significant implications on the relationship between the two countries, but also on how business is conducted in Oman in general.

You can read the text of this treaty in full in English on the link below:

Written by:

Nouf Al-Lamki

Nouf is a legal intern at Decree. She has previously interned in the banking sector, the aviation sector, and in private practice. She is interested in corporate. She holds a LLB from the Modern College of Business and Science.

1. Electronic Signatures Carry Full Legal Weight 

Under the Electronic Transactions Law, electronic signatures and documents are legally equivalent to their paper-based counterparts. Article 8 of the Electronic Transactions Law explicitly states that an electronic document is deemed a written document and produces its legal effects if it meets the technical conditions. Furthermore, article 20 confirms that electronic contracts have the same validity, enforceability, and evidentiary power as traditional contracts.

2. Three Levels on Signatures

The law categorises electronic signatures into three types, each with different levels of security and evidentiary reliability:

1. Simple Electronic Signature

This is the most basic form which includes letters, numbers, codes, symbols, or any other mark placed on an electronic document or transaction. A simple electronic signature is reliable evidence if it meets the provisions stipulated in article 11 of this law, and any concerned party may prove by any means that this signature is reliable.

2. Advanced Electronic Signature

A step up in both security and legal standing, this signature must be unique to the signatory and capable of identifying and distinguishing them from others. For it to qualify as reliable evidence, three conditions must be met. The creation tool must be linked solely to the signatory and under their control at the time of signing. Any alteration to the signature after signing must be detectable. And where the signature’s purpose is to confirm data integrity, any changes to the associated electronic information must also be detectable. As with simple signatures, reliability can still be proven through other means.

3. Qualified Electronic Signature

Sitting at the top of the hierarchy, this is an advanced electronic signature that meets the same conditions as the advanced signature but is additionally linked to an electronic authentication certificate. That extra layer of verification gives it the highest degree of trust and legal reliability under the law.

3. Trust Services Require Official Licensing

Article 24 of the law identifies a range of trust services that form the foundation of secure electronic transactions. These include the issuance of electronic authentication certificates, qualified electronic signatures, electronic seals, verification of electronic identity, electronic delivery services, and any other services the ministry may specify.

According to article 25 no entity may provide these services without obtaining a licence from the ministry, subject to the conditions and procedures set out in the regulation. The only exception is for closed internal systems, where an entity processes electronic information or data entirely within its own structure without interacting with third parties or handling external transactions.

Furthermore, article 26 confirms that these licences cannot be partially or wholly assigned, and a provider cannot suspend its services or merge with another provider without the ministry’s prior approval.

4. Misuse Carries Heavy Penalties

The law sets out a clear scale of punishments under articles 31 through 37. Penalties range from fines of 100 Rial Omani and one month’s imprisonment for obstructing authorised officers, up to fines of 50,000 Rial Omani and five years’ imprisonment for operating trust services without a licence. Legal persons face double the maximum fine, and courts may confiscate all devices, tools, and funds connected to the offence. Furthermore, the ministry can also impose administrative fines of up to 2,000 Rial Omani for violating the law or the regulation.

Conclusion

This blog post provided some of the key provisions of the Electronic Transactions Law. We highly recommend that those working in e-commerce and digital business familiarise themselves with this law.

You can read the full text of the Electronic Transactions Law in English on Decree on the link below:

Written by:

Raghd Al-Hosni

Raghd is a legal intern at Decree. She has previously interned in the energy sector and the telecom sector. She is interested in corporate law. She holds a LLB from the Liverpool John Moores University.

Pick up where you left off You can now access your previous chats at any time. Whether you’re returning to a complex query from yesterday or double-checking a summary from last week, your entire research history is now at your fingertips.

Organize and declutter To help you stay focused, we’ve added tools to customize your conversations list:

• Rename Chats: Give your conversations specific titles (e.g., “Labor Law Compliance” or “RD 53/2023 Analysis”) so you can find them instantly.

• Delete Conversations: Easily remove old threads to keep your research area clean and relevant.

These features are designed to make Lex AI not just a search tool, but a long-term partner in your legal workflow.

This decision is the latest in a series of moves by the FSA to align Oman’s financial sector with internationally recognised standards. Earlier last year, the FSA issued Decision E/2/2025, which made IFRS the mandatory model for preparing and auditing financial statements in Oman. The latest decision extends that same approach to sustainability, requiring companies to disclose how climate and sustainability-related risks affect their business.

Both standards must be fully applied from 1 January 2029, with the exception of scope 3 under IFRS S2, which covers indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and which must be applied from 1 January 2030. The FSA will also issue forms to guide companies through implementation. Failure to comply can result in penalties ranging from a warning to being struck off the Accountants and Auditors Register.

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

Financial Services Authority: Decision E/7/2026 Adopting the Two International Standards on Sustainability Disclosures

Building on the transition to a fully agentic search model that we recently launched on the web, this update fundamentally changes how Lex AI operates on mobile. It is no longer just about returning data quickly; it is about superior depth and reasoning. By shifting to an agentic model, the assistant now intelligently navigates Decree’s vast database of Omani legislation with a higher level of autonomy. This results in unprecedented precision when pinpointing exact legal provisions or case summaries. For complex, multi-layered queries, the system utilizes its deeper retrieval capacity to synthesize large volumes of information, providing the comprehensive context required for high-stakes legal work.

We have also introduced a mobile-specific shortcut to make your on-the-go research even more efficient. You can now retrieve specific legislation instantly by its identifier, simply ask Lex AI about any Royal Decree by its number (e.g., “Royal Decree 53/2023”) and the agentic engine will immediately locate and break down the specific decree for you.

This update ensures that whether you are at your desk or on the move, you have access to the same level of legal intelligence and reliable data retrieval you’ve come to expect from the new Lex AI.

These new agentic features have been updated directly on our backend, so you are not required to update your app to see these changes. However, if you haven’t downloaded the Decree app yet, you can do so now on the App Store or Google Play Store to take the next generation of Omani legal research with you wherever you go.