The year 2023 had some of the biggest legal developments in Oman in recent years, with the promulgation of many critical laws such as the Labour Law, the Social Protection Law, the Maritime Law, and many more. This blog post provides an overview of the most significant royal decrees that came out this year.
The Tender Board published in today’s issue of the Official Gazette a brand new Regulation Governing Local Content that requires government entities subject to the Tender Law to impose local content requirements for any contract with a value exceeding 500,000 Rial Omani. The aim of this new regulation is to develop national human resources and to support local products and small and medium enterprises.
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Intel Update: December 2023
Decree Intel is a database of original Omani legal research material that provides explanatory notes, overview of government entities, and summaries of Supreme Court cases and MJLA Fatwas.
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Fatwa Summary: MJLA Fatwa 182710759 (Liquidation of a Shareholder): The Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs (MJLA) deemed that the liquidation of a shareholder in a limited liability company does not affect the legal status of the limited liability company.
Overview of the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology: The Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology (وزارة النقل والاتصالات وتقنية المعلومات) is the body responsible for developing and implementing the national policies for land and maritime transport, communications and information technology, mail, and space science and technology.
Overview of Intellectual Property Laws: This document provides an overview of the key intellectual property laws in Oman.
The Environment Authority published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new decision Amending Some Provisions of the Regulation Governing Environmental Permits. The original regulation was issued in August of this year, and this is the first amendment to be made to it.
Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant updates on Decree in the previous month.
Royal Decrees
Eleven royal decrees were issued in November, with the most significant being Royal Decree 80/2023 regarding Tax Exemption and Royal Decree 84/2023 Restructuring Oman Development Bank SAOC.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (MHUP) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new Governance Regulation of Land Planning Controls that replaces the Governance Regulation of Land Planning Controls of 2013. This was done to comply with the requirements of the new Oman National Spatial Strategy.
The Tender Board published in today’s issue of the Official Gazette a brand new Regulation Governing Government Projects that formally adopts the quality gate approach for managing projects carried out by entities subject to the provisions of the Tender Law.
The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new Working System of Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre (OAC) that replaces the Working System of OAC of 2019.
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Intel Update: November 2023
Decree Intel is a database of original Omani legal research material that provides explanatory notes, overview of government entities, and summaries of Supreme Court cases and MJLA Fatwas.
New Content
Case Summary: Supreme Court (Commercial Circuit) Contestation 796/2016 (Insurance Duty of Disclosure): A debtor obtained a loan from a bank without disclosing that he was permanently totally disabled. The bank insured the loan after it was given. The court held that the insurer was not responsible for the repayment of the loan because the accident that caused the disability took place before the term of the policy, and the debtor was ordered to repay the loan in full with interest.
Case Summary: Supreme Court (Labour Circuit) Contestation 665/2016 (Rotational Working System): An Omani employee working on a 2-week on 2-week off rotational system sued his employer for refusing to compensate him for working during national holidays. The Supreme Court ruled that he was not entitled to compensation on the grounds that the working system of the employer, in terms of working hours and working days, was more favourable overall than the system prescribed by the Labour Law, and therefore, the failure to compensate the worker for the national day holidays is not deemed a valuation.
Overview of the Ministry of Finance: The Ministry of Finance (وزارة المالية) is the body responsible for all the financial affairs of the government, including preparing the annual budget of the state and approving major government contracts.
Overview of Oman Investment Authority: The Oman Investment Authority (جهاز الاستثمار العماني) is the sovereign wealth fund of the government of the Sultanate of Oman and is the body responsible for managing, developing, and investing certain assets of the state.
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.