Decree Blog

Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant royal decrees and laws issued in the previous month.

Three royal decrees were issued in March and none of them related to the promulgation of any new laws. These royal decrees can be summarised as follows:

Royal Decree 10/2022 Establishing Free Zones in Muscat International Airport and Sohar and Salalah Airports

This decree established three new free zones in the airports of Muscat, Sohar, and Salalah. The operators of such free zones and companies working in them will, in accordance with the Law of Free Zones, be granted special incentives, advantages, and facilities that may include exemptions from income tax and minimum capital requirements. The royal decree stipulates that the operators of these free zones will be companies subordinate to the OIA as specified by the Council of Ministers.

Royal Decree 11/2022 Ratifying the Agreement between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of Hungary for the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments

This decree ratified a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between Oman and Hungary. This extremely powerful agreement grants rights to Omani and Hungarian investors to have their investment protected against actions by the other state, and allows them to commence international arbitration against these states in the case of the violation of the provisions of the BIT. Oman has signed more than 30 BITs with different countries over the years, but this is the first one it ratifies in the last five years.

Royal Decree 12/2022 Approving the Petroleum Agreement between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and Almajd Gas Development LLC, Shell Integrated Gas Oman BV, Marsa Liquefied Natural Gas LLC, and Shell Development Oman LLC for Block 10

This royal decree ratified a new oil concession agreement for Block 10 in pursuance of article 9 of the Oil and Gas Law stipulating that a concession agreement shall not be effective until a royal decree is issued approving it.

Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant royal decrees and laws issued in the previous month.

Five royal decrees were issued in February, including a royal decree promulgating a new law. These royal decrees can be summarised as follows:

Royal Decree 5/2022 Reinstating Omani Nationality and Authorising the Duality of Omani Nationality and British Nationality

A royal decree was issued reinstating Omani nationality and authorising those named in the royal decree to dually hold Omani nationality and another nationality. This royal decree came as a surprise to a lot of people due to the common misconception that dual nationality is not permitted in Oman, when, in fact, article 5 of the Omani Nationality Law makes it clear that this is permitted by royal decree. This is also not the first royal decree of its kind as a quick search on Decree can demonstrate, but it is certainly rare.

Royal Decree 6/2022 Promulgating the Personal Data Protection Law

The Personal Data Protection Law is the first new law to be issued in 2022 and is the first comprehensive legal framework for data protection in Oman. This law formalises the rights of data subjects, sets the duties of data controllers and processors, and introduces new criminal penalties for violating the law. Learn more about this by reading our blog post on the new Omani Personal Data Protection Law.

Royal Decree 7/2022 Ratifying the Agreement between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of the Republic of Colombia on the Mutual Visa Exemption for Holders of Diplomatic, Special, Service, and Official Passports

This decree ratified a visa exemption agreement between Oman and Colombia. This is a routine agreement that Oman signs with countries from around the world to facilitate the travel of certain classes of diplomats and government officials (i.e. holders of diplomatic, special, and service (mission) passports). Since none of these passports is usually held by ordinary Omani citizens, such agreements do not have a significant impact on the travel of Omani people at large. Read the Law of the Omani Passport to learn more about the different kinds of passports issued by the Omani government.

Royal Decree 8/2022 Transferring an Employee to the Foreign Ministry and Royal Decree 9/2022 Appointing to Some Positions

The last two royal decrees for this month appointed a new Undersecretary of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism for Tourism, a new Secretary General of the Tender Board, and a new Chairman of Muscat Municipality. With the exception of the former Undersecretary for Tourism who was transferred to the Foreign Ministry, the previous Secretary General of the Tender Board and the previous Chairman of Muscat Municipality were retired.

Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant royal decrees and laws issued in the previous month.

Four royal decrees were issued in January, and none of them related to the promulgation of any new laws. These royal decrees can be summarised as follows:

Royal Decree 1/2022 Ratifying the General Budget of the State for Fiscal Year 2022

The General Budget of the State provides a projection of the revenue and expenditure of the Omani government for the upcoming year. The level of detail and transparency that the Omani government provides in this public document exceeds what the majority of countries in this region disclose as it provides a breakdown for defence and security expenditure, civil ministers expenditure, gas production expenditure, and public debt service along with a civil ministry-by-ministry revenue and expenditure breakdown. You can view the budget in full on this link and read the controls for preparing and adopting this budget by reading the Financial Law.

Royal Decree 2/2022 Establishing the Royal Academy of Administration, Determining Its Competences, and Adopting Its Organisational Structure

As part of the continuous effort for restructuring of the government, a new government entity called the Royal Academy of Administration was established by merging the Institute of Public Administration (which was a proper government entity established by royal decree in 1980) and the Institute of Capability Development (which was an internal department created within the Diwan of Royal Court in recent years and most famously known for conducting the National CEO Program). The new Royal Academy of Administration will be under the Patronage of His Majesty, will have the Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court as the chairman of its board of trustees, and will be responsible for developing leadership and capabilities in both the public and private sectors.

Royal Decree 3/2022 Appointing the President of the Royal Academy of Administration

Dr Ali bin Qassim Al-Lawati was appointed as the president of the newly established Royal Academy of Administration. He was previously in charge of the Institute of Capability Development that was responsible for the National CEO Program. Dr Ali was originally appointed by royal decree in 2012 as an advisor for studies and research in the Diwan of Royal Court with the special grade.

Royal Decree 4/2022 Ratifying the Agreement between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of the State of Qatar for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital

The final decree of this month ratified a double taxation agreement between Oman and Qatar. This is a routine agreement that Oman signs with countries from around the world, but is the first that Oman signs with a GCC country. The objective of this agreement is to avoid double taxation and to help combat tax evasion. The full text of the treaty was published in Arabic last week and we hope to upload our translation of it very soon.