Decree BlogWe are delighted to invite you to a seminar on the new Labour Law generously hosted by the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs and delivered by Trowers & Hamlins on 25 September 2023, at the theatre of the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs.
This free event is open to members of the public, but registration is required on this link.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion (MOCIIP) published a new Governance Regulation for Electronic Commerce in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette to regulate online stores.
This student article is written by Jumana Al-Masroori and Fatema Al-Nuaimi, Law Students at Sultan Qaboos University College of Law, under the supervision of Dr Saleh Al-Barashdi. This article is part of a series of student articles published on Decree in collaboration with Sultan Qaboos University College of Law to showcase the legal academic writing of Omani law students.
The widespread of the internet had a major impact on the economy through the rapid process of digitalising services,[1] which consequently led online platforms to become a habitat to numerous online transactions,[2] as such platforms allow their service providers to expand across borders and supply various markets.[3] Online platform providers can be defined as “a mediating entity operating in two or multi sided markets, which uses the internet to enable direct interactions between two or more distinct but interdependent groups of users.”[4] This article will cover the different kinds of legal liability to which platform providers may be subject to.
This student article is written by Sheikha Al-Yaqoubi, Law Student at Sultan Qaboos University College of Law, under the supervision of Dr Saleh Al-Barashdi. This article is part of a series of student articles published on Decree in collaboration with Sultan Qaboos University College of Law to showcase the legal academic writing of Omani law students.
The Internet-of-Things (IoT) is a term used to refer to “physical objects embedded with sensors and software that connect them to other devices and systems over the internet.”[1] Using the Internet of Things (IoT) reduces the burden of managing the household manually.[2] One of the most common households IoT devices are cleaning devices which can be defined as “machines that dispense cleaning agents automatically and adjust the quantities according to different factors (e.g., dirtiness, weight) and allow remote switching on or off.”[3] Unfortunately, as cleaning devices become more common and develop faster, the pace of developing protection techniques is not always able to keep up with the pace of the development of cleaning devices, which can result in an increased risk in cyber threats including cyberattacks.[4]
This article will explore cyberattacks carried through smart cleaning devices, the methods that the hackers can use to breach an online system, some tips to improve the safety of cleaning devices, and finally the regulation of cyberattacks in Omani law.
Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant updates on Decree in the previous month.
Decree Intel was launched providing explanatory notes, overviews of government entities, and summaries of Supreme Court cases and MJLA Fatwas to Decree subscribers. You can learn more about this in our announcement post.
No royal decrees were published in the Official Gazette in the month of August.
Five ministerial decisions were published in the Official Gazette during this month, with the most significant ones being MEM’s Amendment to the Executive Regulation of the Mining Law, MOH’s decision Specifying Medicines that May be Dispensed without a Prescription, EA’s Regulation on Environmental Permits, and SMEDA’s new SME Financing Regulation.
Applications are still open for the Middle East School on Internet Governance co-hosted by Decree.
Our blog featured two posts by Mohammed Al-Farsi titled “New Omani Labour Law: 5 Employee Rights and 5 Employer Rights” and “Banned Barbie: Censorship Law in Oman“, along with a guest post by Duniya Al-Nabhani titled “Protection of the Rights of the Disabled under Omani Law“, a guest post by Bassam Al-Balushi titled “Biotechnology: Ethical Dilemma and Financial Issues“, a guest post by Adeeb Al-Mazroui titled “Smart Homes and Privacy Risks“, and a guest post by Faris Al-Said titled “Ranked Choice Voting: A Missed Opportunity in the New Shura Elections Law“.
Decree signed an MOU with the Omani Lawyers Association to provide special subscription rates for small and medium Omani law firms.
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.
The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a new SME Financing Regulation that replaces the SME Financing Regulation of 2022.
This student article is written by Adeeb Al-Mazroui, Law Student at Sultan Qaboos University College of Law, under the supervision of Dr Saleh Al-Barashdi. This article is part of a series of student articles published on Decree in collaboration with Sultan Qaboos University College of Law to showcase the legal academic writing of Omani law students.
When the term “Smart” is used, this usually means that a device is capable of making the life of its user easier. In the context of “smart homes”, this simply refers to a home equipped with connected appliances with software controls.[i] These connected devices may allow the user to control them through a mobile device while being away from the home by communicating with the devices and the servers that are linked to them.
These connected devices can put the privacy of their users in danger, as it might be possible to access the data of the user by third parties, especially in cases where the technical protection applied to the connection is not sufficiently strong. Given that privacy is recognised as a fundamental human right of great significance—as recognised by various domestic, regional, and international documents,[ii] there is a great incentive for scientists and specialists to improve the technologies used to protect this fundamental right.
This article aims to illustrate and analyse some key risks to the use of smart homes and attempts to identify reasonable solutions to mitigate such risks.
The Environment Authority (EA) published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette Decision 107/2023 Issuing the Regulation Governing Environmental Permits that provides a new simplified framework for obtaining environmental permits for all commercial activities.
This student article is written by Bassam Al-Balushi, Law Student at Sultan Qaboos University College of Law, under the supervision of Dr Saleh Al-Barashdi. This article is part of a series of student articles published on Decree in collaboration with Sultan Qaboos University College of Law to showcase the legal academic writing of Omani law students.
Biotechnology has been defined by many researchers in different ways, but the most common definition is applying technology to living organisms.[1] This field is a wide sea with lots of interesting caves, some of which we have already explored while others are yet to be discovered. Although biotechnology is filled with fertile soil for opportunities, it most of the time ends up in a two-case scenario: either a financial loss or an ethical dilemma.