The Omani judiciary had a major overhaul last week with Royal Decree 35/2022 which re-constituted the Supreme Judicial Council, abolished the administrative court, and brought the Public Prosecution under the supervision of the judiciary. This significant development is part of the efforts of Sultan Haitham to re-structure the Omani government, which had previously included a major restructuring of the executive branch of the government and has now addressed the judiciary.
Categories
World Environment Day: Decarbonisation
Today is World Environment Day—a day dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness about the environment, so I thought I would write a bit about ‘decarbonisation’: what it is, why we need it, and how we can achieve it.
Categories
Decree Monthly Digest – May 2022
Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant royal decrees and laws issued in the previous month.
Six royal decrees were issued in May and none of them related to the promulgation of any new laws. These royal decrees can be summarised as follows:
This decree ratified a new agreement between Oman and the US that grants spouses of embassy staff of one country the right to work in the other country without the need to obtain a work visa or the need to have a sponsor. This is a unique treaty that Oman has not signed with any other country before, but it affects a very small number of people (spouses of embassy staff).
Royal Decree 25/2022 Reinstating Omani Nationality
This royal decree reinstated Omani nationality to a number of individuals in accordance with the provisions of the Omani Nationality Law.
Royal Decree 26/2022 Making Military Promotions and Appointments in the Royal Office and Royal Decree 28/2022 Making Military Promotions and Appointments in the Ministry of Defence
These two royal decrees made a variety of appointments in the Royal Office and the Ministry of Defence, including appointing the president of the newly established Strategic and Defence Studies Academy.
This royal decree established a new government entity, and moved the National Defence College, the Joint Command and Staff College, and the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre from the Ministry of Defence to be under it. This new academy is still subordinate to the Ministry of Defence and has a board of trustees chaired by the Minister of Defence.
This royal decree ratified an agreement between Oman and Iran on maritime transport and it grants shipping companies of either party the rights to national treatment and freedom of transfer of earnings, along with other rights.
Categories
Treaties Section Launched on Decree
We are launching on Decree today a new section for publishing the full text of treaties ratified by royal decree.
In Oman, treaties obtain the power of law upon their ratification by royal decree and become directly applicable in a manner identical to domestic legislation. Therefore, they are key legislative instruments that all legal professionals need to access.
The treaties section on Decree is identical to the treaties section on Qanoon, and has over 600 bilateral and multilateral treaties that Oman has ratified from 1974 onwards in the area of taxation, free trade, investment, environment, human rights, and all other aspects of life.
Treaties uploaded to Decree are tagged by counterparty and topic. This will enable our users to easily view all the treaties signed with, for example, the United Kingdom, or view all the treaties signed in the area of, for example, avoidance of double taxation.
You can also browse all the treaties available on Decree by using the brand new Browse button found on the main page of Decree.
Categories
Decree Monthly Digest – April 2022
Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant royal decrees and laws issued in the previous month.
Ten royal decrees were issued in April and one of them related to the amendment of a law (the Law of the Administrative Court). These royal decrees can be summarised as follows:
The System of the Administrative Apparatus of the State governs at a high level how government entities are created and managed. This royal decree modified this system by introducing provisions that grant the Council of Ministers the power to exempt certain public authorities and establishments from having a board of directors, and also created a mechanism for appointing an accounts auditor for public authorities and establishments.
This royal decree removed NCSI from being under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy and instead made it directly subordinate to the Council of Ministers.
Royal Decree 16/2022 Granting Omani Nationality
This royal decree granted Omani nationality to a number of individuals in accordance with the provisions of the Omani Nationality Law.
Royal Decree 17/2022 Ratifying the Agreement between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of the Republic of Chile on the Mutual Visa Exemption for Holders of Diplomatic, Special, Service, and Official Passports and Royal Decree 21/2022 Ratifying the Agreement between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on the Mutual Visa Exemption for Holders of Diplomatic, Special, Service, and Official Passports
These two decrees ratified a visa exemption agreement between Oman and Chile and another one between Oman and Bangladesh. 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.
This royal decree modified the organisational structure of the Ministry of Information. The actual details of the new structure are not yet available as the attachment of the royal decree will only be made public when the Official Gazette is published after the Eid holiday.
Royal Decree 19/2022 Appointing an Undersecretary for the Ministry of Information
This royal decree appointed Mohammed bin Said bin Mohammed Al-Balushi as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information. His Excellency Mohammed Al-Balushi was previously the undersecretary of the same ministry for radio and television, and he has now become the only undersecretary in the ministry for all of its functions. We assume that the new structure of the ministry only has one undersecretary and not two.
Royal Decree 20/2022 Extending the Membership of the Members of the Oman Human Rights Commission
The Oman Human Rights Commission is a government entity established in 2007 for monitoring the protection of human rights in the country. The members of the commission are appointed by royal decree from among the members of Majlis Al-Shura, Majlis Oman, OCCI, along with civil societies and members of the public at large for a period of three years for each term. This royal decree extended the membership of the existing members until the end of next year.
This royal decree ratified an amendment to the IAEA Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. This amendment extends the scope of the original convention to cover the physical protection of nuclear facilities and nuclear material used for peaceful purposes in domestic use, storage, and transport.
Royal Decree 23/2022 Amending Some Provisions of the Law of the Administrative Court
This royal decree made some changes to the Law of the Administrative Court, i.e. the court that has the jurisdiction to hear cases against government administrative decisions and in regard to the implementation of administrative government contracts. The details of the amendments are not yet available as the attachment will only be made public when the Official Gazette is published after the Eid holiday.
There is no law that protects something as poetic as the subject matter protected by intellectual property laws: the human genius. Trade mark law, patent law, and copyright revolve around sophisticated subjects such as distinctness, novelty, and originality as they attempt to protect society’s greatest innovations. From medicines that cure our bodily ailments and spacecraft that explore the galaxy, to music that treats our souls and novels that transport us across both time and space.
Categories
Qanoon Update: Court Judgments
When we first launched Qanoon back in 2015, we launched it with the intention of enabling legal professionals in Oman to do their jobs easily, effectively, and efficiently. Little did we know that it would fundamentally transform the legal sector in Oman by becoming the definitive source for accessing Omani legislation in Arabic and enabling the public to be well-informed and up-to-date on the most recent legal updates. Indeed, Qanoon’s impact has been so far-reaching, even international organisations rely on it for their research and publications.
Categories
Decree Monthly Digest – March 2022
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:
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.
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.
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.
Categories
Irfan Rulebook 1.5
There are many factors that contribute to Decree’s success in producing the world-class translations that can be found on our website, and one of these factors is certainly our reliance on the Irfan Rulebook, a guidebook that was collectively developed by a group of expert bilingual Omani lawyers and translators with the aim of improving the quality and ensuring the consistency in the translations of Omani legislation.
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:
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.
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.