The Personal Data Protection Law has introduced a number of unique rights to data subjects that we have not seen in Oman before, the mechanism by which these rights can be enforced has now been clarified in the recently issued Executive Regulation of the Personal Data Protection Law. This blog post will provide an outline of some of the most important data subjects’ rights and the mechanism for enforcing them.
Data breach provisions fall squarely between cybersecurity and data protection. Under article 3 of the Cybercrime Law, the unauthorised access to an electronic system is deemed a criminal offense, but this law did not impose any obligations on any party to notify the victim or to take any measure to minimise the impact of the breach. The Personal Data Protection Law and its newly issued executive regulation attempt to fill this gap in the hope of protecting the rights of victims of data breach incidents.
After almost 2 years from the issuance of the Personal Data Protection Law, the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette the long-awaited Executive Regulation of the Personal Data Protection Law. When the Personal Data Protection Law was issued in 2022, it was a groundbreaking development for the Omani legal system since it was the first comprehensive privacy legislation to be issued in the country, however, due to the fact that the law left many of the practical implementation details to the executive regulation, many organisations in Oman had struggled waiting in frustration as they were unable to comply because the regulation was not issued, which was extremely problematic because this law grants the courts the power to impose fines up to 500,000 Rial Omani against those who fail to comply with the law.
I hope that I can say that the wait is finally over now that the regulation is finally out, but, realistically speaking, it will probably take the government at least several months to be able to create the processes required for them to receive and process applications relating to the permits envisioned by the law, and for this reason, the decision issuing the executive regulation has given another 1 year grace period for all parties involved to comply with the regulation and, by association, comply with the law.
This blog post will highlight some of the key features of the new regulation.
The Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs published in this week’s issue of the Official Gazette a decision regulating financial transfers made to advocates as part of the national government efforts in the area of combating anti-money laundering and terrorism fraud schemes.
The new decision requires law firms to receive any payments equal to or exceeding the value of 500 Rial Omani through bank transfers only. For amounts less than 500 Rial Omani, it is permitted for law firms to receive cash payments provided that a receipt is issued in regard to the payment confirming the amount received and the purpose of the payment. Violations of this new decision will be considered violations of the Law of Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing.
This new decision enters into force tomorrow. You can read it in full in English on the link below:
Decree Monthly Digest is a summary of the most significant updates on Decree in the previous month.
Royal Decrees
Four royal decrees were issued in January, with the most significant being Royal Decree 1/2024 Ratifying the General Budget of the State for Fiscal Year 2024 and Royal Decree 2/2024 Establishing the National Fund for Emergency Cases.
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Intel Update: January 2024
Decree Intel is a database of original Omani legal research material that provides explanatory notes, overviews of government entities, and summaries of Supreme Court cases and MJLA Fatwas.
New Content
Case Summary: Supreme Court (Criminal Circuit) 661/2016 (Public Interest as a Defamation Defence): A Twitter user was accused of violating the Cybercrime Law by insulting agents of a falaj for their role in depriving a public park of water, which led to the deterioration of the conditions of the park. The Supreme Court ruled that the competing intentions of the perpetrator (protecting public interest vs insulting certain individuals) must be weighed against each other when determining if a crime has taken place. In this case, the Supreme Court refused to overturn the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Nizwa finding him not guilty on the basis that the public interest intention outweighed the insult intention.
Overview of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation: The Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation (وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي و ابتكار) is the entity responsible for overseeing higher education, scientific research, vocational training, and innovation in the Sultanate.
State Financial and Administrative Audit Institution: The State Financial and Administrative Audit Institution (جهاز الرقابة المالية والإدارية للدولة) is the entity responsible for auditing property owned by the state as well as certain entities.
Civil Aviation Authority: The Civil Aviation Authority (هيئة الطيران المدني) is the entity responsible for regulating civil aviation, meteorology, and certain climate affairs matters.
Last month the Social Protection Fund issued the Executive Regulation of the Social Protection Law. This law provided in article 135 that the provisions governing the savings system will be clarified in the executive regulation. Now that the executive regulation has been issued, this blog post aims to give a fuller picture of how the savings system operates for expatriate employees.
Now that the Social Protection Fund has issued the Executive Regulation of the Social Protection Law, it is important for employers as well as female employees in Oman to make themselves familiar with the rights of expecting mothers under the Social Protection Law and the new regulation.
The Social Protection Fund issued less than two weeks ago the Executive Regulation of the Social Protection Law, which provides a number of key clarifications for implementing the Social Protection Law. This regulation covers a variety of social protection aspects that relate to all branches of social protection benefits and social insurance provided by the law. This post will highlight some of the most significant obligations imposed on employers by the regulation.
Today marks the fourth anniversary of the ascension of Sultan Haitham to the throne, and also marks the third anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Statute of the State, i.e. the constitution of Oman. The very first Omani constitution was promulgated by the late Sultan Qaboos in 1996, which was amended only once in 2011. Sultan Haitham issued a new constitution exactly one year after his ascension to the throne, which largely retained the structure and content of the previous constitution, but with some key changes. As today marks the third anniversary of this constitution, this post will highlight three of its most important new provisions.