1. Primary Legislation

OLCS considers royal decrees and laws as two distinct categories of primary legislation. Nowadays, all laws are issued by royal decree, but not all royal decrees are concerned with the issuance of laws. It is extremely important to pay attention to the distinction between royal decrees and laws, because the first article of a royal decree issuing a law is not the first article of the law itself.

1.1. Royal Decrees

The components of a typical royal decree citation are the royal decree number, the title of the royal decree, the date the royal decree was issued, the date the royal decree was published in the Official Gazette, and the issue number of this Official Gazette. Do not italicise any aspect of a royal decree citation. The royal decree number starts with the sequence number on the left and the year on the right. Do not write ‘No’ or ‘Number’ next to the number and do not leave a space before or after the slash sign (/).

The components of a typical royal decree citation are:

royal decree number | royal decree title | (date issued, date published) | OG number

EXAMPLE 1

Royal Decree 43/2016 Granting Omani Nationality (issued 18 August 2016, published 20 August 2016) Official Gazette 1159.

It is acceptable, and recommended, to abbreviate ‘Official Gazette’ to ‘OG’.

EXAMPLE 2

Royal Decree 123/2010 Establishing the Sohar Free Zone (issued 20 December 2010, published 15 December 2010) OG 925.

The date of the publication of the royal decree in the Official Gazette can be extremely important because the entry into force of a royal decree may take place after a specific period of time calculated from its publication date, not its issuance date. Therefore, you should always cite the publication date.

1.2. Laws

The components of a typical law citation are the name of the law plus the year in which it was issued along with the full citation of the royal decree that issued this law without providing its actual title. There is no need to mention ‘as amended’ as it is assumed that you are citing the law as it is applicable today.

The components of a typical law citation are:

name of the law | year | royal decree number | (date issued, date published) | OG number

EXAMPLE 1

The Law for Combating Money Laundering and Financing Terrorism 2016, Royal Decree 30/2016 (issued 2 June 2016, published 5 June 2016) OG 1149.

Laws used to be promulgated in the 1970s without issuing a royal decree. If you are citing such an old law, replace the reference to the royal decree with the reference to the law without the need to repeat the name of the law twice.

EXAMPLE 2

Commercial Register Law 1974, Law No 3/74 (issued 14 May 1974, published 1 June 1974) OG 56.

2. Secondary Legislation

Secondary legislation includes decisions issued by the Council of Ministers, individual ministerial or governmental decisions, local orders, and other legal documents of an executive nature. In a manner similar to the distinction between laws and the royal decrees that promulgate them, it is necessary to distinguish between regulations and the decisions that issue them, as the first article of the regulation is not the same as the first article of the decision.

2.1. Decisions, Local Orders, and Similar Documents

The components of a typical ministerial or governmental decision citation are the name of the entity issuing the decision, the number of the decision, the title of the decision, the date the decision was published in the Official Gazette, and the issue number of this Official Gazette. Do not italicise any aspect of a ministerial decision citation. The ministerial decision number starts with the sequence number on the left and the year on the right. Do not use ‘No’ or ‘Number’ next to the number, and do not leave a space before or after the slash sign (/). The rules in this section apply to decisions and similar documents issued by government entities even if they are not actual ministries.

The components of a typical ministerial decision citation are:

entity name | decision number | decision title | (date issued, date published) | OG issue

EXAMPLE 1

Ministry of Heritage and Tourism Ministerial Decision 136/2021 Forming the Government Committee for Licensing Integrated Tourism Complexes and Its Working System (issued 12 September 2021, published 26 September 2021) OG 1409.

EXAMPLE 2

Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre Decision 8/2021 Issuing the Mediation Rules for Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre (issued 7 July 2021, published 25 July 2021) OG 1400.

EXAMPLE 3

Diwan of Royal Court Local Order 1/2003 regarding the Collection of the Fees of Muscat Municipality (issued 2 December 2003, published 15 December 2003) OG 757.

It is permissible to replace the full name of the entity with its commonly used abbreviation:

EXAMPLE 4

MHT Ministerial Decision 136/2021 Forming the Government Committee for Licensing Integrated Tourism Complexes and Its Working System (issued 12 September 2021, published 26 September 2021) OG 1409.

EXAMPLE 5

OCAC Decision 8/2021 Issuing the Mediation Rules for Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre (issued 7 July 2021, published 25 July 2021) OG 1400.

EXAMPLE 4

DRC Local Order No 1/2003 Regarding the Collection of the Fees of Muscat Municipality (issued 2 December 2003, published 15 December 2003) OG 757.

2.2. Circulars and Unpublished Decisions

For circulars and other similar documents that are not published in the Official Gazette, cite the entity name, the circular number, the circular title (if there is one), the date in which it was published, and add ‘unpublished’ at the end.

The components of a typical circular or any other unpublished decision citation are:

entity name | decision number | decision title | (date issued, unpublished)

EXAMPLE 1

Tender Board Circular 4/2012 (issued 21 May 2012, unpublished).

EXAMPLE 2

Ministry of Civil Service Circular 2/2014 regarding the Form for Modifying the Organisational Structure of Government Entities Subject to the Civil Service Law and Its Regulation (issued 9 January 2014, unpublished).

2.3. Regulations and Bylaws

The components of a typical regulation or bylaw citation is the name of the regulation plus the year in which it was issued along with the full citation of the ministerial decision that issued this regulation without providing its actual title. There is no need to mention ‘as amended’ as it is assumed that you are citing the regulation as it is applicable today.

The components of a typical regulation citation are:

EXAMPLE 1

Commercial Companies Regulation 2021, MOCIIP Decision 146/2021 (issued 14 October 2021, published 24 October 2021) OG 1413.

EXAMPLE 2

Judicial Inspection Regulation 2021, CAAJ Decision 426/2021 (issued 29 August 2021, published 5 September 2021) OG 1406.

3. Court Judgments

A limited number of court judgments in Oman are published by the Supreme Court and the other specialised courts in a periodic collection of judgments and key principles. Such collections almost always anonymise the names of the parties, which makes it uncommon in Oman to cite a case by reference to the parties. The OLCS adopts an approach for citing court judgments by using the official sequence number and the details of the publication if the judgment is published.

3.1. Published Court Judgments

The components of a court judgment citation are the name of the court issuing the judgement, the case type (such as a contestation or an appeal), the number of the judgment, the name of the court circuit, the date of the issuance of the judgment, the title of the book in which the judgment is published, and the page number. Do not italicise any aspect of a court judgement citation. Do not use ‘No’ or ‘Number’ next to the number, and do not leave a space before or after the slash sign (/) if the number contains a slash.

The components of a typical published court judgement citation are:

EXAMPLE 1

Supreme Court Contestation 787/2021 Commercial Circuit B (issued 2 November 2021) Collection of Judgments Issued by Supreme Court Circuits (Labour – Commercial) and Their Principles 2021-2022, 792.

EXAMPLE 2

Supreme Court Contestation 39/2020 Personal Status Circuit (issued 18 October 2020) Collection of Judgments Issued by Supreme Court Circuits (Personal Status-Civil) and Their Principles 1 October 2020 – 30 September 2021, 1.

EXAMPLE 3

Supreme Court Contestation 988/2017 Compensation Circuit (issued 28 January 2018) Collection of Judgments Issued by the Supreme Court Compensation Circuit (Diyat and Urush) 2018-2021, 9.

It is permitted to replace the full name of the book and the circuit name with an abbreviation:

EXAMPLE 4

Supreme Court Contestation 787/2021 Comm B (issued 2 November 2021) CJSC Labour-Commercial 2021-2022, 792.

EXAMPLE 5

Supreme Court Contestation 39/2020 Pers Stat (issued 18 October 2020) CJSC Personal Status-Civil 1 Oct 2020 – 30 Sep 2021, 1.

EXAMPLE 5

Supreme Court Contestation 988/2017 Comp (issued 28 January 2018) CJSC Comp (Diyat and Urush) 2018-2021, 9.

3.2. Unpublished Court Judgments

The components of an unpublished court judgment citation are the name of the court issuing the judgement, the case type (such as a contestation or an appeal), the number of the judgment, the name of the court circuit, the full date of the issuance of the judgment, and the term “unpublished”. Do not italicise any aspect of a court judgement citation. Do not use ‘No’ or ‘Number’ next to the number, and do not leave a space before or after the slash sign (/) if the number contains a slash.

The components of a typical published court judgement citation are:

EXAMPLE 1

Supreme Court Contestation 787/2021 Commercial Circuit B (issued 2 November 2021) unpublished.

EXAMPLE 2

Supreme Court Contestation 39/2020 Personal Status Circuit (issued 18 October 2020) unpublished.

4. Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs Fatwas

The Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs issues fatwas to respond to requests made by government entities seeking clarification on the interpretation of the law. Such fatwas are usually legally binding on the government entity requesting the fatwa, while the other party can resort to the courts to formally resolve the dispute when it is not satisfied with the outcome of the fatwa. A selection of these fatwas are published by the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs in annual collections. Unpublished fatwas are usually confidential and not available to the public.

The components of a MJLA fatwa citation are the name of the entity (either the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs or its predecessor the Ministry of Legal Affairs), the fatwa sequence number, the full date of the issuance of the fatwa, the title of the book in which the fatwa is published, and the page number. Do not italicise any aspect of a fatwa citation. Do not use ‘No’ or ‘Number’ next to the number, and do not leave a space before or after the slash sign (/) if the number contains a slash.

The components of a typical MJLA fatwa citation are:

entity name | fatwa number | (date issued) | book title | page number

EXAMPLE 1

Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs 222776113/2023 (issued 16 January 2023), Collection of Legal Principles Issued by the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs Year 2023, 64.

EXAMPLE 2

Ministry of Legal Affairs MLA/MO/26/1/216/2013 (issued 4 February 2015), The Legal Principles in Legal Affairs Fatwas Year 2013, 144.

It is permitted to replace the full name of the entity with its commonly used abbreviation:

EXAMPLE 3

MJLA 222776113/2023 (issued 16 January 2023), Collection of Legal Principles Issued by the MJLA Year 2023, 64.

EXAMPLE 4

MLA MLA/MO/26/1/216/2013 (issued 4 February 2015), The Legal Principles in Legal Affairs Fatwas Year 2013, 144.