Oman

Legal tradition

Oman belongs to the mixed (civil law and islamic law) tradition. A civil-law system with Sharia personal status, distinctive in the region for the Ibadi school of Islam which shapes both its jurisprudence and its historically consensual approach to authority. The civil code follows the Egyptian Civil Code of 1949, which transmitted French civil-law structure into the Arab world, while personal status, succession and family matters remain governed by Sharia as applied by the courts. Oman codified its civil law comparatively late, enacting a Civil Transactions Law in 2013, and has since replaced its commercial companies law (2019), foreign investment law (2019) and labour law (2023). A 2021 Basic Law revision created the office of Crown Prince for the first time, replacing the previous mechanism in which the ruling family selected a successor after the Sultan's death.

How power is divided

Unitary. Eleven governorates headed by appointed governors, with municipal councils holding advisory functions over local services. No legislative competence exists below the national level.

Where law comes from

The Basic Law of the State 1996

As revised in 2021; Sharia is the basis of legislation.

Royal decrees

The instrument for all legislation; there is no independent legislative power.

Civil Transactions Law 2013

Codified obligations, contract and property on the Egyptian model.

Sharia, Ibadi school

Governs personal status, family and succession.

Ministerial decisions

Detailed regulation under enabling decrees.

The legal profession

Advocacy is regulated by the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs; Omani nationality is required for rights of audience, and foreign lawyers practise as consultants within licensed firms. Pleadings are in Arabic. Judges are appointed by royal decree on the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council. Notarisation is required for real property dispositions, and land registration is administered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning.