1. Introduction
The Administrative Judicature Court is the body charged with judicial oversight of the work of administrative bodies in the Sultanate of Oman. One of its most important responsibilities is its competence to rule as invalid administrative decisions that are unlawful.Although this oversight provides individuals with the protection they seek, such rulings are issued only after specific judicial procedures have been followed, and after the expiry of specified dates within which the ruling may be appealed, which extends the duration of the dispute.
If a decision is implemented before the issue of the ruling, such implementation in some cases may result in irreversible consequences, and proceeding with the case after that in order to obtain a ruling of invalidity will be useless.
Accordingly, various pieces of legislation, including the Omani Law Regulating the Requesting and Staying of the Implementation of Administrative Decisions, have attempted to balance the public interest, which requires the implementation of administrative decisions immediately after their issuance for the proper functioning of public utilities, and private interests, which require the provision of urgent judicial protection for individual rights if it is apparent from the case documents that the challenged decision is likely to be unlawful and that its implementation will cause irrevocable harm to these individuals.
2. The concept behind a request
The purpose of an emergency request is to give the claimant urgent judicial protection of his right to avoid negative consequences that may result from the implementation of an administrative decision. This request must be submitted in a petition challenging the validity of the decision, or in a subsequent application submitted at the end of the first hearing.3. Legal basis of the request
The legal basis for requesting the stay of an administrative decision is Article (19) of the Administrative Judicature Court Law, which stipulates:“The filing of the case with the court shall not lead to a stay of the decision against which the appeal is made.
However, the concerned party may seek the suspension of the execution of this decision in a plaint or by a subsequent application submitted on a date before the termination of the first pleading session. The department to which the case is referred shall decide on such application within fifteen days from the date of reference or from the date of submission of application during the case proceedings as the case may be. The department shall not rule on the suspension of the execution of the decision unless it believes on the basis of the papers that the case is based on serious grounds and that the results of such execution might be difficult to undo.”
The Administrative Judicature Court applies the provisions of this article when considering a request for suspension of execution, supported - if necessary - by the rules of expedited judicial procedures provided for in the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law issued by Royal Decree 29/2002, on condition that it does not contradict the nature of the administrative dispute in applying the provisions of Article (105) of the Administrative Judicature Court Law.
4. Appeal against the judgment issued in the application to stop implementation
The judgment issued in the application to stop implementation is characterised by being a final judgment, as other final judicial judgments. The decision issued is considered final once issued and must be executed immediately. Concerned parties may appeal against it before the Court of Appeal without waiting for the judgment to be rendered on the subject, because the court has already decided on the suspension application, so it is not permissible for it to reverse the ruling, even if the judgment does not restrict it when considering the invalidity of the contested decision. Appeals must be filed within fifteen days from the day following the issuance of the judgment, according to Article (17) of the Administrative Judicature Court Law, which stipulates:“The deadline for filing appeal shall be thirty days from the day after the date of issuance of judgment.
The period shall be fifteen days in respect of the judgment issued on an application for the suspension of the judgment.”
5. Practical applications of requesting that the implementation of a decision should be stayed by a court ruling
A number of recent cases have, in applying Article (19) of the Administrative Judicature Court Law, affirmed the principle that appealing an administrative decision does not in itself have the effect of staying its implementation. In other words, simply challenging the decision and demanding its cancellation does not stop the implementation of the contested decision. The purpose of this principle is not to allow individuals to obstruct the administrative work and paralyse the movement of administrative bodies that seek to achieve public interests through appeals against administrative decisions.There are, however, exceptions to the principle, where stays of administrative decisions have been granted by the courts in order to protect the interests of individuals and to ensure that the administrative body in question is not being arbitrary in the implementation of its decisions. In Judgment on Appeal No. (1) for the Judicial Year (4) dated 17 January 2004 the court ruled:
“It is established that administrative decisions are enforceable, except if their implementation entails irreversible results, whereupon the court may depart from this principle and order a stay of the implementation of the decision in following a request from the concerned party. Ruling in such a matter of urgency requires the proceedings to be swift and simplified, and the job of the court at that time is to check the existence of two pillars concerning the request for a stay of implementation in order for it to issue a judgment:
First pillar: The pillar of seriousness is an objective pillar which is present when it is established that the appeal against the appealed decision - according to what is stipulated in the documents - is based on serious reasons.
Second pillar: The pillar of urgency which is present if the results of the implementation of the decision are irreversible should the decision not be taken to stay its implementation.”
