There is often a lot of confusion about the effects of Oman Court judgments and Oman arbitral awards rendered in Oman. This post should provide some clarity.
First, there is a distinction between court judgments and arbitral awards.
A final, non-appealable Oman Court judgment should be automatically enforced in any of the other GCC states, by virtue of the 1996 Treaty for the Enforcement of Judgments, Judicial Delegation, and Courts Summons between the Arab Gulf Countries Cooperative Council (AGCC).
Outside the GCC, it is unlikely that a final Omani court judgment would be automatically enforceable. Almost certainly, the case would have to be heard again by the courts of that country.
Second, there are two relevant types of arbitral awards in Oman. The first type is an arbitral award rendered in Oman. This award should be automatically enforced in any country which, like Oman, has signed the 1958 New York Convention on the Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “NY Convention”). Under the requirements of the NY Convention, any country that is a member of the convention is required to give effect to private agreements to arbitrate disputes. In addition, member countries are required to recognize and enforce arbitration awards made in another contracting country. Oman signed the NY Convention in 1999 and currently there are 144 member countries worldwide.
A second type of arbitral award involves those awards rendered in a fellow member state of the NY Convention. If the respondent to the claim fails to pay the award, the claimant may seek to enforce the award in an Omani court.
This particular scenario has not yet been tested in Omani courts, but the terms of the NY Convention would require the Omani court to enforce the arbitral award, just as the courts of all signatories to the NY Convention.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Enforcement of Court Judgments and Arbitral Awards
Monday, May 4, 2009
Focus on: the Salalah Free Zone
On June 20, 2006, the Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said, promulgated Royal Decree No. 62/2006 creating the Salalah Free Zone (SFZ), furthering progress toward the Sultanate’s goal of being a desirable and advantageous place to do business. A ‘Free Zone’ is a territorial carve-out in which business-friendly laws may be instituted to promote foreign direct investment, trade, entrepreneurship and business development.
The 19 million square metre SFZ is endowed by the government with world-class infrastructure and support services providing start-to-end-function facilities for both multinationals and start-ups. Other advantages include close proximity to the ‘Super Hub’ port at Salalah, one of the world’s largest container terminals. Strategically positioned on the Indian Ocean, the port at Salalah accommodates the world’s largest container ships, is equipped with the world’s largest container-handling cranes, and can handle up to 4.4 million TEU/year.
Apart from its strategic location and well-developed infrastructure, a whole host of other investment-friendly incentives are available to businesses operating at SFZ, including a competitively low initial cost of setting up, and a one-stop-shop arrangement for licenses, permits, visas, customs clearances, etc. Businesses at SFZ will even be able to participate in existing export guarantee arrangements provided to Omani companies by Omani financial institutions.
The specific activities permitted in the free zone are:
The array of special incentives offered includes:
Businesses may apply for the following kinds of licenses from the SFZ:
It should be noted that for all types of businesses located in SFZ, sales in Oman must be carried out through a distributor or any company based in Oman that holds a valid trade license with the same business activity.
