OMAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Mohammed Al Khalili, Jenna Al Bakry, Joud Lashko and Abdullah Al Raiisi, Al Khalili, Al Ghailani & Co LLP
A number of timetabling considerations should be taken into account, as follows. • Under Article 10 of the Law on the Simplification of Litigation Procedures promulgated by Royal Decree 125/2020 (the “SLP Law”), in disputes concerning foreign capital investment, leases, employment, construction contracts, and debt documents, the primary circuit court must issue its judgment within a maximum period of 30 days from the date the case is formally referred to it. • It also important to note the deadline within which to appeal the primary and appellate court judg- ments. As regards appealing primary court judg- ments, the party must submit their appeal within 15‒30 days, depending on the jurisdiction of the case. Appeals against appellate court judgements, where applicable, must be made within 40 days of the date of judgment. • Under Royal Decree 35/2025 Establishing the Court of Investment and Commerce and Issuing Its Law (the “Court of Investment Law”), the newly formed court provides clear and specific timelines for registration, proceedings, and judgments. As such, these timelines must be taken into consid- eration. • Article 19 of the Court of Investment Law provides details on the process for registering a new claim through the electronic system. After registra- tion, the lawsuit perpetration office shall verify the payment, prepare procedures for the lawsuit, and ensure that all the documents necessary are pro- vided within three working days from the date of registration. In the event of any missing documents or payment failure, the lawsuit perpetration office must notify the claimant to resolve this within ten working days and failure to do so will render the claim void, as per Article 22 of the Court of Invest- ment Law. • Upon completing the required steps in Articles 19 and 22 of the Court of Investment Law, the lawsuit perpetration office must electronically serve the defendant within three working days, as per Article 23 of the Court of Investment Law. • Following the foregoing, the defendant will have 15 days to submit their response to the claim, and the lawsuit perpetration office must notify the claimant
of such response within three working days (as per Article 24 of the Court of Investment Law). • Article 25 of the Court of Investment Law provides the claimant and defendant with the options and timeline for further proceedings. The claimant may reply within 15 days and the defendant may respond again within ten days after that. • Article 26 of the Court of Investment Law states that, following the above-mentioned submissions, it is generally prohibited for any party to submit fur- ther claims and responses unless the court permits such submissions. • Article 28 of the Court of Investment Law provides information concerning the timeline after the end of the proceedings. The relevant court of juris- diction in the case must decide to either issue a provisional judgment within ten days or to set a new hearing if needed within a period not exceed- ing 15 days from the date of referral. In all cases, the court of jurisdiction must issue their judgment within a period not exceeding 90 days from the date of referral. • In the event that the court finds it necessary to appoint an expert, the expert must file their report within 60 days following their appointment and both parties will have 15 days to respond to the expert’s report, as per Article 31 of the Court of Investment Law. Article 16 of the Court of Invest- ment Law provides details regarding the period for appeal of primary court judgments the period for appeal of primary court judgements is set at 15 days for general cases and for cases that are deemed urgent by the court at 7 days. • Article 17 of the Court of Investment Law sets the period of appeal for the appeal court in the Court of Investment and Commerce. The time limit is set at 30 days. As stated in 3.2 Overview of Procedure , the proce- dural considerations under the Labour Law regarding collective redress and class actions follow a speci- fied timeline. As such, the parties should bear in mind the following considerations regarding the timeline of such cases. • The Disputes Committee must resolve the dispute amicably within 15 days of receiving the request to settle. In the event that an amicable settlement is
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