OMAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Sultan Al Ghafri, Nasser Al Riyami, Abdullah Al Aufi and Joud Lashko, Al Khalili, Al Ghailani & Co. LLP (K&Co.)
law disputes, tax disputes, matters relating to public administrative concessions in certain circumstances, and disputes that by their nature cannot be the subject of a settlement between private parties. As a general principle, Omani courts and commentators consider a dispute arbitrable where it concerns rights that the parties are free to dispose of by agreement, consistent with the general rule under the Arbitration Law that arbitration is permitted in respect of any dispute aris - ing from a defined legal relationship, whether contrac - tual or not, save where the law expressly reserves the matter to the state courts or where arbitration would offend a rule of Omani public policy. Labour disputes warrant separate mention. The Labour Law (Royal Decree No. 53/2023) does provide for arbitration as a mechanism for the resolution of certain labour disputes, but that mechanism operates on a different basis from arbitration under the Arbitra - tion Law. The arbitrators are appointed by the Ministry of Labour rather than nominated by the parties, the procedure is prescribed by the labour legislation itself, and the resulting decision takes effect and is enforced by the route laid down in that legislation rather than under the recognition and enforcement provisions of the Arbitration Law. Statutory labour arbitration of this kind therefore falls outside the scope of the Arbitration Law, and a decision rendered in such proceedings would not ordinarily qualify as an arbitral award for the purposes of the New York Convention. 3.3 National Courts’ Approach Omani courts apply the Arbitration Law to determine questions concerning the law governing the arbitration agreement, generally giving effect to the law chosen by the parties either expressly or by reference to insti - tutional rules, and falling back on Omani law, including the law of the seat, where no such choice has been made. In practice, the courts have shown a support - ive and pro-enforcement approach towards arbitration agreements, dismissing court proceedings brought in breach of a valid arbitration clause and referring the parties to arbitration, provided the clause meets the formal writing requirement discussed above. This sup - portive stance has been reinforced in recent years by Supreme Court decisions clarifying the enforcement regime for both domestic and foreign awards, which reflect a broader judicial trend towards treating arbi -
tration as the parties’ chosen and binding method of dispute resolution rather than as a mechanism to be narrowly construed against enforcement. 3.4 Validity Omani law recognises the principle of separability, under which an arbitration clause contained within a broader contract is treated as an independent agree - ment, separate from the other terms of the contract. Consequently, the invalidity, termination or rescission of the main contract does not automatically render the arbitration clause invalid or deprive the tribunal of jurisdiction to determine the dispute, including dis - putes as to the validity of the underlying contract itself. This principle is fundamental to the competence-com - petence doctrine applied in Oman, allowing an arbi - tral tribunal to rule on its own jurisdiction, including any objection concerning the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement, without that determination being automatically undermined by a finding that the main contract is void, voidable or otherwise defec - tive, save where the defect alleged goes specifically to the arbitration clause itself, such as fraud vitiating the parties’ consent to arbitrate. The Arbitration Law affords the parties broad auton - omy to agree on the number of arbitrators and the method of their selection, subject to a requirement that the tribunal be constituted of an odd number of arbitrators, failing which the arbitration may be treated as invalid. Parties are generally free to specify quali - fications for arbitrators, such as nationality, profes - sional background or language ability, and to adopt institutional rules, such as those of the Oman Com - mercial Arbitration Centre, that provide for a particu - lar appointment mechanism. The principal limits on this autonomy are that the arbitrator must accept the appointment in writing and, at that time, disclose any circumstances that might raise doubts as to their independence or impartiality. Beyond the odd-number requirement and these disclosure obligations, Omani law does not otherwise restrict the parties’ freedom to select arbitrators of their choosing, including arbitra - 4. The Arbitral Tribunal 4.1 Limits on Selection
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