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.)
ing dispute. Where an award has been set aside by the courts of the seat, Omani courts will generally decline to enforce it, although the Supreme Court has also indicated a willingness, in certain circumstances, to consider the status of ongoing set-aside proceedings at the seat before determining whether to proceed with, or suspend, enforcement in Oman. A state or state entity seeking to resist enforcement on the basis of sovereign immunity will generally need to demon - strate that the relevant assets or conduct fall within a recognised immunity, since Omani courts have shown limited sympathy for immunity defences raised simply to avoid an otherwise valid arbitral obligation. 12.3 Approach of the Courts Omani courts have, in recent years, adopted an increasingly supportive and pragmatic approach towards the recognition and enforcement of both domestic and foreign arbitral awards, reflecting the Sultanate’s broader policy commitment to positioning itself as an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction. Refusal of enforcement on public policy grounds is treated as an exceptional remedy, generally reserved for awards that would offend fundamental principles of Omani law or morality, such as awards granting remedies not recognised under Omani law, for example punitive damages, or awards procured through fraud, rather than being used as a vehicle for a broader review of the correctness of the tribunal’s decision. Omani courts distinguish in this respect between domestic public policy in the narrow sense and the more limited concept of international public policy typically applied when considering the enforcement of foreign awards, generally applying the latter, narrower standard so as to avoid inappropriately refusing enforcement of foreign awards on the basis of purely domestic legal peculiarities. 13. Miscellaneous 13.1 Class Action or Group Arbitration Omani law does not contain a dedicated statutory framework providing for class action arbitration or group arbitration in the manner recognised in some common-law jurisdictions. Arbitration under the Arbi - tration Law is fundamentally a consensual, bilateral or multiparty mechanism rooted in the parties’ specific
arbitration agreement, and there is no general proce - dural vehicle under Omani law by which a representa - tive claimant may bring, or a tribunal may certify, a class-wide arbitration on behalf of an undefined or open class of claimants who have not themselves agreed to arbitrate. Where multiple parties with relat - ed claims wish to proceed together, this is generally achieved through multiparty arbitration clauses agreed at the outset, or through consolidation of related pro - ceedings where the parties and the tribunal agree, rather than through a class action mechanism. Par - ties seeking a mechanism to resolve multiple, similar claims collectively in Oman should therefore address this expressly in their arbitration agreements, since no default statutory class arbitration procedure is avail - There is no single, comprehensive statutory code of ethics specifically applicable to arbitrators and counsel conducting arbitral proceedings in Oman, in contrast to the position for advocates appearing before the domestic courts, who are subject to the professional conduct rules of the Omani Ministry of Justice and the Oman Bar Association. Arbitrators are, however, sub - ject to the statutory duties of independence, impar - tiality and disclosure imposed by the Arbitration Law itself, which operate as the principal source of ethi - cal obligation specific to the arbitral process. Where the parties adopt institutional rules, such as those of the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre, those rules typically incorporate their own codes of conduct or ethical standards for arbitrators registered with, or appointed through, the institution. In the absence of a bespoke Omani ethical code, practitioners frequent - ly have regard to internationally recognised soft-law instruments, such as the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, as a benchmark of good practice, even though these instruments are not directly binding as a matter of Omani law. 13.3 Third-Party Funding Omani law does not contain a dedicated statutory regime specifically regulating third-party funding of arbitration, whether by way of express permission, prohibition, or a bespoke disclosure and licensing framework, as has been adopted in some other juris - dictions. The absence of specific legislation means able to fall back upon. 13.2 Ethical Codes
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