The Basic Statute of the State (also referred to as the Basic Law) is the cornerstone of the

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

i legal system and it operates as a constitution for the country. The Basic Statute was issued in the year 1996 and thus far has been amended twice: once in 2011 as a response to protests occurring during the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

, and once in 2021 to introduce procedures for the appointment of a crown prince and new rules for parliament. The Basic Statute stipulates that the system of governance is

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

i hereditary in the male descendants of Sayyid Turki bin Said bin Sultan, that the Sultan is the Head of the State and the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces, that he is to preside over the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

, and that he is responsible for promulgating laws and appointing judges. The Basic Statute also stipulates that the

is the body responsible for implementing the general policies of the state, that Council of Oman, which is made up of the State Council, an appointed body, and the

Shura Council In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura (; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a khalifa (Islamic leader) may be selected, the other way being b ...

, an elected body, is responsible for reviewing legislation and submitting it to the Sultan for

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

, and that the judiciary is guaranteed independence.

Rights

Although Islam is Oman's state religion, the Basic Law guarantees the “freedom to practice religious rites in accordance with recognized customs...provided that it does not disrupt public order or conflict with accepted standards of behavior.” The Basic Law forbids discrimination founded on “sex, ethnicity, color, language, religion, sect, domicile or social status.”

References

External links

* Law of Oman Constitutional law 1996 in law {{Oman-gov-stub