Dispute Resolution in Oman: Arbitration, Court Enforcement and Foreign Awards (2026)

A commercial contract with an Omani party can send a dispute to arbitration or to the Omani courts. Oman has one arbitration statute, the Law of Arbitration in Civil and Commercial Disputes issued by Royal Decree No. 47 of 1997 and amended by Royal Decree No. 3 of 2007. It has a procedure code from 2002 that governs litigation and the enforcement of foreign judgments, and since 1 October 2025 a specialized Investment and Commerce Court in Muscat. This guide reads the Arabic text of the arbitration law and of the 2007 amendment as consolidated on Qanoon.om, the Omani legal portal that carries the gazetted texts, together with Royal Decree No. 35 of 2025 on the Investment and Commerce Court, Royal Decree No. 26 of 2018 on the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre, Royal Decree No. 36 of 1998 on Oman's accession to the New York Convention, and the 2026 rules of the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre published on its own website. We assist clients with Omani disputes through our partners. Related guides are linked at the end.

How the arbitration law is built

The law has 58 articles. Royal Decree No. 3 of 2007 changed two things that matter in practice. It rewrote Articles 4, 9 and 54(2), which define the court and decide which court helps with arbitration, and it replaced the old references to the "president of the commercial court" with the president of the competent Court of Appeal in most articles, and with the president of the competent Court of First Instance in Articles 37 and 56. The consolidated text on the portal shows these changes in footnotes, so always read the amended text and not the 1997 original. Article numbers below are from the amended law unless stated.

Where the law applies (Articles 1 to 4)

The law applies to any arbitration between parties who are public law or private law persons, whatever the legal relationship, if the arbitration takes place in Oman, or if it is an international commercial arbitration abroad whose parties agree to submit it to this law (Article 1). Article 2 treats arbitration as commercial when the dispute arises from a legal relationship of an economic nature, contractual or not, and Article 3 makes it international when the dispute relates to international trade, in four cases: the parties have their main places of business in different states when they sign the agreement; they agree on a permanent arbitration body or centre, in Oman or abroad; the subject matter of the dispute connects to more than one state; or both parties are in the same state but the seat, a substantial part of the obligations or the place most closely connected to the dispute is outside it.

Article 4 defines "arbitration" as arbitration the parties choose freely, whether or not a permanent body runs it. It defines "the court" as the competent court of first instance or the competent court of appeal, as the case may be. Article 5 lets the parties give a third party, including an arbitration centre in Oman or abroad, the power to choose a procedure they could choose themselves.

The arbitration agreement (Articles 10 to 13 and 23)

An arbitration agreement is an agreement to refer all or some disputes, existing or future, about a given legal relationship, contractual or not (Article 10(1)). It can be a clause in a contract or a separate agreement made after the dispute starts, even if a court case is already open. A separate agreement must list the matters to be arbitrated, or it is void (Article 10(2)). A reference in a contract to a document that has an arbitration clause counts, if the reference clearly makes the clause part of the contract (Article 10(3)).

Only a person with the power to dispose of his rights may agree to arbitrate, and matters that cannot be settled by compromise cannot be arbitrated (Article 11). The agreement must be in writing or it is void. It is in writing if it is in a document signed by the parties or in letters, telegrams or other written means of communication that they exchanged (Article 12). A court that receives a dispute covered by an arbitration agreement must hold the claim inadmissible if the defendant raises the point before making any request or defense, and filing the claim does not stop the arbitration from starting, continuing or ending in an award (Article 13). The arbitration clause is independent of the rest of the contract, so the contract can be void, rescinded or terminated and the clause survives if it is valid in itself (Article 23).

Which court helps (Article 9 and the 2025 court reform)

Article 9, as amended in 2007, gives arbitration matters that the law refers to the courts to the court competent for the dispute under the judiciary law, and gives all international commercial arbitration, in Oman or abroad, to the Court of Appeal in Muscat. That court hears challenges to arbitrators (Article 19(3)), annulment actions (Article 54(2)), appeals against refusals of enforcement (Article 58(3)) and requests to end an arbitrator's mission or to set an extra period for the award.

The Investment and Commerce Court - established by Royal Decree No. 35 of 2025 and operating since 1 October 2025 - has exclusive jurisdiction, administrative, labor, and rental disputes excepted, over cases involving a trader party in connection with its commercial business and over disputes arising from investment contracts, including disputes and applications related to arbitration (Article 11 of the Court's law). An action to annul an arbitral award - the sole judicial avenue for review of an award under Articles 52 and 53 of Arbitration Law No. 47 of 1997 - falls within this jurisdiction where its general criteria are met. The internally competent organ for such applications (the court president or a specific chamber) is governed by the court's organizing decision and is not asserted here. Cases, orders, and applications filed before 1 October 2025 continue before the courts seized at the time of filing (Article 2 of the Decree).

The tribunal (Articles 15 to 21)

The tribunal has one or more arbitrators as the parties agree. If they do not agree on a number it is three, and a panel with an even number of arbitrators is void (Article 15). An arbitrator cannot be a minor, a person under guardianship, a person deprived of civil rights by a conviction for a felony or a crime involving dishonor or breach of trust, or an undischarged bankrupt. The law does not require a particular sex or nationality unless the parties or a statute say so. The arbitrator accepts in writing and must disclose any circumstance that raises doubts about independence or impartiality, both on accepting and if it arises later (Article 16).

The parties choose the arbitrators and the method. If they do not, a sole arbitrator is chosen by the president of the competent Court of Appeal on a party's request. In a panel of three, each party picks one and the two pick the third, who chairs. If a party does not appoint within thirty days of the other party's request, or the two arbitrators do not agree on the third within thirty days of the second appointment, the president of the Court of Appeal makes the appointment. His decision on the appointment cannot be appealed, subject to Articles 18 and 19 (Article 17).

An arbitrator can be challenged only for circumstances that raise serious doubts about impartiality or independence. A party cannot challenge the arbitrator it appointed, or helped appoint, except for a reason it learned of after the appointment (Article 18). The challenge is made in writing to the tribunal within fifteen days of learning of the tribunal's formation or of the ground. If the arbitrator does not step down, the tribunal decides. The challenger can appeal a refusal within thirty days to the court in Article 9, whose decision is final, and the challenge does not stop the proceedings (Article 19). If an arbitrator cannot act, does not start, or stops and causes unjustified delay, the president of the Court of Appeal can end his mission on a party's request (Article 20). A replacement follows the same procedure as the original appointment (Article 21).

Jurisdiction, interim measures and procedure (Articles 14, 22 to 38)

The tribunal rules on its own jurisdiction, including pleas that there is no agreement or that it is void, expired or does not cover the dispute (Article 22(1)). These pleas must be raised no later than the statement of defense, and appointing an arbitrator does not waive them. A plea that the tribunal is going beyond the agreement must be raised at once. The tribunal normally decides jurisdiction before the merits, though it may join the two. If it rejects the plea, the only remedy is an annulment action against the final award (Article 22(3)).

The competent court can order interim or conservatory measures before or during the arbitration (Article 14). If the parties agree, the tribunal can also order them and ask for security. If the party ordered does not comply, the tribunal can authorize the other party to take steps to carry it out, and that party can still ask the president of the Court of Appeal for an enforcement order (Article 24).

The parties can agree the procedure, including the rules of any arbitration body in Oman or abroad, and otherwise the tribunal chooses (Article 25). Both sides must be treated equally and given a full opportunity to present their case (Article 26). The arbitration starts when the respondent receives the request, unless the parties agree otherwise (Article 27). The parties choose the seat, in Oman or abroad, and the tribunal chooses it if they do not, and it may meet elsewhere (Article 28).

The language is Arabic unless the parties agree otherwise or the tribunal chooses other languages, and the tribunal can require translations of documents (Article 29). The claimant files a written statement of claim and the respondent a defense within the agreed time or the time the tribunal sets, and the respondent may add related counterclaims or a set-off (Article 30). Each party can amend its claims or defenses unless the tribunal refuses because of delay (Article 32). The tribunal holds hearings unless the parties accept written submissions, and witnesses and experts are heard without an oath (Article 33). If the claimant files no statement of claim without excuse, the tribunal must end the proceedings, and if the respondent files no defense the proceedings go on without that being an admission (Article 34). A party's absence does not stop the tribunal from deciding on the evidence it has (Article 35). The tribunal may appoint experts (Article 36). On the tribunal's request, the president of the competent Court of First Instance can fine a witness who fails to appear between 5 and 20 rials, and can order judicial assistance (Article 37).

Governing law and amiable composition (Article 39)

The parties choose the rules the tribunal applies. If they choose a state's law, the tribunal applies its substantive rules and not its conflict rules, unless they agree otherwise. If they choose nothing, the tribunal applies the substantive rules of the law it considers most closely connected to the dispute. It must take into account the contract terms and trade usages. It can decide as amiable compositeur only if the parties expressly authorized it to settle the dispute on equity.

The award (Articles 40 to 51)

With more than one arbitrator, the award is made by majority after deliberation as the tribunal decides (Article 40). A settlement recorded by the tribunal has the force of an award for enforcement (Article 41). The tribunal may issue interim awards and awards on part of the claims (Article 42). The award is in writing and signed by the arbitrators. Where there are several, the signatures of a majority are enough if the award says why the minority did not sign. It must give reasons unless the parties agreed otherwise or the law of the procedure does not require them, and it must contain the names and addresses of the parties and arbitrators, the arbitration agreement, a summary of the claims, the operative part, the date and place, and the reasons where required (Article 43).

The tribunal delivers a signed copy to each party within thirty days of the award, and the award or parts of it cannot be published without both parties' consent (Article 44). The tribunal must issue the final award within the time the parties agreed, and if they did not agree, within twelve months of the start of the proceedings. It may extend that period by up to six months unless the parties agree a longer one. If no award is made in time, either party can ask the president of the Court of Appeal to set an additional period or to end the proceedings, and then either party may bring the claim before the court that would normally have heard it (Article 45). The winning party must deposit the original award, or a signed copy, in the language it was issued, with a certified Arabic translation if it is in another language, in the registry of the court in Article 9 (Article 47).

After the award, each party can ask within thirty days of receipt for an interpretation of an ambiguity in the operative part (Article 49), the tribunal can correct clerical or arithmetic errors on its own or on request within thirty days (Article 50), and a party can ask within thirty days for an additional award on claims the tribunal left out (Article 51). The tribunal has thirty days to issue an interpretation or a correction and sixty days for an additional award, and it can extend each period by thirty days if it sees a need.

Annulment (Articles 52 to 54 and 57)

An award cannot be appealed. The only challenge is an annulment action (Article 52). Article 53 lists the grounds: no arbitration agreement, or one that is void, voidable or expired; incapacity of a party when it signed; a party unable to present its defense because of improper notice or another reason outside its control; an award that excluded the law the parties chose; a tribunal formed contrary to the law or the agreement; an award on matters the agreement does not cover, in which case only the affected parts are annulled if they can be separated; and an award or a procedure that is void in a way that affected the award. The court also annuls the award on its own motion if it violates public order in Oman (Article 53(2)).

The action must be filed within ninety days of notice of the award to the party against whom it was made, in the Court of Appeal in Article 9, and a party that waived the right before the award can still bring it (Article 54). Filing the action does not suspend enforcement. The court may suspend it if the claimant asks in the claim itself and the request rests on serious grounds. It must decide that request within sixty days of the first hearing, it can require security, and if it orders a suspension it must decide the annulment within six months (Article 57).

Enforcing an Omani award (Articles 55, 56 and 58)

Awards made under the law have the authority of res judicata and are enforceable under its rules (Article 55). The president of the competent Court of First Instance, or a judge he appoints, issues the enforcement order. The application comes with the original award or a signed copy, a copy of the arbitration agreement, a certified Arabic translation if needed, and a copy of the record of deposit under Article 47 (Article 56).

The court cannot accept an enforcement application until the ninety-day annulment period has ended (Article 58(1)). Before it orders enforcement it must check three things: the award does not conflict with an earlier judgment of the Omani courts on the same dispute, it does not violate public order in Oman, and it was properly notified to the party against whom it is made (Article 58(2)). The order granting enforcement cannot be challenged. A refusal can be challenged within thirty days before the court in Article 9 (Article 58(3)). Even an uncontested award therefore waits out the annulment period before you apply, and the court that handles the application is now the Investment and Commerce Court.

Foreign awards and foreign court judgments

Oman acceded to the 1958 New York Convention by Royal Decree No. 36 of 1998, dated 10 June 1998. The UNCITRAL status table shows accession on 25 February 1999 and entry into force on 26 May 1999, with no reservation or notification entered for Oman. A foreign award from another contracting state is therefore recognized and enforced under the Convention, and refusal is limited to the grounds in Article V.

Foreign court judgments are different. Under Article 352 of the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law (Royal Decree No. 29 of 2002), a judgment or order issued in a foreign country can be enforced in Oman on the same conditions that the law of that country sets for enforcing Omani judgments there, so reciprocity is a condition. The request is made by a claim in the usual form before the court of first instance, sitting with three judges, in whose district enforcement is sought, not by a simple petition. The court checks that the judgment came from a competent court under the international jurisdiction rules of that country, is final under its law and was not obtained by fraud; that the parties were summoned and properly represented; that it does not contain a claim based on a breach of an Omani law; that it does not conflict with an earlier Omani judgment and does not violate public order or morals; and that the issuing country accepts enforcing Omani judgments. Article 353 applies the same rules to arbitral awards made abroad, and requires the award to be on a matter that can be arbitrated under Omani law and to be enforceable where it was made. Article 355 keeps treaties in force.

Oman is also bound by the GCC agreement on the enforcement of court judgments, letters rogatory and judicial notices, which Oman ratified by Royal Decree No. 17 of 1996, and by a bilateral legal and judicial cooperation agreement with India that Royal Decree No. 18 of 2020 ratified. Where a treaty applies, its rules come first. Since 1 October 2025 the Investment and Commerce Court has an enforcement judge for its own judgments (Article 35 of its law), so check which court takes a foreign enforcement claim before you file.

The Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre

Royal Decree No. 26 of 2018 created the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre as a body of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with legal personality and financial and administrative independence. Its arbitration rules were issued by Decision No. 8/2020 and amended by Decision No. 3/2026. They apply when the parties agree to arbitrate under them, and the rules in force when the arbitration starts apply unless the parties choose the rules in force on the date of the agreement (Article 2 of the rules).

Several points matter in a clause. The respondent has 21 days from receiving the request to respond (Article 5). The rules allow joinder of additional parties and consolidation of arbitrations, with conditions (Articles 7 and 8). If the parties have not agreed the number of arbitrators within 21 days of the respondent receiving the request, the Executive Committee appoints a sole arbitrator unless the circumstances call for more (Article 10). A party can apply for emergency interim relief before the tribunal exists. The Executive Committee appoints the emergency arbitrator within 2 days, and the emergency arbitrator must make an order within 14 days of appointment, extendable by up to 14 days (Article 19). If the parties have not agreed a seat, it is Muscat unless the Executive Committee decides otherwise (Article 22).

Litigation in the Omani courts

Article 11 of the Investment and Commerce Court Law gives the court the cases in which one party is a merchant and the case concerns his commercial activities, and disputes arising from an investment contract. This includes disputes between partners or shareholders of commercial companies, business assets, foreign capital investment, banking, bankruptcy and arbitration. Administrative, labor and rental disputes are excluded. Chambers of three judges decide claims above 100,000 rials and claims of unvalued amount, and a single judge decides claims up to 100,000 rials (Article 12). Judgments of the first-instance chambers can be appealed to the appeal chambers (Article 15). The case is run electronically.

The enforcement of the court's judgments is supervised by an enforcement judge who is appointed for renewable one-year terms and decides all enforcement disputes (Article 35). Where the law is silent, the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law applies to the procedure and enforcement (Article 38). Court proceedings in Oman are in Arabic, so allow for certified translations of contracts and evidence.

Drafting checklist for an Oman dispute clause

1. Choose the route: Omani courts, or arbitration under an institution's rules or ad hoc.
2. For arbitration, name the rules or the institution, the seat, the language and the number of arbitrators. Remember that Arabic is the default language unless you choose another (Article 29).
3. Make the clause written and signed, or exchanged in writing, because an oral or unsigned clause is void (Article 12).
4. Use an odd number of arbitrators. An even panel makes the arbitration void (Article 15(2)).
5. Write the time for the award, and note the default of twelve months plus up to six months of extension (Article 45).
6. Add a confidentiality clause. Article 44 stops publication of the award without consent, but it does not cover the rest of the file.
7. Choose the governing law and say whether the tribunal may act as amiable compositeur (Article 39).
8. State whether the tribunal may order interim measures, since that power exists only if the parties agree (Article 24).
9. Plan for the ninety-day annulment period before you ask for enforcement, and prepare a certified Arabic translation of the award.
10. Confirm which Omani court will handle arbitration applications at the time of filing.

Common mistakes

• Using an old or unamended copy of the arbitration law, which still names the "commercial court" and the old Article 9.
• Missing the ninety-day annulment period, or applying to enforce before it ends (Article 58(1)).
• Choosing an even number of arbitrators, or leaving the number open, so the default is three when a sole arbitrator was intended.
• Signing a separate arbitration agreement after the dispute that does not list the matters it covers (Article 10(2)).
• Assuming a foreign judgment is enforced like a New York Convention award. The judgment route needs reciprocity and a claim before the court.
• Relying on the old route to the Court of Appeal for arbitration applications without checking the Investment and Commerce Court.

Read also: Oman Commercial Contracts: Formation Rules Investors Miss | Entering the Omani Market: Legal Consultation Before Your First Contract | Oman LLC Compliance After Incorporation: Legal Duties Guide

Frequently asked questions

Which law governs arbitration in Oman?

The Law of Arbitration in Civil and Commercial Disputes, Royal Decree No. 47 of 1997, as amended by Royal Decree No. 3 of 2007.

How long do I have to challenge an award?

Ninety days from notice of the award to the party against whom it was made (Article 54(1)).

Can I enforce an award straight away?

No. The enforcement application is not accepted until the annulment period has ended (Article 58(1)).

Does Oman enforce foreign arbitral awards?

Yes. Oman has been a New York Convention state since 26 May 1999, with no reservation shown on the UNCITRAL table.

Are foreign court judgments enforced?

They can be, if reciprocity exists and the checks in Article 352 are met, through a claim before the court. A treaty such as the GCC agreement comes first where it applies.

What is the default language of an Omani arbitration?

Arabic, unless the parties agree otherwise or the tribunal chooses other languages (Article 29).

Which court handles arbitration matters now?

Since 1 October 2025 the Investment and Commerce Court in Muscat, under Article 11(7) of its law.

Can you run an Oman dispute from outside the country?

Yes. We assist with Omani disputes through our partners.