Enforcement of Foreign Orders in Oman

The enforcement of foreign judgments is the recognition and enforcement in one jurisdiction of judgments rendered in another (“foreign”) jurisdiction. Foreign judgments may be recognized based on bilateral or multilateral treaties or understandings, or unilaterally without an express international agreement.

The “recognition” of a foreign judgment occurs when the court of one country or jurisdiction accepts a judicial decision made by the courts of another “foreign” country or jurisdiction, and issues a judgment in substantially identical terms without rehearing the substance of the original lawsuit.

Once a foreign judgment is recognized, the party who was successful in the original case can then seek its “enforcement” in the recognizing country. If the foreign judgment is a money judgment and the debtor has assets in the recognizing jurisdiction, the judgment creditor has access to all the enforcement remedies as if the case had originated in the recognizing country, e.g. garnishment, judicial sale, etc. If some other form of judgment was obtained, e.g. affecting status, granting injunctive relief, etc., the recognizing court will make whatever orders are appropriate to make the original judgment effective.

Royal Decree Number 29/2002 (Civil and Commercial Procedures Law) provides guidance on the enforcement of final, non-appealable court judgments via the Omani judicial system. According to the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law, a final, non-appealable court judgment delivered in a foreign country can be enforced in the Sultanate, subject to the same conditions set out by the laws of that other country for enforcement of Omani final, non-appealable court judgments.

The Primary Courts have the jurisdiction to review the foreign orders enforcement claims. The duty of the Court is to ensure that the conditions to enforce a foreign order have been satisfied. Pursuant to Article 352 of the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law, the conditions are as follows:

1. that the judgment or the order is issued by a competent judicial body pursuant to the principles of international rules of judicial competence determined by the domestic law of the country in which it was delivered and has become final according to that law and was not delivered on basis of deception;

1. that the litigant parties to the case in which the foreign judgment was delivered had been rightfully notified and represented;

1. that the judgment or order does not contain a request which breach an operative law in the Sultanate;

1. that the judgment or order does not contradict a previous judgment or order delivered by a Court in the Sultanate, and does not contain something against public order or decency; and

1. that the country in which the foreign judgment was delivered accepts the enforcement of judgments delivered by Oman Courts within its own territories.

Upon satisfaction of the compliance of the foreign order with the above conditions, the Court will issue a judgment to enforce the foreign order. This judgment will be stamped with the enforcement stamp. As a result, the party in whose favour the judgment is issued may open a file in the enforcement department and pursue the enforcement procedures pursuant to Articles 356 to Articles 356 of the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law.

Orders or judgments issued by any of the GCC member states are enforced directly by the Omani Courts without a claim pursuant to Article 11 of the 1996 Treaty for the Enforcement of Judgments, Judicial Delegation, and Courts Summons which was rectified by the Royal Decree Number 17/1996.

Furthermore, in respect of arbitral awards, the Sultanate of Oman is a signatory to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“New York Convention”). As per the rules and conditions provided in the New York Convention, any award rendered in any country that is a party to the New York Convention should be legally enforceable in the Sultanate. Additionally, arbitral awards rendered in the Sultanate will also be enforceable in other signatory countries. The New York Convention was ratified into Omani law by virtue of Royal Decree Number 36/1998.