Joint session discusses State Council, Majlis Ash’shura articles of dispute

USCAT: The State Council and Majlis Ash’shura held on Tuesday the first joint session of the third sitting of the eighth term of the Council of Oman, chaired by Shaikh Abdulmalik bin Abdullah al Khalili, Chairman of the State Council, and attended by Khalid bin Hilal al Maawali, Chairman of Majlis Ash’shura, along with members of both councils and their secretaries-general.
The joint session involved discussing and voting on the articles of disagreement between the two councils in 7 draft laws. These include draft laws concerning the Real Estate Register, Civil Society Institutions, Combating Information Technology Crimes, Amending Some Provisions of the Cultural Heritage Law, Sports Entities, Amending Some Provisions of the Arbitration Law in Civil and Commercial Disputes, and National Geospatial Data and Information.
Shaikh Abdulmalik bin Abdullah al Khalili, Chairman of the State Council, stated that the convening of the joint session comes in implementation of the provisions of Article (49) of the Council of Oman Law, which affirms the importance of consolidating the principle of coordination and integration between the two councils by holding joint sessions in case of disagreement and divergence of opinion on draft laws referred by the government, in order to produce a unified, consolidated vision that embodies joint work.
He also emphasised, within the same framework, the harmony of work between the two councils and the Council of Ministers in serving the public interest, fostering constructive cooperation and advancing the comprehensive development march under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.

He added that the State Council and Majlis Ash’shura had previously discussed a number of draft laws, including: the draft Real Estate Register Law, the draft Civil Society Institutions Law, the draft law amending some provisions of the Arbitration Law in Civil and Commercial Disputes, the draft Combating Information Technology Crimes Law, the draft law amending some provisions of the Cultural Heritage Law, the draft National Geospatial Data and Information Law, in addition to the draft Sports Entities Law.
Dr Mohammed bin Said al Hajri, Member of the State Council and Member of the Social and Cultural Committee, clarified that the joint session discussed a number of articles of divergence and disagreement regarding several draft laws and legislative amendments. Among these is the draft Civil Society Institutions Law, which aims for a legislative treatment to be more comprehensive by including a group of institutions for which regulations were issued, specifically by merging them into one law encompassing all civil society institutions.
Younis bin Ali al Mandhari, Member of the Majlis Ash’shura and Chairman of the Youth and Human Resources Committee, stated that the Council began studying the draft Sports Entities Law last May and hosted all parties related to the draft law through the competent committee. All parties related to the draft law were hosted, including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, as well as sports clubs and federations, to take their opinions on the articles of the law, which comprised 69 articles. He indicated that the Council amended some articles and added 3 new articles.
The joint committee between the State Council and Majlis Ash’shura stated that the draft Real Estate Register Law aims to enhance legal protection for owners and beneficiaries, regulate registration procedures and real estate transactions, and enable digital documentation in line with the national direction towards digital transformation.