Muscat: The State Council and the Shura Council on Tuesday held the first joint session of the 4th regular session of Oman Council’s 7th Term. The meeting was chaired by Shaikh Abdulmalik Abdullah al Khalili, Chairman of the State Council.
Al Khalili said that the session dealt with reports of joint committees, including reports on the draft Labour Law, Social Protection Law and the Biometric Fingerprints bill.
This session follows the two councils’ forming joint committees to discuss the divergence of views on draft laws. The two sides reached agreement about all debated items, except for a limited number of items of dispute in the draft biometrics law.
The meeting was attended by Khalid Hilal al Maawali, Chairman of the Shura Council, and the two councils’ members and secretaries general.
The chairman of the State Council affirmed that the first joint session comes in implementation of the Royal directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik regarding the resumption to the joint sessions in the case the two chambers failed to reach a unified opinion on draft laws referred by the government following. The convening of joint sessions was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, the State Council and Majlis Ash’shura discussed the draft Labour Law, Social Protection Law and the Biometric Fingerprint Law. Having agreed on some articles and disagreed on others, the two councils formed joint committees to discuss the points of discrepancies between them all of which have been settled as a result of the committee’s work, the chairman of the State Council said.
The joint session discussed reports submitted by the joint committees on the draft Labour Law, the Social Protection Law and the Biometric Fingerprint Law in accordance with the rules and procedures related to the holding of the joint sessions and articles 49 and 50 of the Law of the Council of Oman promulgated by Royal Decree 7/2021 Al Khalili said.
The chairman of the State Council confirmed that the legislative development the country is witnessing reflects the system of cooperation and joint coordination that His Majesty has called for to further consolidate the concept of the state of institutions and the rule of law. He stressed that the State Council, Majlis Ash’shura and the Council of Ministers function in harmony and constructive cooperation.
The joint session convened after the two councils formed joint committees comprising some of their members to discuss the points of disagreement vis-à-vis draft acts. The committees have reached an agreement in the majority of the articles with only few articles of the draft Biometric Fingerprint Law remained unsettled.
According to the law, the State Council and Majlis Ash’shura may hold a joint committee to debate the points of disagreement. The joint committee submits a report to be discussed at a joint session invited and chaired by the chairman of the State Council. The draft law undergoes a voting process at the joint session and the decisions are taken by the absolute majority of the attending members. At all events, the chairman of the State Council should submit the draft law to His Majesty attached with the visions of both councils.
The joint session was attended by Khalid bin Hilal al Maawali, Chairman of Majlis As’shura, the secretary-general of the State Council and the secretary-general of Majlis Ash’shura. — ONA
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