Thursday 02 / May / 2024
Muscat: Omani laws will be available in English in the near future to provide non-Arabic speakers in the Sultanate with the ability to easily access the nation’s laws, said the co-founder of Qanoon.om.
Qanoon.om, a website dedicated to publishing the Sultanate’s Royal Decrees, Ministerial Decisions and their amendments, plans to translate the laws into English in a future version of the website.
“The plan is to have the Royal Decrees available online in Arabic by next year. The laws, with their amendments incorporated, will be addressed separately, but we intend on making them also available as soon as possible” said Yousuf Al Busaidi, Co-Founder of Qanoon.om and a prominent Omani lawyer.
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“While it is not definite at this stage, our intention is to work on the (English) translations from 2019 onwards. We are considering different methods for producing these translations in an efficient and systematic manner, and we might provide an online subscription option,” he added.
In addition to making available Royal Decrees and Ministerial Decisions in Arabic as soon as they are published, Qanoon.om will provide English translations of the laws to journalists, academic researchers, investors interested in doing business in Oman, or individual residents living here.
“We put the Royal Decrees and Ministerial Decisions online for free, because we seek to make access to the law easier and intuitive in Oman. The English translations would be a major addition to the website, and we must make sure that we have a sustainable project plan when we start this next phase of the project” said Al Busaidi, explaining why the English version has not been made available until now.
This project will involve the translation of over 200 laws, 4,000 Royal Decrees and 4,000 Ministerial decisions into English, which will constantly be updated.
The founders of Qanoon.om are considered the most qualified in providing such translations, as they were primarily involved in translating the only law to be officially translated in Oman, the Basic Statute of the State, which is deemed to be Oman’s constitution.
“Qanoon.om is meant to assist lawyers and legal advisors to advise their clients. While any person may use it, I think it can be best utilised by legal professionals and academic researchers looking into the history and legal development of Oman,” he added.
The public is invited to access all Royal Decrees and Ministerial Decisions in Arabic at www.qanoon.om, and can follow this initiative on twitter or Facebook at @QanoonOm andwww.blog.qanoon.om.
