Urgent Need for Reform of Omani Nationality Law to Meet International Standards

Authors

  • Dr. Bader Al-Maskari College of Law/ Sultan Qaboos University
  • Dr. Abdalwahab Kareem Hamed College of Arts and National Defense College/ Sultan Qaboos University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35246/zwx0bg48

Keywords:

Omani Nationality Law, Statelessness, Judicial Review, Legislative Reform, Gender Equality, Human Rights and Citizenship

Abstract

This study provides a critical, analytical, and comparative examination of Oman’s nationality law (Royal Decree No. 17/2025). Moving beyond descriptive overview, it analyzes the statutory gaps regarding statelessness, gender discrimination, and citizenship deprivation under both international law and the Omani Basic Statute. Utilizing a normative-comparative methodology, the paper evaluates Oman's framework against the 1961 Convention, CEDAW, and neighboring GCC legislations. It addresses administrative finality in nationality disputes by examining the constitutional friction between Article 4 of the Nationality Law and Article 30 of the Basic Statute. Finally, the study advances concrete, practical legislative drafts to harmonize domestic law with global human rights architectures.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

I. Abdulkadir, M. I. (2021). The role of law clinics in the fight against statelessness by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Nigeria. International Journal of Clinical Legal Education, 28(1), 119–153.

II. Al-Belushi, M. A. K., & Al-Hooti, N. A. (2023). Safeguarding Oman’s cultural heritage: Legislative perspective. Journal of Arts and Social Sciences [JASS], 14(2).

III. Allam, W. (2014). The Arab charter on human rights: Main features. Arab Law Quarterly, 28(1), 40–63.

IV. Almutawa, A. (2021). The Arab court of human rights and the enforcement of the Arab charter on human rights. Human Rights Law Review, 21(3), 506–532.

V. Al-Rabadi, R. F., & Al-Rabadi, A. N. (2018). Inequality analyses of gendering Jordanian citizenship and legislative rights. Journal of International Women's Studies, 19(6), 359–373.

VI. Alsalmi, H. S. (2020). Oman's Basic Statute and Human Rights: Protections and Restrictions: With a Focus on Nationality, Shura, and Freedom of Association. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.

VII. Arnell, P. (2020). The legality of the citizenship deprivation of UK foreign terrorist fighters. ERA Forum, 20(4), 513–527.

VIII. Bassel, L., Monforte, P., Bartram, D., & Khan, K. (2021). Naturalization policies, citizenship regimes, and the regulation of belonging in anxious societies. Ethnicities, 21(2), 259–270.

IX. Batchelor, C. A. (1998). Statelessness and the problem of resolving nationality status. International Journal of Refugee Law, 10(1-2), 156–183.

X. Bauböck, R. (2005). Expansive Citizenship-Voting beyond territory and membership. PS: Political Science & Politics, 38(4), 683–687.

XI. Beckman, L. (2006). Citizenship and voting rights: Should resident aliens vote? Citizenship Studies, 10(2), 153–165.

XII. Bellizzi, S., & Nivoli, A. (2023). Gender discrimination in nationality laws: A systemic type of violence against women. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 163(1), 323–324.

XIII. Beninger, C., & Manjoo, R. (2022). The impact of gender discrimination on statelessness: Causes, consequences and legal responses. African Human Mobility Review, 8(3), 17–40.

XIV. Bianchini, K. (2020). Identifying the stateless in statelessness determination procedures and immigration detention in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Refugee Law, 32(3), 440–471.

XV. Brandvoll, J. (2010). Deprivation of nationality: Limitations on rendering persons stateless under international law. Norwegian Center for Human Rights, 195–218.

XVI. Brennan, D. (2020). Feminist foresight in statelessness: Century-old citizenship equality campaigns. The Statelessness & Citizenship Review, 2(1), 43–67.

XVII. Cheong, A. R. (2022). Deportable to nowhere: Stateless children as challenges to state logics of immigration control. Positions: Asia Critique, 30(2), 245–275.

XVIII. Choukroune, L. (2005). Justiciability of economic, social, and cultural rights: The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights' review of China's first periodic report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Columbia Journal of Asian Law, 19, 30.

XIX. Cullen, M. (2020). Disaster, displacement and international law: Legal protections in the context of a changing climate. Politics and Governance, 8(4), 143–153.

XX. Dashti, A. A., Johar, H. A., Al-Maamari, S. N., & Alabdullah, H. H. (2020). Hatred versus tolerance: The effect of the media on the notion of citizenship in Kuwait and Oman. Global Media and Communication, 16(3), 271–291.

XXI. Equality Now. (2022, July 7). The reality of sex discrimination in nationality laws in a disrupted world. https://equalitynow.org/news_and_insights/the-reality-of-sex-discrimination-in-nationality-laws-in-a-disrupted-world/

XXII. Fisher, B. L. (2016). Discrimination and statelessness in the Gulf Cooperation Council states. Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, 23(2), 269–310.

XXIII. Foster, M., & Baker, T. R. (2021). Racial discrimination in nationality laws: A doctrinal blind spot of international law? Columbia Journal of Race & Law, 11(1), 83–142.

XXIV. Haghani, S. (2023). New legislative improvements in reducing statelessness of children born of Iranian women’s transnational marriages: Two steps forward, one step backward. Middle East Law and Governance, 15(2), 218–242.

XXV. Human Rights Council. (2013). Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality: Report of the Secretary-General (Report No. A/HRC/25/28). United Nations General Assembly.

XXVI. Human Rights Watch. (2020). Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child review of the Sultanate of Oman’s periodic report for the 88th Pre-Session. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2020/12/Oman%20CRC%20Submission%20November%202020.pdf

XXVII. Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion. (2014). The world's stateless. https://files.institutesi.org/worldsstateless.pdf

XXVIII. Jain, N. (2022). Manufacturing statelessness. American Journal of International Law, 116(2), 237–288.

XXIX. Joseph, S. (2010). Gender and citizenship in the Arab world. Al-Raida Journal, (129-130), 8–18.

XXX. Kanchana, R. (2023). Oman: Recent developments in the protection of the rights of migrant workers and of women. Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law Online, 22(1), 298–303.

XXXI. Kenny, C. (2020). Legislated out of existence: Mass arbitrary deprivation of nationality resulting in statelessness as an international crime. International Criminal Law Review, 20(6), 1026–1067.

XXXII. Kesby, A. (2012). The Right to Have Rights: Citizenship, Humanity, and International Law. Oxford University Press.

XXXIII. Kingston, L. (2019). Fully Human. Oxford University Press.

XXXIV. Lambert, H. (2015). Comparative perspectives on arbitrary deprivation of nationality and refugee status. International & Comparative Law Quarterly, 64(1), 1–37.

XXXV. Macklin, A. (2014). Citizenship revocation, the privilege to have rights and the production of the alien. Queen's University Law Journal, 40(1), 1–54.

XXXVI. Mégret, F. (2020). Homeward bound? Global mobility and the role of the state of nationality during the pandemic. Frontiers in Political Science, 2, Article 582409.

XXXVII. Molnar, T. (2021). The prohibition of arbitrary deprivations of nationality under international and EU law: New perspectives. https://core.ac.uk/reader/42939210

XXXVIII. Omani Nationality Law, Royal Decree No. 38/2014. (2014).

XXXIX. Oman Sultanate. (2010). Initial periodic report of states parties (Report No. CEDAW/C/OMN/1). Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

XL. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. (2019). Withdrawing nationality as a measure to combat terrorism: A human rights-compatible approach? (Recommendation 2163). https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-EN.asp?fileid=25241&lang=en

XLI. Paulussen, C. (2021). Stripping foreign fighters of their citizenship: International human rights and humanitarian law considerations. International Review of the Red Cross, 103(916-917), 605–618.

XLII. Piper, N. (2005). Gender and Migration (Policy Analysis and Research Programme, Paper No. 7). Global Commission on International Migration.

XLIII. Prameswari, Z. W. A. W., Agustin, E., & Felicia, S. A. (2023). A review of Indonesian nationality law: Progress toward the achievement of SDGs for every child. Journal of Southeast Asian Human Rights, 7(1), 45-68.

XLIV. Royal Decree No. 42/2005 Ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). (2005).

XLV. Royal Decree No. 6/2021 Promulgating the Basic Statute of the State. (2021).

XLVI. Royal Decree No. 81/1984 Acquisition of Government Lands Regulation. (1984).

XLVII. Schenk, N. M. (2024). The right to a nationality: A defence of basic rights for stateless persons [Doctoral dissertation, University of Leicester].

XLVIII. Spiess, L., & Pyne-Jones, L. (2022). Children at risk of statelessness in the fight against terrorism. The Statelessness & Citizenship Review, 4(1), 33–65.

XLIX. Spiro, P. J. (2011). A new international law of citizenship. The American Journal of International Law, 105(4), 694–746.

L. UNICEF. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention

LI. United Nations. (1961). Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. United Nations Treaty Collection. https://treaties.un.org/

LII. United Nations. (1979). Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/

LIII. United Nations General Assembly. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Resolution 217 A).

LIV. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2015). Compilation report – Universal periodic review: 2nd cycle, 23rd session the Sultanate of Oman. UPR Info. https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/documents/2015-10/unhcr_upr23_omn_e_main.pdf

LV. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2020). UNHCR guidelines on statelessness No. 5: Loss and deprivation of nationality under Articles 5-9 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. https://www.refworld.org/policy/legalguidance/unhcr/2020/en/123216

LVI. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2021). Q&A: The world’s 15 million stateless people need help. https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/qa-worlds-15-million-stateless-people-need-help

LVII. United Nations Special Rapporteur. (2022). Position of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism on the human rights consequences of citizenship stripping in the context of counter-terrorism. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

LVIII. Vijeyarasa, R. (2022). Three decades of CEDAW Committee General Recommendations: A roadmap for domestication, reporting and stronger accountability for women’s rights. Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law Online, 25(1), 797–826.

LIX. Von Rutte, B. (2022). Beyond sovereignty: The rights to nationality in international law. In The Human Right to a Nationality (pp. 87–120). Brill Nijhoff.

LX. Weissbrodt, D., & Collins, C. (2006). The human rights of stateless persons. Human Rights Quarterly, 28(1), 245–276.

LXI. Worster, W. T. (2022). Customary international law requiring states to grant nationality to stateless children born in their territory. The Statelessness & Citizenship Review, 4(1), 113–152.

LXII. Zavareh, S. M. H. N. (2023). The effects of marriage and divorce on women's nationality in the Iranian law. Khazanah Hukum, 5(1), 33–44.

LXIII. Ziemele, I. (2014). State succession and issues of nationality and statelessness. In A. Edwards & L. van Waas (Eds.), Nationality and statelessness under international law (pp. 217–241). Cambridge University Press.

Downloads

Published

2026-06-25

How to Cite

Al-Maskari, Bader, and Abdalwahab Hamed. 2026. “Urgent Need for Reform of Omani Nationality Law to Meet International Standards”. Journal of Legal Sciences 41 (1): 658-97. https://doi.org/10.35246/zwx0bg48.

Similar Articles

11-20 of 534

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.