Muscat: The "Unified Manual for Litigation Procedures before the Investment and Trade Court," prepared in cooperation between the Supreme Judiciary Council and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, serves as a practical and unified reference that makes it easier for litigants, business owners, investors, and legal professionals to familiarize themselves with litigation pathways and requirements before the court.
According to Oman News Agency, the manual combines judicial and procedural aspects with the requirements of the business and investment environment to clarify litigation pathways before the Investment and Trade Court in an accessible manner, and to introduce its jurisdiction, degrees of litigation, and the basic requirements for registering lawsuits, applications, appeals, and necessary supporting documents.
The manual reflects ongoing efforts aimed at developing the judicial system specializing in commercial and investment disputes and enhancing its integration with entities concerned with the business environment, thereby contributing to the clarity of procedures, ease of access to judicial information, and improving the experience of beneficiaries of court services.
The manual targets litigants, business owners, investors, lawyers, legal consultants, companies, and commercial establishments, in addition to judicial staff, researchers, and individuals interested in commercial and investment judicial procedures.
Electronic integration between the Investment and Trade Court platform and relevant government entities supports simplifying and accelerating procedures, as it allows electronically retrieving corporate data from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, along with data linked to parties from relevant government systems.
The manual indicates that the portal completes a series of procedures electronically without human intervention, including retrieving data for natural persons from the Civil Status at the Royal Oman Police, corporate data from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, and integration related to agents' data, as well as appeal, contestation, and enforcement files.
The manual includes a detailed explanation of the mechanism for electronically filing a lawsuit before the Investment and Trade Court, starting from logging into the platform, selecting the division, type of lawsuit, and main application, through entering the details of the parties to the lawsuit and attaching documents, and concluding with reviewing the application and sending it to the Case Preparation Office.
It also outlines the services provided electronically by the court, which include registering primary lawsuits, appeals, and contestations before the Commercial Division at the Supreme Court, registering applications, grievances, and stay of execution requests, depositing pleadings, memorandums, and documents, electronically receiving judgments and executive copies, reviewing hearing dates and decisions, and registering and tracking enforcement applications.
The Case Preparation Office carries out procedural and preparatory tasks for lawsuits and appeals, where a specialized team works 24/7 to examine lawsuits, verify party details and documents, ensure payment of fees, fulfill lawsuit requirements, and serve summonses to parties before electronically transferring the case file to the competent court or division.
The manual outlines, as a guide, the documents required according to the nature of the lawsuit, including investment cases, companies, checks, promissory notes, unfair competition, commercial sale, bankruptcy, transport, brokerage, insurance, supply, intellectual property, commercial agencies, loans, financing, commercial mortgages, arbitration, tax disputes, commercial guarantees, contracting, enforcement disputes, appeals, and contestations.
It also indicates several timeframes governing lawsuit procedures, as the defendant is served notice of the lawsuit within three business days at most after completing registration procedures, alongside specified periods for response and counter-response prior to transferring the case to the court.
According to the manual, a timeframe of 15 days is set for scheduling a hearing from the date of case referral, or 10 days for issuing a preliminary ruling, and 90 days for delivering judgment in the lawsuit once the hearing is set, with the possibility of adding 45 days for reasons evaluated by the court. Meanwhile, the deadline for an expert to submit a report is 60 days, which may be extended by 15 days upon request for serious reasons.
The manual clarifies that the appeal deadline is 15 days, and 7 days for rulings issued in urgent matters and grievances against petitions for orders, while the timeframe for contesting rulings of Appellate Divisions before the Commercial Division at the Supreme Court is 30 days.
The manual serves as an extension of the Supreme Judicial Council's efforts to develop judicial services and procedures and enhance their efficiency and clarity, in cooperation and integration with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, thereby contributing to building an integrated ecosystem that combines the efficiency of judicial procedures with facilitating business practice, and boosting confidence in the commercial and investment environment in the Sultanate of Oman.
