Advocates officially

The basic principle of the advocacy profession is to defend the rights of litigants and achieve justice. Since the legal profession is a humanitarian profession, having an important social role and a means of developing mankind and advancing its civilization, the Basic Statute of the State provided in Article (65) its regulation. The Royal Decree No. 108/96 promulgated the advocacy act, which provides in Article (1) thereof that “the advocacy profession is a free profession that participates in the achievement of justice and confirmation of the supremacy of law by securing the right of legal defense of litigants. Advocates shall practice their profession independently, obeying only their conscience and the provisions of law”.

Under the advocacy Profession act, the advocates Admission Committee has been constituted at the Ministry of Justice, under the chairmanship of the Ministry. The Committee has the competence to decide on applications for enrolment in advocates tables of all kinds. It also has the competence to apply the penalties stipulated by the law on defaulting advocates.

The Act has accorded advocates the freedom to practice the profession independently according to its provisions. On the other hand, the act imposes a number of duties to observe the prestige, reputation and the important role of the profession. The act permits non-Omanis to practice in the Sultanate in pursuance of Article (67), and permits advocates from Arab countries to plead before Omani courts in association with Omani advocates on reciprocity basis, by special permission from the president of the competent court in accordance with Article (68).

إThe legal profession in the Sultanate is in steady progress, and the advocates Affairs Department is the administrative apparatus of the said Committee. The number of Omani advocates is increasing steadily due to enactment of the laws regulating the rights and settling up an integrated judicial authority that establishes justice and restores rights to their owners. Hence, advocates have assured a very important role in assisting the judiciary in providing facts and helping litigants in pursuing their law suits on sound bases. Consequently, law offices have spread to all regions and wiliyats of the Sultanate following in examples of courts of all grades.

Omanis/Non-Omanis/Omani owned law firms, and law firms jointly owned by Omanis and non-Omanis

Process Steps

• Submitting the application along with the identity documents specified by the law.
• Registering the application in application record.
• Submitting the application to the Advocates Admission Committee.
• Payment of prescribed fees.
• Taking the legal oath.
• Registering in the enrolment record.
• Giving the professional license and card

List all forms/applications that need to be completed to apply for the service

• Application form for enrolment of a advocate in the general schedule.
• Application form for enrolment of a trainee advocates.
• Application form for enrolment of a advocate in the schedule of advocates before courts of first instance and their equal.
• Application form for enrolment in the schedule of advocates before courts of appeal and their equal.
• Application form for enrolment in the schedule of advocates before the Supreme Court.
• Application form for legal practice license for non-Omani.

Omanis

• University degree in Shari’a or Law.
• Birth certificate or age assessment certificate.
• Certificate of good conduct issued pursuant to an official letter from Advocates Affairs Department.
• Postgraduate degree, if any.
• Previous experience, if any.
  Completed application form for enrolment in the relevant schedule.
  Certificate from employer to prove the comparable work in relation to the applicant for enrolment in the first instance, appeal, or Supreme Court schedule.
• A letter form the training office for enrolment in the trainee schedule
• Personal photograph (4) 4*4

Non-Omanis

• Certified university degree.
• Enrolment certificate from bar association in home country (certified).
• Certificate of good conduct from home country (certified).
• A copy of passport.
• A copy of residence visa, if the Advocate is resident in the Sultanate.
  A letter from the sponsor applying for the license, stating the grade of the required license (stamped original).
• Personal photograph (4) 4*4

Omanis

First: Enrolment in general schedule
The applicant for enrolment in the general is required to

• Be an Omani national.
• Be of at least, twenty years of age, and legally competent.
• Have obtained a degree in Shair’a or law from a recognized university of higher institute.
• Be of good reputation, and have not been convicted of a crime or offence prejudicial to honesty or honor, or dismissed from his post or profession for such reasons, unless he has been rehabilitated.

Second: Enrolment in the schedule of trainee advocates

• The applicant shall be enrolled in the trainee advocates schedule if he does not meet the requirements for enrolment in other schedules.
• Trainee period is two years is to be reduced to one year for holders of an MA or a higher qualification in Shari’a or law.
• A trainee lawyer shall practice the profession under the name of the lawyer he joined his office and under his supervision. He shall not open in his own name throughout the training period.

Third: Enrolment in the schedule of advocates before courts of first instance and their equal

• For enrolment in the schedule of advocates before courts of first instance, the lawyer is required to have spent, without interpretation, the training period provided for in Article (15) of this law.
• He must attaché with his application, a certificate from the lawyer he spent the training period in his office confirming that he has completed the training efficiently, and stating officially the lawsuits he might have attended and copies of the pleadings he prepared or contributed in their preparation, certified by the lawyer in whose office he has spent the training period..
• A person who has worked in jobs comparable to the legal profession for not less than three years, may be enrolled directly in the schedule of advocates before courts of first instance and their equal .

Fourth: Enrolment in the schedule of advocates before courts of first instance and their equal

• To be enrolled in the schedule of advocates before courts of appeal, the lawyer must have been practicing for at least five years from the date of his enrolment in the schedule of advocates before courts of first instance and their equal, or has worked in jobs comparable to the legal profession for at least eight years. Practicing the legal profession shall be proved by submitting an official statement of the lawsuits he has prosecuted, copies of his pleadings, judicial papers, legal opinions or the contracts he might have prepared

Fifth: Enrolment in the schedule of lawyer before the Supreme court

To enroll in the schedule of advocates before the Supreme Court, a advocates must be one of the following categories

• Lawyer before courts of appeal who have actually spent at least seven years practicing before such courts.
• Professors of Shari’a and law.
• Former judges or public prosecutors who have remained in office, at least, ten years.
• Those who have occupied jobs comparable to the legal profession for, at least, fifteen years.

Non-Omanis

• Must have spent, at least, ten years of practice from the date of his obtaining the license according to the applicable legal procedures.
• Must have worked in the judiciary or public prosecution for the same period provided for in (A) above. The said period shall be confirmed by documents certified by competent authorities in the home country.
• Pleading before the Supreme Court requires an experience in the legal profession of not less than fifteen years.

Full Year

Decisions shall be issued within one month from the date of submission of the application