The Role of Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre’s Rules in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Omani Arbitration Law

This Article presents a critical analysis of the 2022 Rules of the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre and their role in enhancing the effectiveness of the provisions of Omani Arbitration Law No. 47/1997. It examines how these rules address practical challenges that have arisen in the application of the law at certain stages of the arbitration process, particularly the arbitration agreement and the constitution of the arbitral tribunal. Furthermore, the article highlights the role of the Omani judiciary in bridging some legislative gaps within the field of arbitration. In the first section, the article examines issues related to the arbitration agreement under the Omani Arbitration Law, including the concept and significance of written agreements, as well as challenges in establishing the parties' intent to arbitrate, as interpreted by the Omani judiciary. It also analyzes the 2022 rules of the Oman Commercial Arbitration Center in addressing issues tied to arbitration agreements, the arbitrability of certain disputes, and the Omani judiciary's stance on these matters. The second section addresses the effectiveness of the Omani Arbitration Law's provisions in the formation of the arbitral tribunal and the protection of arbitrator's fees' by comparing Omani law with selected Arab and foreign legislations. This section discusses the role of the Center's rules in strengthening the law's effectiveness and the challenges that hinder this objective, as well as the role of these rules in bridging legislative gaps concerning arbitrator challenges and the termination of arbitrator's mission. The article concludes with several findings, the most significant of which is the need to amend certain provisions of the Omani Arbitration Law, as well as some of the rules of the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre. These amendments are necessary to prevent the misuse of such provisions as guerrilla tactics aimed at impeding arbitral proceedings or challenging the legitimacy of arbitral awards. The article also concludes with a series of recommendations aimed at leveraging insights from comparative legislation to improve the provisions of the Omani Arbitration Law and the rules of the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre, thereby enhancing their effectiveness. The article concludes with a series of recommendations aimed at leveraging comparative legislative insights to improve the provisions of the Omani Arbitration Law and the rules of the Oman Commercial Arbitration Center, thereby enhancing their overall effectiveness.