Unified
Manual Prepared for Litigation Procedures before Investment, Trade Court

Muscat,
21 Sep 2026 (ONA) — 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.

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.

—Ends/AG