Need to reform Omani nationality law to align it with international standards

Development summary

Badr Al-Maskari and Abdulwahab Hamid’s article offers an analytical, critical and comparative reading of Omani nationality law under Royal Decree No. 17/2025. It examines legislative gaps concerning statelessness, gender-based discrimination and deprivation of nationality in the light of the Omani Basic Statute and international law, and sets the domestic framework against the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, CEDAW and the legislation applied in neighbouring Gulf Cooperation Council states. The authors also discuss the finality of administrative decisions in nationality disputes through the tension between Article 4 of the Nationality Law and Article 30 of the Basic Statute, and conclude with practical draft legislative proposals aimed at aligning national law with the global human-rights framework.