Oman acceeds to the Hague Convention

A newsletter from SMAS-IP brings news that Oman has acceded to the Hague Convention abolishing the requirements of legalisation of foreign public documents. The Sultanate Decree No. 47/2009 comes in to force on 30 January 2012. As a result documents from other states who have acceded to the Convention will require only an Apostille with no need for legalisation to the Omani Consulate in the country of execution.

This part of the Empty Quarter heartily welcomes any move which reduces the administrative burden on rights holders. The requirement for documents to be notarised, legalised, and sometimes re-legalised is burdensome, time-consuming and expensive. In some countries the process can take weeks rather than days. Acceding to the Convention is clearly a matter for each sovereign nation. This part of the Empty Quarter hopes that this move by the Sultanate of Oman will be followed by other members of the GCC and elsewhere across the wider region.