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Some basics of defamation, everyone should know!

1.     Defamation is a form of tort which affects the reputation of a person. For an statement to be considered as defamatory, one of the condition must be fulfilled as follows, (i) to expose the plaintiff to hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy; or (ii) tends to injure the plaintiff in his profession or trade; or (iii) to cause the esteem, respect, goodwill or confidence in which a person is held or to excite adverse, derogatory or unpleasant feelings or opinions against him. 2.     There are two types of defamation, those are, (i) libel; and (ii) slander. Libel is a defamation in written form. In contrast, slander is a false spoken statement to injure the reputation of other. 3.     To establish a tort of libel, three conditions must be fulfilled, those are, (I) a false statement has been made against plaintiff; (ii) it must be in any permanent form; and (iii) it has lowered the plaintiff in the esteem of others or the he is shunned by the society. 4.     To establish a
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6 things you should know about the Omani Arbitration Law!

1. The arbitration law of the Sultanate of Oman is contained in the Omani Arbitration Law, (Royal Decree 47/97 as amended (the law); that is broadly in line with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNICITRAL) Model. 2. Oman has no domestic arbitration body; principally the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Commercial Arbitration Centre (GCCCAC) is the body recognized in the Sultanate. 3. Under the Omani law parties are free to choose the arbitration dispute resolution process. An agreement between the parties must have the provisions of arbitration in wiring (initially or even at later stage) if they wish to resolve their matter via arbitration in case of any dispute. 4. In the Sultanate, arbitration is an efficient method to dispute resolution, a dispute via arbitration in Oman can be resolved as soon as within 12 months in contrast to court proceedings, which may stretch any matter for a longer period of time. 5. Factually, the Omani arbitration award has never bee

The six major non-corporate cases of 'Bankruptcy tourism' in the UK

 1.  Skjevesland v Geveran Trading Co Ltd (No.4) [2002] EWHC 2898 (Ch) The case was about a Swiss banker,  (1)  who had ordinary residence in the UK, because he resided there for 92 days a year; (2)  he had a flat in London to satisfy the fact that he had a place of residence in the UK;  (3) however, his 90% of the economic interests were in Switzerland.  It was held that his ‘Centre of main interest’ (COMI) is outside EU, and the Regulation was not applicable. 2. Staubitz-Schreiber, Re  (C-1/04) [2006] ECR I-701 It was upheld by the European Court of Justice that the COMI to be determined at the time when the debtor lodges a petition for insolvency proceedings and not after that. Therefore, once jurisdiction is established, it is unlikely for a debtors to change COMI.  3. Stojevic v Official Receiver [2007] BPIR 141 It was held that the principle COMI of a natural person is the place where he has his habitual residence. An indirect economic interest of the debtor

Bankruptcy Tourism & UK

The term ‘bankruptcy’, defined as a procedure by which debtors obtain financial relief and undergo a judicially supervised liquidation of the debtor's assets for the benefit of creditors. It is also known as a state of a person who has been adjudged by a court to be insolvent. Then the court orders the compulsory administration of a bankrupt’s affair so that his assets can be fairly distributed among his creditors. Whereas, the term ‘Bankruptcy Tourism’ refers to a process by which both, corporation and individuals (more oftenly foreign) publicize their insolvency in the jurisdiction of their choice. [1] Alternatively, the terminology is also known as ‘forum shopping’. [2] The law of insolvency varies country wise. Because of that the debtors wish to choose the place of their choice to declare their bankruptcy aiming to take advantage of the most lenient law of insolvency. By doing so they abuse the legal system of that country and get rid of the creditors.    In particul

Oman's oil deficit - need to diversify

The Sultanate of Oman shares borders with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen; the country also shares marine borders with Iran and Pakistan. Geographically, it is held on the mouth of Persian Gulf; besides, the Sultanate is also the second largest territory in the Arabian Peninsula. Thus, its physical location and peaceful political situation attract to invest in Oman and offer a convenient place to enhance trade and business relations. It contrast to the excellent opportunities in trade and business. Oman is an oil rich monarchy, which heavy rely on its hydrocarbon resources, mainly oil and gas. Historically, the first ever oil discovery was made in 1956. Later, the first commercial oil discovery was achieved in 1962 and thus, the first ever export of oil cargo was made in 1967. It was accounted that by 2009, in Oman there were more than 135 oil producing fields, which rapidly reached the mark of 162 by 2013. According to the Ministry of Finance, Oman, in the year of 20

Diplomatic immunity and head of states

The lack of imputation of criminal responsibility itself cannot preclude the development of international criminal responsibility. Nor in any sense it is accepted for a head of state to commit  any act in his personal capacity for personal gain or/and, as per orders received by the sending state, which leads to crime. Parallel to other perpetrators, head of states also liable under the international criminal responsibility without any defence when they face any tribunals of war against humanity. [1] For example, In the Rainbow Warrior case, it was concluded that if an action performed by a diplomatic agent in a functional capacity; and at the same time is a serious crime which breaches both, the receiving state’s national laws and the public international law. Then the diplomatic agent can be held personally liable for the actions regardless of whether they were ordered to do so by his sovereign state. [2] The official position of defendants, whether as Heads of State or resp

Types of abuses in diplomatic immunity (part I)

Abuses a-  Espionage The term espionage means ‘obtaining or passing on to an enemy [the] information that might prejudice the safety or interest of the state or [the same to] be useful to an enemy’. [1] In other words it refers to ‘t he practice of using spies to collect information about what another government or company is doing or plans to do’. [2] In international realm, based on mutual understanding between two counties, the receiving state may at any time and without giving any explanation, may terminate the diplomatic staff of sending state. In response, the sending state has to recall the concerned person thus terminated. [3]  However historically, it is very unusual to see the withdrawal of a diplomatic staff from the office of receiving state, when both states are in good relations. For example, in June 1988, Britain asked an Israeli agent to leave the country, when it found that the Israeli secret service agency Mossad, ran a double agent intelligence service t