Legislation and legitimation in Oman: the Basic Law

Contenu

Titre

Legislation and legitimation in Oman: the Basic Law

Créateur

Siegfried, Nikolaus Voir tous les contenus avec cette valeur

Date

2000

Dans

Islamic Law and Society Voir tous les contenus avec cette valeur

Résumé

When Sultan Qabus issued Decree 101 on November 6, 1996, Oman was the last Arab country to implement a constitutional document. However, the political impact of this document is controversial: Whereas some consider the Basic Law a step towards democratization, others see merely a continuation of traditional policies. In this article I investigate the innovative potential of the Basic Law. Against the background of Omani and regional history and European and Islamic constitutional thought, I review the Decree with regard to authority and legitimation. I suggest that the law is mainly symbolic in character. It exploits tribal and Islamic concepts to create a historically unfounded notion of a homogeneous state. The civil liberties it grants do not extend to the public sphere. I conclude that Oman's Basic Law does nothing more than to freeze the status quo, according to which the Sultan remains the only recognized authority in the state.

Langue

eng

volume

7

numéro

3

pages

359-397

Titre abrégé

Islam Law Soc

LEGISLATION AND LEGITIMATION IN OMAN

doi

10.1163/156851900507689

issn

0928-9380, 1568-5195

uri

https://brill.com/view/journals/ils/7/3/article-p359_4.xml

Siegfried, Nikolaus, “Legislation and legitimation in Oman: the Basic Law”, 2000, bibliographie, consulté le 8 septembre 2024, https://ibadica.org/s/bibliographie/item/2354