Ministerial Decisions

Ministerial Decision No. 261/2016 Amending Ministerial Decision No. 1020/2009 (on rights of audience for Omani and non-Omani lawyers). This decision extends the period within which non-Omani lawyers may have a right of audience before the Appeal Courts and Supreme Court to 31 December 2020. Issued on 22 December 2016. Effective from 1 January 2017

Royal Orders Conferring Honours

Order conferring the Sultan Qaboos Award for Culture, Science, Arts and Literature (First Class) to HE Dr. Hamadoun Touré, former Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in recognition of his efforts in the service of the ITU and the achievement of its objectives. Issued on 7 December 2016.

Ministerial Decisions

Ministerial Decisions

Ministerial Decision No. 212/2016 Issuing the Regulations on cultural initiatives Issued on 5 December 2016. Effective from the day after its publication date

Ministerial Decision No. 238/2016 Determining the fees for enrolment in the table of lawyers Issued on 1 December 2016. Effective from the day after its publication date

Preferred maritime liens can raise challenging issues during maritime disputes—especially during bankruptcy. Creditors may encounter problems when filing for seizure due to their unique nature, with venue is becoming a determining factor.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has given a preliminary ruling on when a security holder has "possession or…control" of financial collateral for the purposes of Directive 2002/47 on financial collateral arrangements. From an English law perspective, this is particularly relevant for anyone considering whether a floating charge over financial collateral qualifies as a security financial collateral arrangement (or SFCA).

Background – UK implementation and interpretation

On 23 September the Insolvency Service published responses to its "Review of the Corporate Insolvency Framework consultation" which in May had suggested four key changes to the UK’s corporate insolvency regime:

On December 10, 2016, Ontario’s Forfeited Corporate Property Act, 2015 (the FCPA), comes into force,1 along with related amendments to the Ontario Business Corporations Act (the OBCA).

An insolvent enterprise incorporated in Mainland China (“PRC”) or its creditors (“Applicant”) may institute a bankruptcy proceeding against the insolvent enterprise under the PRC Enterprise Bankruptcy Law (“Bankruptcy Law”) by the filing of a bankruptcy petition. There have long been complaints by industry practitioners that PRC courts are reluctant to register bankruptcy petitions.

任何在中国内地（“”）注册成立的企业，如不能清偿到期债务，并且资产不足以清偿全部债务或者明显缺乏清偿能力的，可由该企业或其债权人（“”）提交破产申请，继而根据《中华人民共和国企业破产法》（“《破产法》”）对该企业发起破产法律程序。但是，长期以来，备受业内人士诟病的是，中国法院迟迟未对破产申请实施立案登记制度。在此背景下，最高人民法院（“”）于2016年7月颁布指导通知[1]（“《2016年最高院通知》”），旨在简化和规范登记破产案件的立案受理工作。

最高院通知：优化立案程序

The High Court this afternoon unanimously dismissed Clive Palmer and Ian Ferguson's challenge to the constitutional validity of section 596A of the Corporations Act.

This means that a liquidator's power to publicly examine and compel the production of documents remains intact and removes any doubt about the powers of liquidators under section 596A of the Corporations Act.

Arguments made by Clive Palmer and Ian Ferguson