The Supreme Committee to Combat Covid-19 between Constitutional Basis and Legitimacy of Its procedures in Oman Sultunate

Abstract

Coronavirus pandemic (Covid 19) is a worldwide one as declared by World Health Organization (WHO). It is one of the exceptional unexpected pandemics for which countries shoulder moral and constitutional responsibilities. Therefore, they have to confront it for being very dangerous and threatens the countries’ existence, in addition to peace, stability, and health of society. This can be done through enacting wide range exceptional legislations and procedures which would have never been taken in ordinary circumstances because they could have affected individual rights and freedoms. Such legislations and procedures grant the executive authority broad powers to ignore regular laws which prevent restricting freedom to move, travel ban, and shutdowns to all activities.

Unlike other countries, the Sultunate of Oman didn’t resort to such exceptional regulations, but formed a supreme committee to detect a mechanism in order to deal with the spread of coronavirus (covid 19) though it could have imposed emergency law, but it didn’t. What is this committee? What are its legislative or constitutional foundations? What are its procedures?