Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05MUSCAT930
2005-06-11 02:29:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Muscat
Cable title:  

TAKING SHARIA OUT OF LAW SCHOOL?

Tags:  SCUL KMPI KISL PGOV ECON MU 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000930 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR NEA/PI, NEA/ARPI
ABU DHABI FOR MEPI
USDOC FOR JAMES FILPI, OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SCUL KMPI KISL PGOV ECON MU
SUBJECT: TAKING SHARIA OUT OF LAW SCHOOL?


-------
Summary
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000930

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR NEA/PI, NEA/ARPI
ABU DHABI FOR MEPI
USDOC FOR JAMES FILPI, OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SCUL KMPI KISL PGOV ECON MU
SUBJECT: TAKING SHARIA OUT OF LAW SCHOOL?


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Summary
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1. (SBU) The Dean of the College of Sharia and Law has
confirmed rumors that the government will split up his
institution, folding the law college into Sultan Qaboos
University while the Sharia students will be sent to a
religious institute. While the Dean expects the
organizational shift to be accompanied by a new emphasis in
the law curriculum on modern commercial law, with the help of
the U.S Department of Commerce, a leading law practitioner
cautions that a background in Sharia remains essential for
lawyers in Oman. Public reactions to the rumors largely
voice concern on the government's move away from Islamic
education. End summary.

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A Coming Split
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2. (SBU) Rumors have persisted for weeks on the local
Internet message boards about the dissolution of the College
of Sharia and Law, Oman's most prominent training institution
for lawyers and judges. Dr. Mubarak al-Rashdi (protect),
Dean of the College and a participant in 2004 in Southern
Methodist University's Rule of Law Forum, confirmed the
rumors in a recent meeting with Embassy staff. Although not
yet made public, the Higher Education Council, chaired by
Minister of the Diwan of the Royal Court Sayyid Ali
al-Busaidi, has decided to split the college in two as part
of an effort to de-emphasize Sharia law education. The
current college buildings will be devoted entirely to law
students, and will come under the umbrella of Sultan Qaboos
University (SQU),Oman's leading public university. The
Sharia students will be transferred to the Institute of
Sharia Studies, run by the Royal Diwan. Among other things,
it means the law students will graduate with university
degrees, while the Sharia students will still only be awarded
a diploma.

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Following the U.S. Model?
--------------


3. (SBU) Dr. Mubarak indicated that the general expectation
is that the new law school will teach commercial, private and
public law. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Commerce's
Commercial Law Development Program has been working closely
with the College on developing a new curriculum. Dr. Mubarak
and two other College officials traveled to Washington and
Kansas earlier this year at CLDP's behest, and were so
impressed with the University of Kansas' law school that they
decided to emulate the U.S. system rather than the Australian
model they had previously decided to copy.

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Sharia Not Without Supporters
--------------


4. (SBU) Said al-Shahry (protect),chairman of the Majlis
al-Shura (Consultative Council) Legal Affairs Committee and
head of one of Oman's largest private law firms, has somewhat
different expectations. Having received an education in both
Sharia and law at Ain Shams University (Egypt),al-Shahry
told us on June 6 that having a Sharia background is
essential to practicing law in Oman, even in the commercial
realm in which his firm almost exclusively operates. Having
worked for the past two years as a guest lecturer in law at
Sultan Qaboos University, he predicted that Sharia would
remain at least a part of the law school curriculum. He
nevertheless strongly praised the decision to bring the law
college under SQU's aegis, saying it will have a strongly
beneficial impact to both the College and the University.


5. (U) Reactions on the Internet message board Al-Sablah,
however, were less effusive. Many respondents charged that
it is a blatant attempt by the government to curb Islamic
education or even to prevent citizens from "learning their
rights." (Note: Some Omanis remain upset at the Education
Ministry's abrupt decision in 2004 to change the "Islamic
Studies" curriculum in grades 11 and 12 to "Islamic Culture."
End note.) A few voices, however, speculated that the
government's move was intended to limit the number of
unemployed Sharia school graduates in the labor market.

--------------
Comment


6. (SBU) The break-up of the College of Sharia and Law, once
announced, may either usher in a major reform of the law
school curriculum or just represent an organizational
restructuring to bring the isolated college under university
administration. There have been widespread discussions among
legal and business professionals, particularly following
Oman's 2000 accession to the WTO and its active efforts to
adopt Free Trade Agreements with the U.S. and other states,
on the need for an Omani legal framework steeped in the
globalized economy. It is therefore difficult to believe
that Oman would pass up this golden opportunity to effect a
paradigm shift in the way they educate their legal and
judicial class. That said, Oman's Personal Status Law,
effecting family law, inheritance and other critical social
issues, remains founded on Sharia.
BALTIMORE