The members of Shura Council use many parliamentary tools to carry out their auditing competences in many issues related to the executive branch of the government. These tools are:

1- The Urgent Statement:

Each member can ask in writing from the Chairman, at enough time before that set of the session, to present a statement concerning an urgent and important matter related to the welfare of the nation. He/she shall briefly explain the matter and the reasons for presenting it before the Council. The Chairman shall present the requests to the Council before proceeding to the agenda, for voting on them without discussion. If the majority of those present approves it, the Chairman shall permit the applicants to deliver their statements, without discussion, within a period not exceeding ten minutes for each statement. The urgent statement shall not be related to a subject presented to the Committees or a bill under consideration by the Council.

2- Cognizance Request:

• Each member can ask for informing the government about an urgent issue which falls within the competence of the addressed party, and request the government to inform the Council about data or information which falls within its competences and will assist in practicing them.
  The request shall be submitted in writing to the Chairman who will in turn submit it to the Bureau which will decide on submitting it to the concerned Committee to give opinion or the government for a response. The member shall be informed about the decision of the Bureau. The member whose request has been rejected may explain his objection before the Council.
• The Chairman shall refer the reply of the government to the member immediately. If the member requests discussion of the subject in writing, the Bureau shall include it in the agenda of the earliest possible session, upon agreement with the government. Requests for cognizance shall be merged if they are dealing with the same issue. The representative of the government shall present its reply upon request, then the member who submitted the request takes the floor. The Chairman can permit one member to speak in favor and another against the issue before proceeding to the agenda.

3- Questions:

• The member shall have the right to put forward questions to the ministers or those of their status. The question shall be asked only by one member to one minister.
• In applying the provisions of these regulations, a question means an inquiry to be made by a member on a matter he is not aware of, or about an incident he has come to know to ascertain its occurrence, or to ask about the intention of the government on an issue.
• The question shall be clearly and briefly written and duly signed by the member, and shall be confined to the matters under inquiry without giving opinion or comments on them, unless it is related to a personal interest or matter, and it shall not violate the provisions of the Basic Statute of the State, or harm the public welfare. The question shall not contain names of persons or touch on their personal affairs or breach a matter under consideration by the judiciary.
• The member shall be informed, in agreement with the concerned minister, about rejection of his question or its inclusion in the agenda of the earliest possible session. The member can insist on his question upon rejection and then it shall be referred to the Council at the earliest possible session to examine it without discussion. The member can explain his request to the Council before taking opinion on it.
• The minister shall reply to the question at the session dedicated for its consideration, and can ask for postponement for a compelling reason, and then can authorize a high ranking official of the ministry to respond to the question before the Council.
• Upon putting the question forward, the minister shall reply to it, then the member shall make a brief comment. The Chairman can permit one member to speak in favor and another against the issue before presenting it to the Council upon proceeding to the agenda, or referring it to the concerned committee to study and prepare a report on it, by the majority of the present members.

4- Wishes:

• Each member can request the approval of the Council on expressing a wish to the government concerning promotion of services and reinforcement of development in a note to be submitted to the Chairman, giving reasons for the wish, and aspects of its realization for the public welfare.
• The Bureau shall decide referral of the subject to the concerned committee to study and submit a report on it, and shall inform the Council about the request at the next session. In case of urgency, the Bureau can present the request directly to the Council.
• The Bureau can keep the request which does not meet the said stipulated conditions and inform the member about this. The member whose request has been rejected may explain his objection before the Council.
• Upon discussion of the request, the member who presented it shall briefly point out justifications for submitting it. The Chairman can permit one member to speak in favor and another against the issue before taking opinion of the Council on it. The Council shall approve the wish by the majority of the present members.
• The government shall be informed about what the Council has reached on the wish to implement it within the framework of its general policies. If it is difficult to do so, the government shall inform the Council about the reasons.

5- Fact Finding Committee:

• The Council shall have the right to form a fact finding committee or assign one of its Committees within its competences, as per a request signed by at least ten members.
• The Chairman shall submit the proposal of the Council on the formation of the Committee, the subjects it will check, and duration of its work. The Decision shall be passed by the majority of the present members.
• Following approval of the Bureau, the committee shall take all necessary measures to obtain the data and documents to ascertain the truth, including visits or investigations or listening to testimony. The concerned authorities shall have to cooperate with the committee and enable it to obtain what it requires.
• The committee shall present its report and select its reporter. The report shall be included for discussion at the earliest possible session.
• The Council shall issue its decision on the report of the committee by the majority of its present members, and take appropriate measures to this effect.
• If the session concludes before taking a decision on the report, the Council shall resume discussion as from the beginning of the next session.

6- Requests for Discussion:

• As per a written request signed by five members, a public issue which falls within the competences of the Council may be put forward for deliberation and exchange of views with a minister or those of his status. All the members can participate in the deliberations and asking verbal questions to the minister. The Chairman can close the discussion if he deems that it has been fulfilled and the Council can issue, from an objective perspective, what it deems as appropriate to this effect. The minister shall have priority to speak whenever he asks for that.
• The Chairman shall inform the minister about the request for discussion, and include it in the agenda of a session on a subsequent date to that of sending the invitation by at least one week. The concerned minister can ask for postponement of its consideration to the next session.
• The request shall be dropped if it has been withdrawn by those who submitted it at least 48 hours before the session dedicated for its consideration, unless a number of the members, completing the said number, stick to it, or the number of its supporters during its consideration becomes less than five, or it has been submitted during the last week of the session, and shall be dropped upon expiry of the term of the Council.

7- The Interpellation:

• Fifteen members, at least, may request interpellation of one of the services ministers on issues related to breaching their prerogatives in violation of the law.
• The request for interpellation shall be submitted to the Chairman, indicating the subject of the interpellation along with an explanatory note containing details of issues under interpellation, the main points and findings of the interpellation, the reasons on which the interpellation is based, the aspect of violation of the law related to the person subject to the interpellation, and the evidences on which the interpellators rely.
  It shall not be possible to request interpellation on a matter already settled by the Council during the same session.
• The Chairman shall refer the request to the Bureau to check it and give its opinion on the extent of meeting the conditions stipulated as per the provisions of Article 58 [bis 43] of the Basic Statute of the State.
• In case of reservation of the office toward the request, the Chairman shall invite its applicants to a joint meeting with the Bureau within a period not exceeding a week from the date of reservation for consultation to this effect. If they insist on the request, the Chairman shall send it to the concerned minister and set a date, in agreement with the government, for its discussion within a period not exceeding fifteen days as from sending the request. The minister can reply to the request in writing. A copy shall be forwarded to each member who has signed the request.
• The applicants may withdraw the request or be satisfied with the written reply of the minister 48 forty-eight hours before the session dedicated for its consideration.
• The interpellation shall be dropped if one of the applicants has withdrawn or the person who is concerned with the interpellation has lost his capacity, or upon expiry of the membership of one of the applicants for any reason, unless another member sticks to it, provided that the number of interpellators shall not be less than fifteen members.
• The Chairman shall ask the applicants at the session dedicated for discussion of the interpellation to select their representative to explain the interpellation within half an hour, then listen to the reply of the minister and a brief commentary by one of the applicants. The Chairman can permit one member to speak in favor and another against the request before closing the discussion.
• Following the closure of discussion, the Council shall decide by the majority of its members either to be satisfied with the response of the minister and proceed to the agenda or refer the subject to the concerned committee to prepare a report on the outcome of the interpellation to be examined by the Council in its next session. A decision to this effect shall be taken by the majority of its members.
• The Chairman shall immediately submit the outcome of the interpellation to His Majesty the Sultan and inform the Council about that in the next session.
• A request of interpellation shall not be submitted during the last week of the session. If the session concludes before the Council takes a decision to this effect, it shall continue to examine it in the next session, if at least fifteen members, among those who have submitted it, stick to it. The request shall be dropped by the expiry of the term of the Council.
• If the minister is absent from the session dedicated for reviewing the interpellation, it shall be postponed to a session in the next week. If the minister does not turn up, the Council shall discuss the interpellation and take a decision to this effect by the majority of its members.

8- Discussion of Ministerial Statements

The Council shall determine, at the beginning of the annual session, the schedule of the ministerial statements to be delivered during the session and their focal points of discussion, as per a joint proposal of the Bureau and the Heads of the Standing Committees. The Cabinet of Ministers shall be informed, along with specification of the components and focal points of the statement, or the sector which concerns the statement. The following shall be taken into consideration in the session of the Council during which ministerial statements are to be delivered:

• Seven minutes, at most, shall be dedicated to each member for asking questions and three minutes for commentary.
• The statement shall be distributed to the members at least two weeks before the session to give ample time for its perusal.
• The questions of the members shall be specific, direct and in conformity with the nature of the work of the minister or the government official. The minister or the government official can reply in writing subsequently to the questions for which they do not have enough information during the session.

• Competences of Departments
• Competences of the Standing Committees
• Oman Council

Sections