Legal Framework
From The Report: Qatar 2025
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Qatar is modernising its legal framework to support economic diversification and attract foreign investment. Key reforms include allowing 100% foreign ownership in most sectors, streamlining company laws, enhancing corporate governance, and strengthening dispute resolution through institutions like the Qatar International Court. Special zones like the Qatar Financial Centre and Qatar Free Zone offer investor-friendly environments with tax benefits and flexible regulations. Real estate laws now permit foreign ownership with residency incentives, and new enforcement laws improve legal certainty and contract execution.

This chapter contains a viewpoint with Essa Mohammed Al Sulaiti, Founder and Chairman, Essa Al Sulaiti Law Firm.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Legislative evolution: Qatar is creating an investor-friendly environment that fosters growth and aligns with global norms and best practices
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Qatar’s main domestic legal structure is rooted in a distinctive combination of civil law foundations and Islamic sharia principles, with statutes codified across multiple domains, including commerce, foreign investment, labour relations and administrative sectors. In recent years, the country has embarked on a comprehensive programme of legal transformation aimed at modernising its regulatory landscape in support of long-term diversification objectives, as outlined in the Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030 economic framework. These initiatives have prioritised the simplification of business procedures, the facilitation of international capital…

Analysis

Steady hand: Unique legal system offers familiarity to foreign investors
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Qatar’s legal system is shaped by a unique blend of Islamic principles, civil law traditions, and modern legislative reforms that support economic growth and aligning with international norms. The legal foundation of Qatar is established by the Permanent Constitution of the State of Qatar, which affirms the supremacy of the constitution as the highest source of law. Article 1 designates sharia as the principal source of legislation, and while sharia influences all areas of law, its application is most directly seen in family and criminal law. For example, Islamic prohibitions on riba (interest) remain a significant feature of financial and lending…

Viewpoint

Regulatory reform: Essa Mohammed Al Sulaiti, Founder and Chairman, Essa Al Sulaiti Law Firm, on reforms and attracting foreign investment
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Qatar’s commitment to economic diversification and its ambition to become a regional centre for international business have been facilitated by a series of legal reforms that are reshaping the country’s investment landscape. At the heart of this transformation is Law No. 1 of 2019 on Regulating Non-Qatari Capital Investment in Economic Activity, a landmark law that permits 100% foreign ownership in a range of sectors. This reform has removed a historical barrier to foreign participation in the…