Riyadh: Strengthening ties with the arbitration community and business sectors at the regional and international levels, the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) held an international symposium at Dubai Arbitration Week in partnership with Clyde & Co., DLA Piper, Eversheds Sutherland, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith Freehills, and Reed Smith. The event featured Saudi Deputy Ministers from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Commerce. A large number of business leaders, general counsels, and lawyers attended the symposium for a discussion of the latest developments and the future of the commercial arbitration industry in Saudi Arabia and the region.
During the symposium, SCCA revealed the key findings of its comprehensive, analytical study of 540 published court judgments issued by the Appeal Courts between 2017–2021. The findings show that the judiciary is firmly committed to alignment with international best practices and fostering an environment in Saudi Arabia that is supportive of and friendly to arbitration. Manifestations of this include the highly effective enforcement of arbitral awards and a low nullification rate regarding arbitral awards – of the 107 motions to annul an arbitral award identified in this batch only 6% were successful, thus giving parties greater confidence in arbitral awards and their enforcement. Importantly, this rate is consistent – if not lower – compared to those of the most arbitration-friendly countries in the world.
The study also demonstrated the Saudi judiciary has arrived at a stable interpretation of contraventions of Islamic law (“Shari’ah”) and Public Policy – specifically, being limited to those which clearly violate the broad rules of Shari’ah. The study found 13 reasons that parties cited as grounds for challenging arbitral awards on the basis of violation of Shari’ah and Public Policy, and the courts rejected all but three of those grounds. These findings were a welcome development met with great enthusiasm by the international audience assembled in Dubai.
H.E. Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Duhaim, the Deputy Minister of Commerce for Policies and Regulations, and H.E. Mr. Sulaiman Al-Olayan, the Deputy assistant Minister of Justice for Court Affairs and Supervisor of the Conciliation Center, both spoke at the symposium. They provided technical briefings on many of the noteworthy legislative, regulatory, and judicial reforms implemented by the Saudi Government to support the arbitration industry, enhance its efficiency, and improve the services available to the business and financial sectors – all to a clearly interested and engaged audience of legal and ADR professionals.
H.E. Dr. Walid Bin Sulaiman Abanumay, the Chairman of the SCCA Board of Directors, and Dr. Hamed Bin Hassan Merah, SCCA’s CEO, also spoke at the symposium. They highlighted the latest accomplishments and significant developments in the SCCA’s services for its clients in the local and international business sectors.
The symposium also included a session where six leaders from the sponsoring law firms talked about the reality and future of arbitration in Saudi Arabia and the region.
Dr. Abanumay concluded on this strategic initiative: “Our symposium takes place in the context of the SCCA’s outreach activities to better inform business sectors and the legal communities, both regionally and internationally, of the dramatic progress made by Saudi Arabia in facilitating business and attracting investment. It cements the SCCA’s international standing when it comes to providing ADR services that are consistent with ADR industry standards and best practices. All this, while SCCA continues its pursuit of its strategy to be the preferred arbitration center in the region by 2030.”
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© Press Release 2021
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