SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Zeyad Khoshaim, Abdullah Alajlan, Kamil Mehiz and Sarah Sedky, K&A
13.2 Ethical Codes The Saudi Arbitration Law does not specify mandatory ethical codes or professional standards for counsel and arbitrators. However, Saudi lawyers must adhere to the ethical rules set out in the Saudi Bar Association’s regula - tions, including the Rules of Professional Conduct for Lawyers, issued by the Minister of Justice Order No 3453 dated 24/02/1442 H (corresponding to 11 October 2020 AG). The Rules govern the ethical con - duct and professional standards that all Saudi lawyers must adhere to. Arbitrators and counsel generally fol - low widely accepted professional standards unless specific standards from their own jurisdiction apply. Additionally, the SCCA has established its own Code of Ethics, which governs the conduct of both counsel and arbitrators involved in SCCA proceedings. 13.3 Third-Party Funding The Saudi Arbitration Law does not explicitly address third-party funders. However, certain provisions indi - rectly impact them. For example, Article 16 of the Arbitration Law requires disclosure of any circum - stances that might reasonably affect an arbitrator’s impartiality or independence. This is relevant because a relationship between an arbitrator and a third-party funder could raise concerns about impartiality or inde - pendence. Moreover, the 2023 SCCA Arbitration Rules explicitly address third-party funding, indicating its recognition within the Saudi legal framework. Article 17 (6) of the 2023 SCCA Rules states: “Each party must promptly disclose to the Administra - tor, all the other parties, and the arbitrators the iden - tity of any non-party who has an economic interest in the arbitration’s outcome, including any third-party funder.” 13.4 Consolidation The Saudi Arbitration Law does not explicitly address the consolidation of separate arbitral proceedings. However, parties are free to agree on consolidation, either directly or by adopting institutional arbitration rules that permit it.
million (equivalent to USD232 million). Among these awards, 12 were foreign awards (representing 2% of the total awards and nearly 15% of their total value) issued in Lebanon, Morocco, South Korea, Switzer - land, the UAE and the UK. Additionally, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for Enforcement confirmed that no court decisions during this period refused to enforce a foreign arbitral award on grounds of public policy violations, including breaches of Shari’ah principles. More recently, according to the SCCA Country Report published in July 2026, 194 applications seeking the annulment of arbitral awards were filed between Janu - ary 2023 and June 2025. Of these, 89.7% were dis - missed, while only 1.55% resulted in annulment on the grounds of violations of Shari’ah principles or Saudi public policy. These statistics underscore a growing trend since the enactment of the 2012 Arbitration Law, showcas - ing Saudi Arabia’s progression towards becoming an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction. For the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia, one condition is that the award must not contradict Saudi Arabia’s public policy. According to Article 11/3 of the Enforcement Law Implement - ing Regulations issued by Ministerial Decision No 526 dated 20/09/1439H (corresponding to 5 June 2018 AG), public policy refers to Islamic Shari’ah principles as applicable in the Kingdom. In practice, enforcement judges usually refuse to enforce foreign arbitral awards only if a significant Shari’ah violation is found (eg, awards involving inter - est payments), which is generally rare as shown in the statistics mentioned above. 13. Miscellaneous 13.1 Class Action or Group Arbitration The Saudi Arbitration Law does not address class action arbitration or group arbitration.
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