SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Andreas Haberbeck, Derayah LLPC
Article 11 of the Enforcement Regulation, 2012, and its Implementing Regulations set out the rules for the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards, including the following: • the award must be final and unappealable; • there must not have been any action pending before a Saudi Arabian court in respect of the same issues; • the defendant was summoned to attend, was properly represented and was put in a position to defend themselves; and • the award does not conflict with Islamic law. 14. Outlook 14.1 Proposals for Dispute Resolution Reform Dispute resolution in Saudi Arabia has undergone significant changes, beginning with the reform of the court system initiated in 2007, followed by the intro- duction of the Arbitration Regulation and Enforcement Regulation in 2012.
More recently, in the last five years, court proceed- ings (and government services generally) have gradu- ally been moved to digital platforms. Comprehensive new laws covering civil transactions and evidence are being prepared and are expected to be enacted in the near future. 14.2 Growth Areas Construction disputes have increased in recent years, and the trend is likely to continue. Previously, the big- gest projects tended to be under contracts with min- istries or other government agencies, which had to be litigated before the Administrative Court. In recent years, major projects have been initiated by compa- nies, including state-owned companies, with dispute resolution through arbitration.
989 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook