SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Saud AlRomi, Mostafa Ihab and Saleh Elbadry, Mohammed AlDhabaan & Partners Eversheds Sutherland
Personal Sanctions Against the Debtor Where the debtor fails to comply within five days, the judge, under Article 46 of the Enforcement Law, may order a travel ban, forced asset disclosure and bars on financial institutions dealing with the debtor. Where enforcement requires a personal act and the debtor refuses, the judge may impose daily fines up to SAR10,000 under Article 69. Concealment, false statements or refusal to disclose assets carries up to seven years’ imprisonment under Article 88. 5.2 Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Conditions Under Article 11 of the Enforcement Law, without prej - udice to treaties and agreements, a foreign judgment may only be enforced on the basis of reciprocity and subject to all of the following conditions being met: • Saudi courts have no jurisdiction over the dispute and the foreign court had jurisdiction under appli - cable rules; • the parties were properly summoned and afforded the right to defend themselves; • the judgment is final under the law of the issuing court; • the judgment does not conflict with any Saudi court judgment on the same matter; and • the judgment does not conflict with public order in the Kingdom – which means the provisions of Sharia under Article 11.3 of the Enforcement Law Regulations. The same conditions apply to foreign arbitral awards under Article 12 of the Enforcement Law. Procedure Under Article 14 of the Enforcement Law, the foreign judgment is presented to the Enforcement Court, which ascertains that the conditions are fulfilled and affixes the enforcement seal. The applicant must sub - mit an official copy of the judgment and service of process documents, an attestation that it is final and enforceable, and – in the case of a default judgment – proof that the defendant was duly notified under Arti - cle 11.1 of the Enforcement Law Regulations. Foreign official documents must be attested by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice and translated into Ara - bic. The burden of proving reciprocity lies with the
applicant under Article 11.6 of the Enforcement Law Regulations.
6. Privileges 6.1 Invoking the Privilege Against Self- Incrimination Saudi law does not expressly provide for a privilege against self-incrimination as understood in common law jurisdictions. However, under Articles 101 and 102 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the accused may refuse to answer questions during the investigation, and the investigator records the refusal and continues proceedings. The accused may not be subjected to duress or asked to take an oath. 6.2 Undermining the Privilege Over Communications Exempt From Discovery Under Rule 21 of the Professional Conduct Rules for Lawyers, a lawyer’s duty of confidentiality over cli - ent information and documents yields in five circum - stances: • to prevent a crime; • where there is suspicion of money laundering or terrorism financing; • to defend the lawyer against a claim or complaint; • with the client’s written consent; or • where required by a specific statutory provision or court order. The most significant exception in the fraud context is the first – where the lawyer becomes aware that client information relates to a crime being committed or planned, the duty of confidentiality does not apply. The money laundering exception is equally important given that fraud frequently generates laundered pro - ceeds. In criminal proceedings, while Article 84 of the Crimi - nal Procedure Law protects lawyer-client documents from seizure during an investigation, the Anti-Money Laundering Law provides a route to overcome this: under Articles 44 and 45 of the Anti-Money Launder - ing Law, the public prosecution may issue ex parte search warrants and seizure orders in money laun -
297 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook