SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Andreas Haberbeck, Derayah LLPC
to trial, a settlement offer must be made to, and considered by, the claimants. 3.8 Requirements for Cost Estimate There are no requirements to provide clients with a cost estimate prior to litigation. It is common to conduct litigation on a contingency fee or fixed fee basis.
join an interested party to proceedings without the party having made an application to join. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs There is no security for costs in Saudi Arabian legal proceedings. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/ Motions To the extent that costs are awarded, this takes place upon final judgment. 4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe There are no fixed time limits for rulings on ordi- nary motions. Expedited applications may be made for: • a survey for proof of status; • prohibition on travel; • a stay of new works; • judicial custodianship; • preservatory attachment; • obtaining a product sample; • preservation of specific documents; • prohibition on disposal or permitting the same; and • applications having the status of urgency in commercial regulations. Before the Commercial Courts, rulings on expe- dited applications must be made within three days from the date of referral.
4. Pre-trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions
Saudi Arabian legal actions proceed in a series of short hearings and one can make applications at any stage of the proceedings. 4.2 Early Judgment Applications Applications to dismiss a case on the basis of an agreement to arbitrate or to submit disputes to the courts of another jurisdiction must be lodged before a substantive defence is lodged. Once a substantive defence is lodged, the defendant is deemed to have acquiesced to the court’s jurisdiction, although the court can still dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds. There are no mechanisms for summary judgment. 4.3 Dispositive Motions It is common for defendants to contest proceed- ings on the basis that the Saudi Arabian courts do not have geographic jurisdiction over a given dispute or that the dispute should come before a different Saudi Arabian court or judicial tribunal. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit A party with an interest in the subject mat- ter of a dispute may file a petition or make an oral request to the court to join as a claimant or defendant. Judges also have the discretion to
5. Discovery 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases
There is no general discovery of documents in Saudi Arabian legal proceedings. As a general rule, the claimant must substantiate their case on the basis of the documents that are in their
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