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International Arbitration Yearbook

Baker McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook 2020-2021 – Saudi Arabia

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KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Abdulrahman Al Ajlan and Anton Mikel

A. LEGISLATION AND RULES

A.1       Legislation

International arbitration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to be governed by the arbitration law issued by Royal Decree No. 34/M, dated 24/5/1433H (corresponding to 16 April 2012G), which replaced the arbitration law issued by Royal Decree No. 46/M, dated 12/7/1403H, to which no notable amendments have been made since.

A.2       Institutions, rules and infrastructure

The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) continues to be the leading domestic and international commercial arbitration center in the Kingdom. On 16 August 2020, the SCCA opened a new branch at King Salman Energy Park, located in Al Khobar (Eastern Province). This new branch is an addition to SCCA’s headquarters in Riyadh, its branch in Jeddah, and a representative office in King Abdullah Economic City.

B. CASES

We are not aware of any new notable arbitration cases to report in the Kingdom. Saudi courts and other adjudicatory authorities do not, in general, report their decisions, and previous decisions of the courts and other adjudicatory authorities of Saudi Arabia are not considered to establish a binding precedent for the decision of later cases. Due to the fact that arbitral awards are not made public, it is difficult to obtain information about new arbitrations.

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Author

Abdulrahman Al Ajlan is a principal and head of litigation in Baker McKenzie's Riyadh office. Abdulrahman has 20 years of litigation and commercial experience. He represents clients at the Sharia Courts, the Board of Grievance, the SAMA Committee, Labor Courts, Committee for Negotiable Instruments and all other Saudi courts and tribunals. He has extensive arbitration experience, both as an arbitrator and also as counsel in arbitration proceedings.

Author

Anton Mikel is a Partner in Baker McKenzie's Riyadh office. Anton specializes in commercial litigation and arbitration. He has extensive and diverse commercial litigation and commercial arbitration experience in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. federal (district and appellate) and state courts. He has represented some of the largest foreign and local companies and banks operating in the Middle East in a range of disputes involving breach of contract, joint ventures, liquidation, and labor disputes.

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