Saudi Arabia has witnessed a major shift in recent years towards becoming a globally recognized seat of Arbitration. With strong support from the private sector, the judiciary and the government, the kingdom seeks to keep pace with international standards, attract local and international expertise, in addition to the growing number of international arbitration cases
When the Financial Times announced that ” American firms such as Latham & Watkins, Greenberg Traurig, and Squire Patton Boggs are pouring into the world’s largest oil exporter, along with Dentons, Clifford Chance, and Herbert Smith Freehills from the UK,” and that a few months later, several major law firms opened offices in Riyadh, including Kirkland & Ellis, “the largest law firm by revenue in the world,” it was clear where the movement lay.
Over the past decade, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has comprehensively interacted with the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) community and is now also home to major events in the international ADR industry, namely the Saudi Commercial Arbitration Center (SCCA) International Conference and the SCCA Arab competition, where both events are part of one of the largest dispute weeks in the world – the international dispute week in Riyadh (RIDW).
This article reviews the main developments related to ADR in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, explaining that this growth is the result of strategic thinking and hard work that shows no signs of slowing down by those in the public and private sectors who contribute to this development in the management and resolution of commercial disputes.
SCCA: a decade of transformation in the Saudi dispute settlement system
The Saudi Commercial Arbitration Center (SCCA) was established as a non-profit and non-governmental institution by Saudi Royal Decree No. 257 dated March 15, 2014. It was established to manage arbitrations, mediations and other ADR proceedings where the parties agree to refer their case to the SCCA. It provides its services in accordance with international standards and best practices in Arabic and English.
SCCA operates in an environment conducive to alternative dispute resolution alongside the judicial system. He has received the full endorsement and support of the government for his work; however, to strengthen SCCA’s independence from the government, its board of directors, consisting of non-government officials appointed by the prime minister, has full operational autonomy.
Since its launch in October 2016, SCCA has registered a large number of cases, with claims involving domestic and international parties from industries such as banking, financial markets and construction. It aims to sustain this growth through careful management and strategic engagement across all stakeholder groups – users, lawyers, experts, arbitrators, academics and the next generation who will assume these roles.
