Saudi Justice Minister Walid Al-Samaani spoke at the Third Saudi Commercial Arbitration Conference, where he thanked the Saudi leadership for their support to the judiciary. He also highlighted the major legislative and digital developments that have enhanced the arbitration option in the Kingdom.
“Saudi Arabia is among the fastest countries in the world in enforcing arbitral awards, either through the enforcement courts or the rescission claims filed at the appellate courts,” the minister said.
He explained that the only way to challenge arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia is to file rescission claims at the appellate courts, which act as courts of law and do not review the facts of the case.
He revealed that in the past three years, the Saudi appellate courts and panels have dealt with more than 4,000 arbitral award rescission claims, and they have confirmed 90% of these awards.
He also revealed that the total value of the foreign arbitral awards exceeded 1.5 billion Saudi riyals (nearly $400 million), while the total value of the local arbitral awards enforced by the enforcement courts reached 3 billion Saudi riyals (nearly $800 million).