Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — A recent report by the Ministry of Justice revealed that commercial courts issued 2,697 rulings in November, up 73 percent compared to the same period last year.

The daily number of rulings ranged from 88 to 183 with an average of 135 rulings per day. Final judgments accounted for 95 percent of the commercial rulings, while procedural ones constituted only 5 percent.

The courts of Riyadh, Makkah and the Eastern Region issued 88 percent of the rulings. Out of the final ones, 87 percent were issued on the merits of the cases.

A series of recent decisions by the ministry have contributed to the swiftness and quality of commercial rulings. These include a decision by Justice Minister Waleed Al-Samaani to add an article to the implementing regulations of the Civil Procedure Law, setting the adjudication date of a commercial case within 20 days from its date of registration, and limiting the number of hearings to a maximum of three.

«The decisions also include enabling clients to file statements of claim online, then the data is verified by court clerks and registered within a single day, as well as notifying defendants on their Absher-registered phone numbers,» the ministry said.

The ministry has also enabled online filing of first defense briefs and appeal applications, increased the numbers of judges and panels, and assigned a single judge to any case with financial claims worth less than SR300,000.