RIYADH — The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) has confirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is experiencing an important transformation through the establishment of a solid foundation for the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) industry and the provision of responsive options for achieving justice for individuals and businesses.

This transformation originates from the government’s focused determination and strategic leadership in building an investor-friendly environment that attracts local and foreign investments.

The SCCA presents the evidence in a detailed report it prepared and published in Middle East and African Arbitration Review 2021, the annual report of Global Arbitration Review (GAR), the most important and globally influential media outlet in the arbitration and ADR trade press.

Industry practitioners, including arbitration centers, law offices, and major corporations, turn to GAR for the most important commercial dispute resolution news and developments from around the world.

The report details how ADR facilitates access to justice in Saudi Arabia, the approach taken by the Saudi government to align its national legislation with international standards and best practices, and the key actors establishing a solid foundation for the industry.

The SCCA reports that the increasingly high quality of Saudi ADR in general and institutional arbitration industry in particular is the result of a comprehensive official effort among the relevant parties.

This initiative has four pillars: legislative and procedural reform, diversification of ADR options in various business sectors, judicial support through enforcement of decisions resulting from ADR, and institutional leadership — with the SCCA at the head — in introducing a system of globally available services and options with normative power.

The report emphasizes how the vital support of the justice system, led by the Ministry of Justice, has had the greatest impact in advancing the ADR industry.

This fundamental support has been manifest in judicial institutions’ adoption of ADR, the enactment of mediation and conciliation as amicable means of resolving a dispute before proceeding to litigation, and enhanced enforcement of the outcomes of ADR, in particular arbitral awards and mediation settlement agreements.

The report highlights the relevant strides that Saudi laws have made through a series of legislative reforms to make the Saudi legal environment a supportive ecosystem for the ADR industry, including the issuance of the new Arbitration Law, Commercial Franchising Laws, the Government Tenders and Procurement Law, and the Commercial Courts Law, as well as Saudi Arabia’s signing of the 2019 Singapore Mediation Convention and its coming into force in the Kingdom in 2020.

The SCCA recognized how the coordinated effort at the legislative level and the initiatives implemented across public and private sectors reflect Saudi Arabia’s commitment to invest deeply in ADR, which are already contributing to the growth of the business and financial environment and to building a safe, attractive environment for local and foreign investment. — SG