Saudi law as lex arbitri: Evaluation of Saudi arbitration law and judicial practice

Abstract

Disputes settled in Saudi Arabia, or which otherwise contain Saudi elements, are governed by the Kingdom’s lex arbitri, which requires that not only the arbitration clause and compromis be submitted to a designated competent authority for approval, but that the proceedings be supervised by said competent authority throughout their duration, save where conflict of laws rules permit the parties to refer to a foreign jurisdiction. There is no clear line of authority between contemporary Saudi arbitration law and Hanbali arbitral jurisprudence. Equally, the decisions of the arbitral governing authority (Diwan), although important, does not lend itself formally to stare decisis. Our analysis has demonstrated that this Hanbali corpus of law is in fact more flexible than Saudi law, particularly on the ground of interpretative techniques. This finding should dismiss the notion that Hanbalism is an archaic and backward-looking institution.