Justice and Judiciary

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to justice and the judiciary, believing in the importance of achieving justice in society and guaranteeing the rights of individuals. The Ministry of Justice is the main pillar in achieving this goal, as it works to develop the judicial system and facilitate litigation procedures in line with Islamic law and human rights principles. These goals are realized by updating the laws and providing electronic services. The Ministry also seeks to enhance the integrity and efficiency of the judiciary, and thereby contributing to the stability and development of society.

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Classification of Courts in Saudi Arabia

The courts are an essential pillar in the state; their presence plays a major role in the stability of the state and the preservation of the private and public interests of the people, and to ensure this, the judicial system in Saudi Arabia is divided into four bodies, each with its own systems and legislation.

Supreme Court

At the pinnacle of the legal system, Supreme Court may receive a complaint against the court that rendered the in-question decision but is not a party to separate litigation. Its main role is to review Hudud cases (murder, amputation, stoning, …etc.); it reviews the decisions in terms of the correct application of the Islamic rules and their interpretation, as well as in terms of the procedures followed in the trial, without having anything to do with portraying the facts or assessing the evidence.

The Supreme Court's jurisdiction is confined to four cases:

Reviewing hudud cases such as murder, amputation, stoning, or legal retribution and what is less than killing. The court, in this case, works as a subject court and not a court of enforcing regulations.

Overseeing judgments issued by the appellate courts.

Examining requests to resume the litigation after canceling the case for the second time after the plaintiff’s absence from the hearings with an excuse acceptable to the court.

Reviewing requests for reconsideration of judgments issued by it.

Courts of Appeal

After hearing the statements of the litigants in accordance with the procedures prescribed in the Sharia Procedure Law and the Law of Criminal Procedure, the courts of appeal shall review the judgments issued by the courts of first instance. The courts of appeal have the exclusive jurisdiction to hear requests for judicial review of their decisions.

First Instance Courts

The courts of first instance are divided into general courts, criminal courts, labor courts, commercial courts, and personal status courts. There are two grounds on which jurisdictional rules between Courts of First Instance are based:

Qualitative Jurisdiction: The jurisdiction rules are adopted by the Courts of First Instance based on the nature of the dispute, whether it is commercial, criminal, urgent matters, and so on, regardless of the case's value.

Spatial Jurisdiction: The pertinent court has a focus on the legal issues that arise in its geographic circuit.

Enforcement Courts

Enforcement Courts shall proceed to adjudicate execution disputes regardless of their value. These courts are composed of specialized chambers, each with one or more judges. Enforcement Courts have the power to execute and supervise the compulsory execution, and are competent to decide on enforcement disputes whatever their value, in accordance with the provisions of the Summary Judiciary. The Enforcement Courts shall have jurisdiction to execute the following bonds:

Judgments, decisions and orders issued by the courts

The arbitrators' provisions attached to the execution order according to the Arbitration Law

Reconciliation records issued by the authorities authorized to do so

Negotiable instrument

Notarized contracts and documents

Judgments, court ruling, decisions of arbitrators, and authenticated instruments in a foreign country

Ordinary instruments whose content is fully or partially recognized

Contracts and other instruments that have executive titles under the Law

Issuance of Laws in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, laws are promulgated after five stages, which are supplemented by constitutional regulations before becoming law. The stages of issuing laws in the Saudi Arabia include the following:

Suggestion stage: The first stage of issuing laws, and upon which the law-enactment process is established. It starts with the preparation of the first draft of the law until its submission to the competent regulatory authority, according to the provisions of voting on it. It is called a bill because it is the first step in issuing and adopting the law.

Voting stage: The proposed bill or law is submitted to the regulatory authority for approval or rejection. Approval of the draft law is issued after its presentation to the Council of Ministers in its capacity as the owner of the regulatory authority, in a secret session in which the draft is discussed and voted on in the presence of the concerned minister or his representative.

Validation stage: It is the third stage of issuing laws in which the approval of the session president is obtained to turn the proposed bill or system into an official law. This stage ends after the King's approval for the council’s decision.

Release stage: It is the stage of the birth of the law and the recognition of its existence and validity in form and content, in which the head of the regulatory authority works to implement it at the same time, in order to achieve two things: to register the legal recognition of the law, and to assign state departments to implement the provisions of the law, each according to its competence.

Publication stage: It is the last stage of issuing the law in which the law is announced to the people and the date for its implementation is determined, a process by which the law is fully enforceable and approved.

Legal Proceedings at Saudi Courts

First: Attendance and Power of Attorney in the litigation:

On the day designated for hearing the case, the litigants will attend themselves, or whoever acts on their behalf. If the representative is an attorney, he shall be the one who has the right to trust according to the Law.

Conditions of validity of attending through the Power of Attorney:

It must be attended by someone who may be authorized to attend the litigation

The agent must decide to attend on behalf of his client

The agent must deposit a certified copy of his mandate document with the competent clerk

The court may authorize the attorney when necessary to deposit the copy of the document at a date specified, provided that this does not exceed the first session of the pleading. The power of attorney may be proven in the session with a report written down in its official record and signed or fingerprinted with his thumb by the authorizer. The obligation of depositing referred to above is applied to the trustee, guardian and overseer. Failure to fulfill any of the conditions above leads to the opponent being considered absent.

The powers of the Attorney:

All that the attorney decides in the presence of the authorizer shall be equivalent to what the authorizer himself decides unless he denies it during the consideration of the case in the same session.

If the authorizer does not attend, it is not valid for the attorney to acknowledge the claimed right, assignment, or conciliation, or accept the oath, direct it, return it, leave the litigation, or waive the judgment - in whole or in part - or through any of the methods of appeal against it, revoking the legal interdiction, leaving the mortgage with the debt remaining, or claiming forgery, or the judge’s recusal, or the choice of the expert, unless he is authorized to do so in the mandate.

The resigning or dismissed Attorney:

The resigning or dismissed attorney without the approval of the court does not prevent the proceeding of the procedures unless the authorizer informs his opponent of appointing another representative in place of the resigning or dismissed attorney, or of his intention to attend the lawsuit himself.

The authority of the court to change power of attorney in litigation:

If one of the agents appears to the court of frequent negligence under the pretext of asking his client for the purpose of procrastination, it has the right to request the presence of the authorizer himself to complete the pleading or to appoint another agent.

Obstacles to power of attorney in litigation:

It is not permissible for a judge, a member of the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution, or anyone working in the courts to act as an attorney for the litigants in the case even if it is filed before a court other than the one to which he belongs. However, it is permissible for them to do so on behalf of their spouses, their ascendants, their descendants, and those under their legal jurisdiction.

Second: Absence of Plaintiffs or Defendants from the Hearings

Absence of the Plaintiff:

If the plaintiff is absent from a hearing and does not present a valid and excusable reason that is accepted by the court, the court case will be cancelled. If the court case is canceled, he may request a continuation of the court case based on the circumstances, wherein the court will set a hearing to consider the circumstances and will inform the defendant.

If the plaintiff is absent and does not present a valid and excusable reason that is accepted by the court, the case will be canceled and will not be open to resumption without a decision from the Supreme Court.

Attendance of the Defendant and Absence of the Plaintiff:

If the defendant attends the hearing and the plaintiff does not, the defendant may request the court to proceed with the lawsuit and decide whether it is fit for judgment. In the case that the court rules on it, the judgment against the plaintiff shall be deemed ‘in absentia’, meaning not in attendance.

Absence of the Defendant:

If the defendant is absent from the initial hearing and his attorney or representative was not informed, consideration of the case will be postponed to a later hearing in which the defendant will be notified. If the defendant is absent from the agreed upon upcoming hearing without a valid or excusable reason, the court will rule on the case and its judgment against the defendant will be deemed as ‘in absentia’ or ‘not in attendance’.

If the defendant informs his attorney or representative on the date of the court hearing, and the attorney or representative does not attend, or if the defendant or his attorney deposited a memorandum of his defense with the court before the hearing and did not attend, or if the defendant attends any hearing and then was absent, the court will rule on the case and its judgment against the defendant will be deemed as ‘in the presence of the defendant’.

If the defendant, who does not have a known place of residence or a selected place of residence in Saudi Arabia, does not attend after his statement, the court will rule on the case and its judgment against the defendant will be deemed as ‘in absentia’ or ‘in the absence of’.

If the defendant fails to attend in situations related to marital matters, custody, alimony, visitation or guardianship, the court may order his presence forcibly.

In the case of multiple defendants, if some defendants were able to reach their representatives and others failed to inform their representatives of the court date and all were absent or the representatives who were not informed were absent, the court must postpone the hearing of the case to a later hearing, where the plaintiff is notified of the absentee who has not be informed and the judgment in the case will be deemed as ‘in presence of the defendant’.

The presence of the plaintiff or defendant or their representative while the session is still held is considered a valid presence according to the law.

In applying the previous provisions, the person who attends thirty minutes before the time set for the end of the session is not considered absent. However, if he attends while the session is still held, he is considered present.

Opposition to judgment in absentia:

The convicted person in absentia - during the periods set for the legal objection - has the right to object the judgment before the court that issues it, from the date on which he or his representative was informed of the judgment.

The opposition application shall be submitted in a memorandum in accordance with the procedures established for the prosecution, provided that the memorandum includes the number of the opposing judgment, its date, and the reasons for the opposition.

If the opponent or his representative is absent from the first session of the opposition hearing. The court decides on its own initiative to waive his right to object, and this resolution is final.

The court may order to temporarily suspend the execution of the opposing judgment if this is requested in the memorandum of opposition and he fears that the execution will cause severe and irreparable harm.

The enforcement of the judgment in absentia shall be suspended if a judgment issued opposing the judgment in absentia requires its annulment.

Judicial Services

statement of claim: a service that enables the beneficiary to file a case in general, criminal, right, commertial, family matters or labor courts

Remote Litigation (Manage Court Cases): A service that enables the claim parties to review everything being submitted to the case and enables the online pleading, exchanging statements and responding to the circuit requests without the need to visit the court.

E-File Enforcement Application: This service allows clients to file an application for the enforcement of an instrument, including financial claims, judgments and decisions, and personal status records; in addition to certain actions or injunctions such as real estate evictions

Taradhi platform: A platform aims at facilitating the reconciliation process between parties and encouraging them by bringing their perspectives closer to reach an agreement that satisfies all parties

Registration of Marriage Contract: It is an electronic service that is provided by the Ministry of Justice. This service helps in documenting marriage data and finalizing marriage contract easily and conveniently. The service allows the beneficiary to register his data and the data of the marriage contract, and then book an appointment with the marriage official to have the marriage contract electronically and documented, without his presence at the court.

Issuance of a Multilateral Power of Attorney: Through this service, a multilateral power of attorney can be issued via the Najiz platform. Users can select the type of power of attorney, whether individual or multi-party, and then choose the clauses they wish to authorize, as well as specify its appropriate duration. The power of attorney is approved directly without the need to visit the notary public. Additionally, all parties involved in the power of attorney are notified upon its issuance.

To see more services, please visit this page.

Arbitration in Commercial Disputes

The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) provides business arbitration, and the arbitration procedures are as follows:

A party requesting arbitration should fill out the Request for Arbitration Form and, submit it to SCCA and send a copy of the Request to the Respondent. The party initiating the arbitration shall pay the appropriate filing fee as per the SCCA Administrator and Arbitrators’ Fee Schedule.

The SCCA shall communicate the Notice of Arbitration to the Respondent as per the Arbitration Rules and request a response as per the limitation set forth in the Rules.

The Respondent shall communicate to the Claimant a Response to the Request for Arbitration as per the Rules.

The SCCA will conduct an administrative conference before the Tribunal is constituted to facilitate party discussion and agreement on issues such as arbitrator selection, languages, locations, channels of communication, process efficiencies, and any other administrative matters.

After the arbitrator(s) are chosen, the SCCA will contact the arbitrators and notify them of their appointment and follow the procedures set forth on the Rules regarding disclosures.

Before referring the dispute to the Tribunal, the parties shall pay the Final Fee and the Arbitrators’ Fee as per the SCCA Administrator and Arbitrators’ Fee Schedule.

The Tribunal shall set a time for a preliminary hearing via a conference call where parties present their case and to determine the procedural order such as the time of hearing for the arbitration process.

When the parties do not have any further proof to offer or witnesses to be heard or submissions to make, or if the Tribunal is satisfied that the record is complete, then it declares the hearing closed.

The Tribunal will deliberate, prepare and deliver the Award no later than 60 days from the date of the closing of the hearing

You can view all details via the Arbitration Procedures Guide.

Online Arbitration

The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration has launched an advanced version of the online arbitration service, which provides a virtual alternative with the best procedures and latest technologies to settle small commercial disputes through arbitration. It is flexible and ensures fast and cost-efficient resolution of such disputes.

Arbitration Fee Calculator

The website of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration provides an Arbitration Fee Calculator by entering the amount of the dispute to be calculated in Saudi riyals and US dollars. To use fees calculator, click here.

Reaching out to Accredited Lawyers

The Ministry of Justice facilitates communication with lawyers accredited by the Ministry, by providing the beneficiary with a mechanism to search and obtain the names of accredited lawyers and means of communication with them, and to search by selecting the city. To access the directory of accredited lawyers, click here.

Lawsuit Journey in the Ministry of Justice

The lawsuit journey in the Ministry of Justice begins once a claim form is submitted, where the lawsuit is registered in the judicial system and the competent court is determined. After that, a date is set for the court sessions, and the parties are informed of sessions’ dates to attend. For more details, click here.

Notary and Legal Rights for Women

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia guarantees the rights of all its citizens and provides them with a decent life, as the Basic Law of Governance is based on the principles of justice, equality and the protection of human rights. Saudi Arabia has made great efforts to establish laws and legislation that guarantee the protection of women in society, and has issued many decisions and orders that support their rights. Among these efforts, legal procedures have been implemented that allow women to request reconciliation services, and enabling women to practice the legal profession and obtain a notarized license. These steps contribute to achieving comprehensive social development and empowering women in the justice system and the labor market. For more information, click here.

Notary and Legal Rights for the Disabled People

The ongoing concern of Saudi Arabia to provide a decent life for its citizens extends to those with disabilities as well. People with disabilities, one of society's most important groups, are given access to their rights through continuously improved services dedicated to them, providing the necessary prevention, care, and rehabilitation methods that help prevent, reduce, and detect early stages of disability. People with disabilities are legally protected under the Islamic law-based Basic Law of Governance, which guarantees justice and equality and prohibits discrimination against them and against all members of society. For more information, click here.

Notary and Legal Rights for Elderly

The Basic Law of Governance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia safeguards the elderly by establishing a reliable social security system. While the United Nations General Assembly has adopted principles that guarantee the rights of the elderly, such as their right to independence, participation, care, and dignity, Saudi Arabia has established many services for them, such as health and social services, logistics, and education and training services. For example, the Ministry of Justice has launched a free service known as "Mobile Notary Offices," which provides free services to seniors who are unable to go to notary public offices.

Sustainable Development in the Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice seeks to implement the concept of sustainable development comprehensively as part of the strategy of government agencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Ministry promotes the development and implementation of sustainable development strategies, which contributes to the continuity of development in its various effect activities.

Cooperative Training Program

The cooperative training program provided by the Ministry of Justice is an opportunity for students of Saudi universities and colleges to acquire practical skills and professional knowledge, through training in various agencies affiliated with the Ministry in all regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The program aims to enhance integration between academic education and labor market, qualify national cadres, and develop their capabilities according to the needs of the labor market.

Taradi Platform

An electronic platform affiliated with the Reconciliation Center at the Ministry of Justice, which allows parties to the lawsuit and conciliators approved by the Ministry of Justice to conduct reconciliation processes either in person or virtually. The platform aims to enable the parties to reach an amicable solution to the dispute, through fully automated procedures that start from submitting a reconciliation application and end with issuing a reconciliation document or inability to reach a solution. For more details, click here.