Article 14 of the Saudi Implementing Regulations of the Arbitration Law

This article of the Regulations governs the move from the pleadings stage to the award in arbitration.

Pronouncing the award (paragraph 1): the chair of the arbitral tribunal pronounces the award, and this is after pleadings are closed.

Reopening pleadings (paragraph 2): the article allows the tribunal to reopen pleadings after they have been closed, on two conditions:

• it must be before the award is pronounced;
• it must be by a decision notified to the parties to the arbitration.

Reopening under this article is thus limited to the period before the award is pronounced, and a decision must be issued for it and notified to the parties. The article does not mention specific grounds for reopening; the text makes it permissible for the tribunal without limiting it to particular grounds.

The practical effect is that the parties know that the close of pleadings means the tribunal has moved to the award stage, and that any return to pleadings is only by a decision notified to them. Someone who receives a decision to reopen pleadings can tell from it that the tribunal has returned to hearing the parties before the award.

This article is linked to Article 13 of the Regulations, which allows the tribunal to accept intervention or joinder of a third party with the consent of the parties and of the party to be brought in, and to Article 15, which provides that the arbitration agreement does not lapse by a decision terminating the proceedings unless the parties agree otherwise.

Anyone who receives a decision to reopen pleadings should consult a lawyer who specializes in arbitration and commercial cases to know what they can submit.