Article 2 of the Saudi Implementing Regulations of the Arbitration Law

Articles in the Arbitration Law and its Regulations refer to "the competent court". This article of the Regulations settles what this phrase means for the purposes of applying the Law and the Regulations.

The general rule: the competent court is the court of appeal originally competent to hear the dispute, that is, the court of appeal within whose jurisdiction the dispute originally falls.

The exceptions: this rule does not apply to the following cases in the Arbitration Law:

• the cases in paragraph (1) of Article 9 of the Law;
• the cases in Article 12 of the Law;
• what appears at the end of paragraph (3) of Article 40 of the Law.

What is meant here is the articles of the Arbitration Law, not the articles of the Regulations, since Article 1 of the Regulations defines "the Law" as the Arbitration Law. This article does not state what those articles provide or which body is competent in each of those cases, so their texts in the Law must be consulted.

The practical effect is that anyone who needs to file a request with the competent court on an arbitration matter goes, in principle, to the court of appeal originally competent to hear the dispute, unless the matter is one of the excluded cases. Before filing any request, you should consult a lawyer who specializes in arbitration and commercial cases to make sure of the correct court.