Article 6 of the Saudi Implementing Regulations of the Arbitration Law

The mission of an arbitrator may end before the award is issued. This article of the Regulations sets out the effect of that on the course of the arbitration.

The rule: if the arbitrator's mission ends in one of the cases in Article 19 of the Arbitration Law, the arbitration proceedings are suspended until a substitute arbitrator is appointed in accordance with the Law. This article does not list those cases but refers to Article 19 of the Law, which must be consulted to know them.

The exception: this suspension does not apply to the case where the arbitrator's mission ends by his recusal. The text is explicit in excepting this case from the suspension rule, and does not itself state what follows for the proceedings in it.

In practice, suspension means the proceedings do not resume until the substitute arbitrator is appointed. The substitute is appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Law, and this article does not state how he is appointed.

This article is linked to Article 5 of the Regulations, which allows an arbitrator to step down when his recusal is requested without giving reasons, which is not an admission by him that the grounds for recusal are valid, and bars accepting a recusal request after the close of pleadings. "The Law" in this article means the Arbitration Law, according to Article 1 of the Regulations.

Anyone who is a party to an arbitration in which an arbitrator's mission has ended should consult a lawyer who specializes in arbitration and commercial cases to learn the effect on their case.