Article 42 of the Saudi Arbitration Law

المادة 42 من نظام التحكيم · الفصل: في الدعوى التحكيمية

The article requires the arbitral award to be written, reasoned and signed by the arbitrators or a majority of them, and lists the details it must contain.

Official text (Arabic)

This article has not been amended since the law was issued.

1- يصدر حكم التحكيم كتابة ويكون مسبباً، ويوقعه المحكمون، وفي حالة تشكيل هيئة التحكيم من أكثر من محكم واحد يُكتفى بتوقيعات أغلبية المحكمين بشرط أن يثبت في محضر القضية أسباب عدم توقيع الأقلية.

2- يجب أن يشتمل حكم التحكيم على تاريخ النطق به ومكان إصداره، وأسماء الخصوم، وعناوينهم، وأسماء المحكمين، وعناوينهم، وجنسياتهم، وصفاتهم، وملخص اتفاق التحكيم، وملخص لأقوال وطلبات طرفي التحكيم، ومرافعتهم، ومستنداتهم، وملخص تقرير الخبرة ـ إن وجد ـ ومنطوق الحكم، وتحديد أتعاب المحكمين، ونفقات التحكيم، وكيفية توزيعها بين الطرفين. دون إخلال بما قضت به المادة (الرابعة والعشرون) من هذا النظام.

This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers

Article 42 explained in plain English

This article sets the form in which the arbitral award must be issued, which matters because the award is what will later be sought to be enforced.

First: formal requirements

It must be issued in writing.
It must be reasoned, that is, state the grounds on which it is based.
It must be signed by the arbitrators; if the tribunal has more than one arbitrator, the signatures of a majority suffice, provided the reasons for the minority's not signing are recorded in the case minutes.

Second: required details

The date the award was pronounced and the place it was issued.
The names and addresses of the parties.
The names, addresses, nationalities and capacities of the arbitrators.
A summary of the arbitration agreement, a summary of the statements, requests, pleadings and documents of the parties, and a summary of the expert report, if there is one.
The operative part of the award.
The determination of the arbitrators' fees and the arbitration costs, and how they are divided between the parties.

Paragraph 2 provides that this is without prejudice to what Article 24 of the Law provides. The article is linked to Article 41, which shows that the arbitration proceedings end on issuing the award ending the whole dispute, and to Article 43, which requires each party to be given a true copy of the award within 15 days of its issuance.

Anyone who has received an arbitral award and believes it lacks some of these details or requirements would do well to show it to a lawyer who specializes in arbitration and commercial cases.

Practical example

A maintenance company in Riyadh received an arbitral award issued by three arbitrators and signed by only two of them. That suffices under this article, provided the reasons for the third arbitrator's not signing are recorded in the case minutes, and that the award contains its other details, such as the determination of the arbitrators' fees and the arbitration costs and how they are divided.

Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.

How we write and review content

A question about Article 42 of Arbitration Law?

Describe what happened and specialist lawyers answer. You can write in English.