Article 7 of the Saudi Arbitration Law

المادة 7 من نظام التحكيم · الباب الأول: أحكام عامة

The article treats a party's continuing with arbitration while aware of a violation, without objecting within the agreed time or within 30 days, as a waiver of his right to object.

Official text (Arabic)

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

إذا استمر أحد طرفي التحكيم في إجراءات التحكيم ـ مع علمه بوقوع مخالفة لحكم من أحكام هذا النظام مما يجوز الاتفاق على مخالفته أو لشرط في اتفاق التحكيم ـ ولم يقدم اعتراضاً على هذه المخالفة في الميعاد المتفق عليه، أو خلال ثلاثين يوماً من علمه بوقوع المخالفة عند عدم الاتفاق، عد ذلك تنازلاً منه عن حقه في الاعتراض.

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 7 explained in plain English

This article aims to prevent a party from staying silent about a violation he knows of and then relying on it later. It provides that silence in certain circumstances is treated as a waiver of the right to object.

Conditions for treating silence as a waiver:

One of the parties to arbitration continues with the arbitration proceedings.
He is aware that the violation has occurred.
The violation is of a provision of the Law that may be agreed to be contravened, or of a term of the arbitration agreement.
He does not raise an objection to it within the agreed time, or within 30 days of learning that it occurred if there is no agreement on a time.

Note that the article confines this effect to violating provisions that may be agreed to be contravened, or terms of the arbitration agreement; it does not address provisions that may not be agreed to be contravened. The thirty days also run from the date of learning of the violation, not from the date it occurred.

The article is connected with Article 6, which regulates notices, since proving the date of knowledge may matter, and with Article 8, which identifies the court competent to hear the annulment action and the matters the Law refers to it.

If you notice a violation during the arbitration, it is important to act quickly and consult a lawyer specialized in arbitration and commercial cases before the period expires.

Practical example

Two parties agreed in a contract that the arbitration would be in Riyadh, and the arbitral tribunal then decided to hold the proceedings in another city. One of the parties kept attending without objection for more than 30 days after learning of this, and there was no agreement between them on a different time. Under this article, that is treated as a waiver of his right to object to this violation.

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

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