Article 31 of the Saudi Commercial Court Law

المادة 31 من النظام التجاري نظام المحكمة التجارية · الفصل الرابع: في الدلالين المعبر عنهم بالسماسرة

The article refers the broker's rights, duties and fee to established custom and usage.

Official text (Arabic)

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

يتبع فيما للدلال من الحقوق وفيما عليه من الواجبات وفيما يستحقه من الأجرة العرف المطرد والعادة.

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 31 explained in plain English

After Article 30 defined the broker as a person who mediates between seller and buyer to complete the sale for a fee, this article came to set the reference for regulating his relationship with the parties. The law does not lay down details for these matters, but refers to established custom and usage in three things:

The broker's rights.
His duties.
The fee he is entitled to.

Describing the custom as "established" means it runs regularly among members of the trade, and is not an individual or occasional practice.

The practical result is that the law sets no fixed percentage for the broker's fee or time at which it becomes due, so one refers for that to what custom has established. Nevertheless, some of the broker's duties are stated in the following articles, such as what Article 32 requires of every broker who practices brokerage in commercial goods between merchants, to keep a daybook in which he records his work day by day.

Because proving custom may be disputed, it is advisable to agree on the fee in writing beforehand, and to consult a lawyer who specializes in commercial cases if a dispute arises.

Practical example

A broker mediated in the sale of equipment between two merchants in Riyadh without a written agreement on his fee. In a dispute, under this article one refers for the amount of his fee to established custom and usage in this type of brokerage.

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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