In force Last amended 29/11/1444 AH
Saudi Commercial Courts Law
نظام المحاكم التجارية
The Commercial Courts Law of Saudi Arabia. This page presents the official Arabic text of each article with plain-English explanations.
- Articles
- 96
- In force
- 96
- Amended
- 1
- Issued
- 15/8/1441 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم (م/93) وتاريخ 1441/8/15هـ · قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم 511 بتاريخ 1441/08/14 هـ
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
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Articles of the Saudi Commercial Courts Law
الباب الأول: أحكام عامةArticles 1–14
- Article 1The article defines the basic terms used in the Commercial Courts Law, such as the Law, the Regulations, the Council, the court, the Ministry, the Minister and the parties.
- Article 2The article provides that the Commercial Courts Law and its Regulations apply to the commercial court and the cases within its jurisdiction, without prejudice to commercial laws and international agreements.
- Article 3The article gives the Supreme Judicial Council the power to establish commercial courts as needed and to form their appellate and first-instance circuits of three judges or a single judge according to the Law.
- Article 4The article regulates the powers of the president of the commercial court in supervision and naming judges and employees, the way court assistants are chosen, and refers defining their tasks to the Regulations.
- Article 5The article permits the commercial court to use the private sector in supporting work such as conciliation, service of notices and registering cases, without prejudice to the independence of the judiciary and litigation guarantees.
- Article 6The article permits the parties to a commercial transaction, when all of them are merchants, to agree on specific pleading procedures, without prejudice to public order and the rules of justice.
- Article 7The article permits any procedure under the Commercial Courts Law to be carried out electronically, from filing the case to judgment and objection, and refers the details of application to the Regulations.
- Article 8The article refers to the Regulations the organization of conciliation and mediation procedures lasting no more than 30 days unless the parties agree on longer, and of class and small claims cases.
- Article 9The article defines the addresses approved for service of notices in commercial cases, permits choosing a lawyer's address, and requires a party to notify the court of a change of address within 48 hours.
- Article 10The article sets out the methods of service: electronic by text message, email or government accounts, and otherwise through licensed postal service providers with a delivery notice.
- Article 11The article defines to whom service is directed, where there is no special provision, for natural persons, companies, foreign companies, administrative bodies and commercial ships.
- Article 12The article permits serving a person residing outside the Kingdom by the methods in Articles 9, 10 and 11 when the parties agree on that, without prejudice to international agreements.
- Article 13The article permits the court to impose a final fine not exceeding SAR 10,000 on anyone who violates procedures or hearing rules, and makes cases open to public review with the possibility of ordering confidentiality.
- Article 14The article refers to the Regulations the setting of time limits for the procedures of hearing a commercial case and its hearings, and requires cases and memoranda to be submitted according to procedures and forms approved by the Ministry of Justice.
الباب الثاني: الاختصاصArticles 15–18
- Article 15The article applies the international jurisdiction rules of the Law of Sharia Procedure to commercial court cases, unless a special provision appears in commercial laws or international agreements.
- Article 16The article defines the cases the commercial court has jurisdiction over, such as disputes between merchants, commercial contract cases against a merchant above SAR 100,000, and companies, bankruptcy and intellectual property.Amended M/191
- Article 17The article defines the locally competent court: the court of the defendant's or plaintiff's residence or the place of concluding or performing the contract, and the head office or branch court in company cases.
- Article 18The article permits the commercial court to decide separately on a plea of lack of subject-matter jurisdiction within a period not exceeding 20 days from the date of the plea.
الباب الثالث: قيد الدعوىArticles 19–24
- Article 19The article requires, in cases the Regulations specify, written notice to the defendant at least 15 days before filing the case, and permits the parties before registration to take procedures under the court's supervision.
- Article 20The article provides that a commercial case is filed by a statement of claim deposited with the court containing the parties' particulars and a specific list of claims and their grounds, and prohibits combining unrelated claims.
- Article 21The article regulates registering a complete statement of claim, a 15-day period to remedy deficiencies, and the right to file a grievance with the court president within 15 days, with a final decision.
- Article 22The article requires referring the case to the circuit, setting the hearing and notifying the defendant, and requires the defendant to deposit a comprehensive defense memorandum at least one day before the hearing, except for urgent applications.
- Article 23The article makes preparing the commercial case a task of the competent department in the court, including completing papers, serving the parties, exchanging memoranda and preparing a preliminary report.
- Article 24The article provides that commercial cases are not heard after 5 years from the arising of the right, where there is no special provision, unless the defendant acknowledges or the plaintiff gives an excuse the court accepts.
الباب الرابع: نظر الدعوىArticles 25–29
- Article 25The article provides for distributing cases within the circuit under the Council's mechanism, that pleading is in writing with oral hearing permitted, and refers to the Regulations the cases requiring a lawyer.
- Article 26The article permits the court, when a party fails without excuse to submit what is required by the deadline, to impose a final fine or reject that party's incidental or counterclaims.
- Article 27The article refers to the Regulations the number, types and dates of hearings, prohibits adjourning a hearing except for a reason recorded in the minutes, and does not permit adjournment for the same reason more than once.
- Article 28The article permits the circuit to assign one of its judges to prepare the case for pleading and to direct the parties to exchange memoranda, with the Article 26 penalties applying to these procedures.
- Article 29The article regulates drafting the hearing minutes, makes an approved settlement record before the circuit an enforceable instrument that ends the case, and permits the parties to review the case papers.
الباب الخامس: حضور الخصوم وغيابهمArticles 30–32
- Article 30The article defines when proceedings are treated as in the defendant's presence, requires adjourning the hearing if a defendant served other than personally is absent, then deciding the case with a judgment treated as in presence if that is repeated.
- Article 31If the plaintiff is absent from a hearing without an accepted excuse, the court may decide the case at the defendant's request if it is ready for judgment, otherwise strike it, with 30 days to ask to resume it.
- Article 32In applying the provisions on the attendance and absence of parties, a person who attends before the time set for the hearing to end is not considered absent, and the Regulations set the rules of attending the hearing and its length.
الباب السادس: الطلبات المستعجلةArticles 33–37
- Article 33By decision of the Council, a first-instance circuit of a single judge may be formed in the commercial court with jurisdiction over urgent applications and other applications the Council specifies.
- Article 34An urgent application is referred to the competent circuit as soon as it is submitted and decided within 3 working days at most from its referral, and when necessary may be decided without the other party present.
- Article 35The article sets out the cases in which a judgment on an urgent application ends, including not bringing the main case within 7 days, and the cases in which any interested person may request its cancellation.
- Article 36The article lists the urgent applications before the commercial court, including inspection, travel ban, precautionary attachment and judicial custodianship, in addition to what has urgent character in the commercial laws.
- Article 37When hearing urgent applications the court may require a guarantee to compensate the defendant if it appears the plaintiff is not entitled, and compensation is awarded with the judgment on the merits.
الباب السابع: الإثباتArticles 38–57
- Article 38The provisions of the evidence chapter apply to Commercial Court cases unless a special provision says otherwise; no special form is needed to prove an obligation, and parties may agree on evidence rules and shift the burden of proof.
- Article 39The court may depart from evidence procedures it ordered, or not rely on their result, by a decision recorded in the hearing minutes, provided it states the reasons for departing.
- Article 40An admission is judicial if made before the court about a fact relating to the case during its hearing, preparation or the exchange of memoranda, and the court may infer it from written evidence submitted.
- Article 41The commercial court assesses the weight of a non-judicial admission according to the means used to prove it.
- Article 42A party's statement in official papers is binding on that party unless the contrary is proved, and an ordinary paper is treated as issued by the person it is attributed to unless they expressly deny their handwriting, signature, seal or fingerprint.
- Article 43A copy of a document is treated as identical to its original unless an interested party disputes it; if disputed and comparison with the original is impossible, it may still be relied on as a presumption in four specified cases.
- Article 44Correspondence that is signed or proven to be attributable to its sender has the weight of an ordinary paper in evidence, unless the sender proves they did not send it and did not authorize anyone to send it.
- Article 45A creditor's handwritten note on a debt instrument indicating the debtor's discharge is binding on the creditor even without their signature, unless the contrary is proved.
- Article 46Each party may request the other party's documents relating to the case under specific controls; the court may treat refusal as a presumption, and may compel third parties and government entities to produce documents at a party's request.
- Article 47Any interested person may ask the court to recover a document they claim is theirs or to prove that its purpose has ended, and the court orders its recovery under the provisions of Part Seven of the Law.
- Article 48The commercial court assesses witness testimony by the witnesses' integrity, conduct and the circumstances of the case, without needing character endorsement, and takes from it as much as it is satisfied is true when accounts differ.
- Article 49The parties may submit testimony in writing, and before giving testimony the witness must disclose any relationship with the parties to the case that may affect it, or any interest the witness has in it.
- Article 50The court may, of its own motion, put to the witness any questions it considers useful to reveal the truth, and an opposing party may question the witness directly under procedures and controls set by the Implementing Regulations.
- Article 51The article refers to the Implementing Regulations the rules for using modern means in hearing testimony, and the mechanisms for documenting testimony before a case is filed.
- Article 52Each party may request that the oath be administered to the other; the court may refuse it if the request has no basis or if the evidence of the person asked refutes it, and may administer it of its own motion.
- Article 53If the court rules in the case based on the refusal of the person to whom the oath was administered or referred back to take it, they are not allowed to take it afterwards.
- Article 54Each party to a commercial case has the right to question the other party directly, and the Implementing Regulations set the procedures and controls for this.
- Article 55Electronic evidence may be treated as proof before the commercial court, including electronic documents, email and electronic records, and the Implementing Regulations set the means of verifying it and the procedures for submitting it.
- Article 56The Minister, in coordination with the Council, issues the rules on expertise before the commercial court, covering using and selecting experts, their fees, their obligations, oversight of them and the procedures of the expertise departments.
- Article 57Commercial custom or practice between the parties may be relied on where there is no special provision or agreement to the contrary, and whoever relies on them must prove that they exist.
الباب الثامن: صدور الحكمArticles 58–66
- Article 58The court may close the pleadings once the parties have stated their case or been given the chance to, and the case is ready for judgment; they may be reopened only by a reasoned decision, and the court may allow supplementary memoranda.
- Article 59Deliberation on judgments is secret among the judges and involves those who heard the case orally; judgments are issued by at least a majority and attributed to the circuit, and a dissenting judge must state their view and reasons.
- Article 60The draft reasons and operative part of the judgment, signed by the judges, are deposited when it is pronounced except as the Implementing Regulations specify, and pronouncement may be postponed only once, with the reason stated.
- Article 61The judgment is issued by pronouncing it at a public hearing attended by the deliberating judges, and a copy of its text is delivered within 20 days of pronouncement.
- Article 62The article sets the particulars required in the text of the judgment, who signs the original and when it is deposited in the case file, and refers to the Implementing Regulations the decisions for which recording the result of deliberation is enough.
- Article 63The non-executory copy of the judgment text is signed by the competent employee, stamped with the court's seal, and delivered to whichever interested party requests it as the Implementing Regulations specify.
- Article 64The copy of the judgment under which enforcement takes place is appended with the executory formula and delivered only to the party with an interest in enforcement, and for judgments with immediate enforcement the court may allow enforcement by the draft.
- Article 65The article sets the judgments and orders covered by immediate enforcement by the text of the Law, and the cases in which the court may, at the request of the party in whose favor judgment was given, cover a judgment with it.
- Article 66The article makes the court that issued the final judgment competent to hear a request to correct or interpret a judgment or order.
الباب التاسع: أوامر الأداءArticles 67–71
- Article 67As an exception to filing a case in the first instance, the article allows a creditor to request a payment order for a debt proved in writing, due for payment and fixed in amount or object.
- Article 68The creditor must notify the debtor in writing of the demand for payment at least 5 days before requesting a payment order, stating the intended date for applying to the court.
- Article 69The article sets what accompanies a payment order request: the facts and grounds of the request, the debtor's full name and address, proof of the notice of the demand for payment, and any particulars the Implementing Regulations specify.
- Article 70The circuit must decide on a payment order request within 10 days of its registration, and a decision of rejection is final without prejudice to the creditor's right to file a case.
- Article 71The debtor may file a grievance against a payment order within 15 days of being notified, through the procedures for filing a case, and the court may stop its immediate enforcement by a reasoned decision when serious harm is feared.
الباب العاشر: الاعتراضArticles 72–92
- Article 72The procedures established before the first-instance circuits apply to the appeal circuits and the commercial circuit in the Supreme Court where there is no special provision.
- Article 73The article refers to the Implementing Regulations the objections that must be filed by a lawyer.
- Article 74The article sets who may object to a judgment, the permissibility of agreeing that a first-instance judgment is final, when interim rulings can be objected to, and the effect of an objection on immediate enforcement.
- Article 75The article makes the address recorded in the case particulars the address for notification in an objection by way of appeal.
- Article 76The article sets the additional particulars required in the text of a judgment issued on an objection, and permits referring to the facts and reasons of the judgment objected to if they are sufficiently set out.
- Article 77Final judgments that have acquired the force of res judicata are binding in what they decided, provided the parties, their capacities, and the right in subject and cause are the same, and the court applies this of its own motion.
- Article 78The article makes judgments and decisions of the first-instance circuits appealable, except minor cases not exceeding SAR 50,000 as the Council specifies, and regulates appeals decided without pleadings.
- Article 79The article sets the appeal period at 30 days from the date set for delivering a copy of the judgment, and 10 days for judgments on jurisdiction and urgent cases, and bars objection to a final judgment on jurisdiction.
- Article 80The article sets the jurisdiction of the appeal circuit composed of a single judge, including objections to payment orders, judgments ending or abandoning the dispute, and urgent rulings of single-judge circuits.
- Article 81The article regulates filing an appeal by a statement lodged by the appellant or their representative with the competent department, its particulars, and the department's registration, hearing date, referral and notification steps.
- Article 82An appeal transfers the case in its state before the judgment only in respect of what was appealed, earlier rulings may be appealed with the judgment ending the dispute, and new requests are barred except specified increases.
- Article 83The article allows the respondent, up until the pleadings close, to file a cross-appeal that follows the main appeal and lapses with it.
- Article 84The article states what the court may do if the appellant does not attend the hearing: rule on the appeal under conditions, or postpone for up to 30 days and then deem the appeal not filed.
- Article 85The article requires the appeal circuit to return the case to the first-instance circuit to decide the alternative requests or the merits when it reverses certain judgments.
- Article 86The article allows a petition for reconsideration of final judgments issued under the Commercial Courts Law in the cases provided for in the Law of Sharia Procedure.
- Article 87The article regulates filing a petition for reconsideration by a statement lodged with the court that issued the final judgment, following the procedures for filing a case, with the judgment particulars, a summary and the grounds.
- Article 88The article makes the commercial circuit in the Supreme Court competent to hear objections to appeal circuit judgments and decisions, and lists the four grounds on which an objection may be based.
- Article 89An objection before the Supreme Court does not stop enforcement of the judgment, but the court may order a stay if requested in the objection statement and it assesses that enforcement would cause effects that cannot be remedied.
- Article 90The article regulates studying the objection through a report prepared by one of the circuit's judges, an order of inadmissibility in specified cases, or setting a hearing if the objection is worth considering.
- Article 91The article allows the Supreme Court circuit to hear the parties orally when necessary, bars raising oral grounds other than those in the objection papers except public order, and exceptionally allows supplementary memoranda.
- Article 92The article states the consequences of quashing a commercial judgment: deciding jurisdiction, remanding to the court that issued the judgment to hear it again, or ruling on the merits if the case is ready for judgment.
الباب الحادي عشر: أحكام ختاميةArticles 93–96
- Article 93The article applies the Law of Sharia Procedure to commercial cases where the Commercial Courts Law has no special provision, to the extent this does not conflict with the nature of the commercial case.
- Article 94The article empowers the Council to issue rules for assigning judges to commercial courts, requires the Ministry to publish final commercial judgments, and creates a commercial judiciary studies unit.
- Article 95The article empowers the Minister, in coordination with the Council, to issue the Implementing Regulations and decisions needed to enforce the Law, to be published in the Official Gazette and take effect after publication.
- Article 96The Commercial Courts Law takes effect sixty days after its publication in the Official Gazette, and repeals any provisions that conflict with it.
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