Article 34 of the Saudi Commercial Courts Law

المادة 34 من نظام المحاكم التجارية · الباب السادس: الطلبات المستعجلة

An 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.

Official text (Arabic)

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

يُحال الطلب المستعجل إلى الدائرة المختصة فور تقديمه، ويُفصل فيه خلال مدة لا تتجاوز (ثلاثة) أيام عمل من تاريخ إحالته، ويجوز -عند الاقتضاء- الفصل في الطلب بحضور مقدمه دون حضور الطرف الآخر.

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 34 explained in plain English

This article sets the speed of hearing an urgent application in the commercial court, and sets three rules for it:

Immediate referral: an urgent application is referred to the competent circuit as soon as it is submitted.
Period for decision: the application is decided within a period not exceeding 3 working days, counted from the date of its referral to the circuit.
Deciding without the other party present: when necessary, the application may be decided in the presence of the person who submitted it only, without the other party being present.

The third rule is restricted by the phrase "when necessary", so it is permitted and not required in every urgent application, and the article does not state the criteria for determining the cases of necessity.

This article is connected to Article 33, which permits, by decision of the Council, forming a first-instance circuit of a single judge with jurisdiction over urgent applications, and to Article 35, which sets out the cases in which a judgment issued on an urgent application ends, including that the person in whose favor the judgment was issued does not bring the main case within 7 days of the date of the decision, and also sets out the cases of requesting its cancellation, and provides that a request for cancellation is subject to the procedures for hearing an urgent application.

Anyone who needs urgent protection of a right in a commercial dispute is advised to consult a lawyer who specializes in commercial cases.

Practical example

A company in Dammam discovered that its business partner was about to dispose of disputed goods, so it submitted an urgent application to the commercial court. The application is referred immediately to the competent circuit, which decides it within 3 working days at most from the date of its referral, and when necessary may decide it in the presence of the company's representative alone.

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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