ANÁLISIS DE RESULTADOS

The first legislative use of arbitration procedures in the KSA emerged by stating arbitration in the Saudi Commercial Court Law of 1931, which was drawn mostly from the Ottoman trade law taken from French Commercial Law.88 Saudi Commercial Court Law is deemed as Saudi Commercial Law.

Saudi Commercial Court Law organized the rules and procedures of arbitration in commercial disputes, with Articles 493-497 of the law having the following features.

Article 493 states that:

If the two litigating parties deem to seek arbitration, they shall make an official document attested by the notary public. Such document shall contain the conditions agreed upon regarding whether to set a time limit for the arbitration, or whether the arbitrators‟ judgment shall be effective, whether issued by consensus, or by majority and otherwise of whatever they shall agree upon, and they shall sign the agreement and deliver it to the arbitrators.89

According to the above article, arbitration in commercial disputes is optional. Both parties are entitled to resort to arbitration as an alternative means of settling commercial disputes. Article 493 above gave opponents the right to select one or more arbitrators. Also, it provided for the arbitration agreement to be written by an official deed. The arbitration deed must include the provisions agreed upon by both parties to the dispute.

Article 494 states that:

The arbitrators shall examine the statements of the two parties according to the legislative rules, check their papers, documents, the testimonies of their witnesses and make their judgment according to evidence and within the bounds of arbitration conditions. 90

Hence, arbitration procedures are carried out according to the legal and religious controls applied in the KSA, in addition to considering the arbitration terms set by the dispute parties. Article 495 states that:

87_{Saudi Commercial Court Law (Saudi Arabia), Royal Decree No. 32 (15 Muharram 1350 H - 1 June 1931)} <http://mci.gov.sa/LawsRegulations/SystemsAndRegulations/LawofCommercialCourt/Pages/default.aspx> 88_{Al-Bjad, above n 61, 9.}

89

Ibid art 493. 90_{Ibid art 494.}

33

If the decision issued by the arbitrators proves to be conforming to the rules, the arbitration document shall be attested by the Court and executed, and if it breaches any of such, the commercial court shall nullify it.91

Hence, Article 495 gave the commercial court of the KSA a monitoring authority over the arbitrator's award, by providing for presentation of the award to the commercial court which could examine and scrutinize it. The commercial court could then approve or refute it if it was not aligned with the principles and regulations applied in the KSA or if the award violated the terms of arbitration agreed upon by both parties in the arbitration deed. Moreover, according to the above article, the arbitration award acquires the executive form once endorsed by the commercial court and it becomes final in that case.92

Article 496 notes that it is:

Not be permissible for each of the two parties to dismissal the arbitrator he has appointed and is approved by the commercial Court whether prior to or after judgment issuance, and they shall be entitled to object to the arbitrators‟ judgment before the commercial Court.93

Based on the above article, the commercial court law did not permit dismissal of an arbitrator by the party that appointed him when the commercial court had endorsed the arbitration deed. This article did not distinguish between the dismissal of an arbitrator before or after issuing the award.94 In addition, the commercial court law, according to the previous article, gave both arbitration parties the right to object to the arbitration award. However, Article 496 did not determine what is meant by the objection right stated in the previous article; the question is whether it can be appealed or just challenged as false

It could be said that, based on not determining cases of objection to the arbitration award in the above law, the arbitration award may be appealed and is not final.

Article 497 states that:

The arbitrators, whether of the Court's superintendents or a selected committee, shall submit their signed judgment to the Court after checking it and taking the statements of the two parties regarding if they have an objection, and shall attest such if conforming to the rules, and if it breaches any of such, it shall be nullified.95

The previous article bound the commercial court, before endorsing the award, to take statements from both parties regarding their will for objection first, that is, before endorsing the award.96

91_{Ibid art 495.}

92

Walaa Refaat, International & National Arbitration in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jeddah, 1998) 78.

93_{Saudi Commercial Court Law, above n 87, art 496.}

94 _{Anwar Bukhargy, National Courts Supervision Over Arbitration Awards Under The Saudi Arbitration Law} (Master Theses, King Abdul-Aziz University, 2006) 8.

95

Saudi Commercial Court Law, above n 87, art 497. 96_{Bukhargy, above n 94, 10.}

34

These are the basic features of arbitration rules in commercial court law, which was explicitly cancelled when the Saudi Arbitration Law was issued in 1983.

2.3.2.2 The Ratification of Institutional Arbitration in the KSA by the Chambers of