In an International Report, SCCA Highlights Developments in Saudi Arbitration in 2024
Published Date: 21/04/2025
The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) recently published its annual report on developments in the Saudi arbitration industry in the Global Arbitration Review (GAR), the world’s most famous media outlet covering commercial arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The report reviewed industry updates in Saudi Arabia during the past year and decision-makers’ efforts to transform Saudi Arabia into a safe, supportive ADR Seat.
The report addressed several key areas, most notably the sustained approach to advancing the governance of SCCA operations, digital transformation in the Saudi judicial system and its impact on SCCA’s work, cooperation with the judiciary as an enabler of the industry, growth in SCCA’s caseload in light of increasing international confidence in SCCA’s services, and the empowerment of future arbitrators and the moulding of the future of ADR. Among other initiatives, this includes the sixth edition of the SCCA International Arbitration Moot (SIAM6) and Riyadh International Disputes Week 2025 (RIDW25).
On the governance front, SCCA pointed to the recent additions to its Board of Directors, which brings together a select group of local and international experts with diverse experience and cultural and geographical backgrounds. In addition, the work of the SCCA Advisory Committee has expanded in scope, while the SCCA Court continues its work, having disposed of 323 matters its inception. Saudi Arabia’s progress in digital transformation has benefited SCCA in digitializing its operations and enhancing its regulatory structure through 2023 SCCA Arbitration Rules, as well as its procedural structure through a case management system.
Given the central role that the judiciary plays in empowering the arbitration industry, SCCA has continued to collaborate with judiciary in the region with the aim of enhancing judicial collaboration in support of the industry. One aspect of this was the second edition of the International Judicial Colloquiam on the New York Convention, which SCCA organized for participants from the GCC states in collaboration with several international institutions interested in the development of the industry. It is worth noting that one of the fruits of collaboration with the judiciary is a decrease in the rate at which arbitral awards are annulled in Saudi Arabia, as highlighted by SCCA’s study “Saudi Case Law Related to Arbitration,” the findings of which were presented in the report.
The article in GAR reported that SCCA’s caseload has grown significantly, bolstered by increasing international confidence in SCCA’s services and international market actors’ adoption of the SCCA model dispute resolution clause. SCCA recorded 120 new filings in 2024, an increase of 30% over the 92 filings of the previous year, with the arbitration caseload increasing by 59%, from 46 to 73 cases. The arbitration cases totaled SAR 1.1 billion (USD 304 million) in value, and the average time to resolve a case was less than six months.
SCCA published the report as part of its communication activities, which aim to inform the international community of ADR about the status and achievements of the commercial dispute resolution industry in Saudi Arabia, as well as to highlight decision-makers’ efforts to transform Saudi Arabia into a safe arbitration and ADR seat and an attractive destination for local and foreign investments and capital.