Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Arbitral Awards In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia

With the continuous promotion of the Belt And Road Initiative,the economic and trade exchanges between China and the countries along the Belt and Road have become increasingly close,but at the same time,the international commercial disputes have also increased.Most of the countries along the Belt and Road are developing countries and their policy environment is relatively complex and their legal systems are very different from China.So there is an urgent need to do the research on the legal system and arbitration system of these countries.The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an important partner for China on the Belt And Road.The cultural setting of Saudi Arabia is Arab and Islam.The legal system of the Saudi Arabia is based on the Shari'ah law while it's arbitration system is also deeply influenced by Shari'ah law.Even Saudi Arabia is the member state of New York Convention or other international or regional conventions,Saudi Arabia's attitude to the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral award are quite different from the countries of Civil law system or Common law system or even other Arab countries.This will not only bring challenges for foreign investors but also make it difficult for foreign arbitral awards to be recognized and enforced in Saudi Arabia.This article is divided into four parts.The first part is an overview of the Saudi arbitration system,including the history and the latest development of the Saudi arbitration system,especially the promulgation of the new Saudi Arbitration Law in 2012.This section also includes an overview of the legislative and judicial systems,which are based on the Shari'ah law.The second part is the legal realization of recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia.This part includes the domestic legislation,legal basis,and execution procedure of the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral award.This part also focuses on two core concepts of this topic,they are the relationship between the recognition and enforcement,and the cognizance of foreign arbitral awards.The third part is an analytical study on the grounds for refusal of enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia.And the most common ground for refusal of enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia is the violation of public policy.This part also interprets the Saudi practice from two aspects:procedural public policy and substantive public policy.The fourth and the last part is the investigation and thinking of recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral award in Saudi Arabia.There are still some problems while asking for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Saudi Arabia,such as the law is unknown,the concept is not clear,the court defense misuse of public policy,a lack of published typical arbitration cases system and then gives the corresponding suggestions for the government and investors.Through the analysis of theory combining practice,history combing reality,provisions combining the cases,this article provide readers,especially Chinese investors,a full view of how to ask for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards under Saudi's new Arbitration law and Enforcement Law.So getting more information about this aspect may prevent some potential risks.