JEDDAH: Any delay in establishing commercial courts could lead to capital idleness, missing commercial and employment opportunities, and loss to domestic businessman and foreign investors. It could also mean a slowdown in Saudi Arabia’s commercial development, according to business experts.
“In the absence of specialized courts for trade disputes, judges in common courts will be inclined to make their individualized judgments in commercial disputes unless there is no uniform references for the commercial disputes,” a legal expert told Al-Jazirah daily.
The expert lamented that sufficient steps have not been taken to establish commercial courts even though a royal decree was issued five years ago with the allocation of SR7 billion to speed up and improve the legal system.
“The delay in setting up commercial courts causes immense loss to both Saudi and foreign investors. The investors, who need immediate attention to a dispute, are forced to file their cases at the general court where they must wait several months for their hearing.
“But when the sitting on his case starts, the judge is likely to observe that he has no jurisdiction over the case and may refer it to the Court of Grievances. Such moves will cause considerable delay as while the investments are lying idle the company may suspend its activities and its bank accounts would be suspended. A final judgment will be issued two or three years later,” said international legal consultant and arbitrator Fahd Al-Zeban.
Mahmoud Al-Madini another legal expert, attributed the delay to the prolonged studies being conducted on various aspects of the court including laying down its rules and regulations and paucity of judges specialized in commercial matters. Another issue is the different rules that govern trade in the Kingdom.
Speaking on the issue of difficulty to find sufficient number of Saudi judges for commercial courts Al-Zaban said that the volume of commercial disputes were growing by 80 percent annually while the number of judges did not increase even half that percent. Present judges are graduates of Shariah College because the Saudi judicial system stipulates that a judge should be a graduate of the Shariah College or holder of equivalent degree.
A solution for the issue is to attract law graduates and appoint them as judges or consultants at commercial, labor and civil status courts.
Lawyer Fahd Al-Deghailabi is of the view that judges in commercial courts should not be drawn only from Shariah colleges but also from other legal disciplines and all these judges should be given training in economic and commercial topics.
He suggested that lawyers representing business disputes be only those licensed to take up trade disputes. He also stressed the need for unifying and reform the regulations governing the business matters.
It was reported last week that Riyadh’s Imam Muhammad Islamic University planned to launch a higher institute for judicial studies where master’s and doctoral programs besides workshops, seminars and training sessions for judges, assistant judges and notaries would be conducted.
Those who join the judiciary service will have to train at the higher institute. “It will help provide professionalism and uniformity to the judiciary and facilitate the supervision of all candidates for the judicial service,” rector of the university Suleiman Abal Khayl said in a statement on the occasion of receiving the approval for the institute.
Delay in establishment of commercial courts harmful
