“Special courts that handle all cases related to business with a uniform legal system will attract more foreign investments to the Kingdom. Decisions from a specialized court will be quick and encouraging to foreign investors,” Majed Qarub, chairman of the lawyers committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News on Saturday.
Sheikh Abdullah Al-Yahya, secretary-general of the Supreme Judicial Council, said approval has been given to open commercial courts in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah.
General courts in Makkah, Madinah, Buraidah, Hail, Tabuk, Abha, Jazan, Najran, Baha, Arar and Sakaka will also be able to hear cases involving commercial disputes.
Qarub called for a uniform set of laws to deal with all commercial cases and stressed the need to reform old laws in line with the complexities of modern business activities.
Many legal experts consider the commercial courts a first step toward opening other similar courts in several areas of law, including employment disputes, medical malpractice and family issues.
Qarub stressed the need for special courts to ease the pressure on existing judges.
“Cases involving family issues are totally different to disputes between workers and employers or business cases. A lot of time is required by a judge to study cases from a range of areas that have no connection whatsoever. In the current legal system, a court can seek the help of an expert or specialist agency to help with a particular case in an area where the judge may not have sufficient expertise,” Qarub said.
The establishment of business courts fulfills one of the conditions for the Kingdom’s proposed accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to an expert on WTO-related matters.
“Rapid economic progress in the Kingdom as well as global economic developments demands the presence of commercial courts to unify court procedures, instead of the differing decisions from various bodies such as the Ministry of Commerce, Court of Grievances and Shariah courts, which all normally handle business cases,” said Abdullah Bin-Mahfouz, chairman of the Jeddah Center for Law and Training, an affiliate of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“In fact, commercial disputes negatively affect economic activities, undermine the success of national efforts for sustained development and cause instability in the business sector.”
