27 Jul, 2025
In its pursuit to not only adhere to but also set international standards as a leader in commercial dispute resolution and to enhance the quality of services provided to parties, the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) has launched a digital signature service that allows users to electronically sign documents while ensuring the authenticity of the signer’s identity. This step reflects SCCA’s commitment to innovate and adopt the latest technical advancements while adhering to legal principles and regulatory frameworks.
The service comes at a time when relevant international bodies such as UNCITRAL are actively promoting the international recognition and enforcement of electronic arbitral awards.
Digital signatures overcome physical barriers. Users will benefit from SCCA services regardless of their geographical location and will be able to access prompt justice wherever the they to their case may reside – a factor that is significant for SCCA users coming from close to 30 countries. The service will simplify and expedite proceedings by reducing the time needed for signing documents by 60 to 80 percent, without giving up on legally valid and binding signatures.
The digital signature service will encompass arbitral awards, procedural orders, minutes, arbitrator and mediator appointment documents, any party agreements, and other legal documents that users encounter during the dispute resolution process. Unless the parties have agreed or the governing law requires otherwise, there will no longer be any paper-based originals, only electronically signed documents including arbitral awards. E-signed documents will be accompanied by a certificate documenting the identity of the signer, the authority that issued the certificate, the time of signing, and assurance of the document’s integrity, verifying that it has not been modified after signing.
The service uses Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to verify the signer’s identity. It has been built based on a digital solution licensed by the Saudi Digital Government Authority (DGA), the agency responsible for licensing Digital Identity and Trust Services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It is technologically compliant with the relevant international protocols, the ISO/IEC 27001 standard on information security management, and the relevant Saudi requirements such as the Electronic Transactions Law and National Center for Digital Certification (NCDC) standards.
In regulatory terms, the service integrates with the existing international legal framework, such as the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996), which adopted the principle of non-discrimination between electronic and paper transactions and the principle of functional equivalence, which accords electronic records the same status as their paper counterparts.
The United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (New York, 2005), to which Saudi Arabia acceded in 2007, strengthens the legal framework for the use of electronic means, extending their application to other international conventions, such as the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958).
The launch of the digital signature service is one aspect of the SCCA’s efforts toward comprehensive digital transformation in its case management, from filing of the case to rendering of the arbitral award. These efforts stem from and underpin the SCCA procedural texts and organizational framework, notably its SCCA Arbitration Rules, in which the term “electronic” appears in its various forms twelve times. For example, Article 36 provides that arbitral awards may be signed electronically, unless the parties have agreed or the governing law requires otherwise.
This organizational framework complements the electronic procedures framework SCCA offers to users involved in its cases, in particular its soon-to-be-released case management software. In this comprehensive software package, SCCA has digitized 10 services for resolving business disputes.
The SCCA digital signature service is part of a broader digitalization push in Saudi Arabia, which now provides 97 percent of its government services in digital form, including 87 percent of judicial services. As a result of such initiatives, Saudi Arabia now leads the International Telecommunication Union’s global ICT Development Index for 2025.
Commenting on the launch of the service, SCCA Chairman Dr. Walid Abanumay said: “SCCA is dedicated to achieving operational excellence in case management and providing an optimal experience for the parties involved in the cases. In support of that objective, the digital signature service will save time, reduce costs, and accelerate access to swift justice.”
For his part, SCCA CEO Dr. Hamed Merah said: “SCCA is adopting digitalization as a strategic direction to serve the parties involved in its cases, both within Saudi Arabia and abroad. It strives to be a local and international leader among ADR institutions and to integrate innovation with best practices so that it can fulfill its commitment to exceed the expectations of users of SCCA services and provide unique, dependable value.”
