06 Oct, 2026
A recent report prepared by the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) has found growing international confidence in institutional arbitration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, driven by the Kingdom’s significant efforts to strengthen its legal and judicial framework and enhance its position as a regional and international seat for commercial and investment disputes.
SCCA prepared this report to assess the international response to the publication, in early July, of its study on the state of the arbitration industry in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted in partnership with the Saudi Center for Competitiveness and Business and on behalf of Saudi Arabia, as part of an international report prepared by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). The report examines the impact of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration on national legislation and judicial practice worldwide, with the aim of highlighting developments in the arbitration industry from legislative and judicial perspectives in light of international standards and best practices.
Within one month of its publication, the study generated significant interest across the international legal community, reflected in a wide range of analytical articles and in-depth legal reviews. The report identified 27 analytical reviews issued by leading international and regional law firms, with links to all reviews included in the report.
The report also tracked more than 35 substantive pieces of coverage across 12 leading specialized legal platforms, more than 90 items in the mass media, and hundreds of specialized legal and professional articles and analyses shared across social media platforms. The coverage reached more than 14 million people across various media outlets, while related social media content generated more than seven million impressions.
The international reviews consistently highlighted the institutional maturity of Saudi Arabia’s arbitration framework and the development of its legislative and judicial approach, as well as the framework’s clarity, efficiency, and predictability, together with its growing alignment with international standards. These developments were seen as strengthening the Kingdom’s credibility and competitiveness as a regional and international seat for arbitration and dispute resolution.
SCCA’s study is a comprehensive 250-pages research and analytical project. It examines the impact of the UNCITRAL Model Law on the regulatory framework for arbitration in the Kingdom, particularly in relation to the current Saudi Arbitration Law and the forthcoming draft Arbitration Law. At the judicial level, the study analyzes 967 Saudi court judgments relating to commercial arbitration.
As part of the project, a significant number of these judgments were translated into English to support international research, with a selection subsequently chosen for publication in the United Nations’ Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts (CLOUT) database.
