SCCA launched Arbitrator Selection & Appointment Services

The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) has launched a suite of limited services that includes, among other things, Arbitrator Selection & Appointment Services designed to help businesses, law firms and other parties involved in ad hoc arbitration proceedings to appoint a neutral expert arbitrator swiftly and efficiently. It includes three distinct services:

1. List-only Service – One or more parties can request the SCCA to provide a list of 5, 10 or 15 arbitrators from its SCCA Arbitrator Roster based on qualifications, expertise and other factors requested by the part(ies). The SCCA’s involvement ends with the submission of the list, along with biographical cards and contact information for the respective candidates.
2. List-and-Appointment Service – The parties in dispute can authorize the SCCA to provide a list of 5, 10 or 15 arbitrators from which they can strike any names and rank the remaining names in order of preference. The SCCA then appoints the highest-ranked arbitrator(s), checks for conflicts, determines any challenges, and substitutes an arbitrator in case of a removal. The SCCA’s involvement ends once the arbitrator(s) has/have been appointed and cleared from any conflicts.
3. Administrative Appointment Service – The SCCA directly appoints one or more arbitrators in consultation with the parties but without further intermediary steps, checks for conflicts, determines any challenges, and substitutes an arbitrator in case of a removal. Again, the SCCA’s involvement ends once the appointment process is completed.

With this offering, the SCCA introduces and enables the ad hoc arbitration market to explore the advantages of institutional arbitration by opening its doors to its exclusive SCCA Arbitrator Roster. The SCCA Arbitrator Roster is composed of highly qualified and accomplished professionals from the legal and business communities. Our arbitrators have subject-matter expertise in a particular field and understand the essence of the dispute and the intricacies a given industry brings with it. They also understand the importance of resolving disputes swiftly and efficiently, while preserving due process leading in a fair and just outcome. In addition, they attend ongoing educational events and are committed to honor the SCCA’s Code of Ethics for Arbitrators. Admission to the SCCA Arbitrator Roster is very selective and based on objective standards. Regular maintenance and further developments ensure high quality. The appointment or selection of arbitrators for lists is done by a specialized and neutral SCCA committee.

In addition, the parties also benefit from the services of the SCCA’s Committee for Administrative Decisions, which is composed of international arbitration experts. The Committee is charged with the determination of any challenges to arbitrators on those services that entail an appointment made by the SCCA (for more information about other services the SCCA’s Committee offers for the ad hoc market, please click here). 

While the SCCA charges an affordable fee for these services for non-SCCA -administered cases, these services come at no additional cost for parties involved in SCCA-administered cases. The parties may agree at any stage to convert their ad hoc case into an SCCA-administered arbitration. A portion of the fee paid for any of the above services will be credited towards the SCCA’s administrative fees.

For more information about the SCCA’s Arbitrator Selection & Appointment Services, please click here.