05 Feb, 2026
In a bid to create a paradigm shift in arbitration at the legislative level, Riyadh hosted the Arab Judicial Forum on the New York Convention that is organized jointly by the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA), the Arab League, the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), and the Arab Center for Legal and Judicial Research as a main event in the Riyadh International Disputes Week 2026 (RIDW26).
The strategic significance of the event resides in its being the largest judicial gathering of its kind. It managed to group 50 judges from 22 Arab countries with 20 local and international speakers in one dialogue. The forum included several ministers of justice, presidents of high and commercial courts, and a select group of enforcement judges, with the aim of building institutional bridges of understanding between the ‘national judiciary’ and the ‘arbitration industry’. This collaboration serves to strengthen the stability of trans-border commercial relations, ensure the enforcement of arbitration judgements, and render them a new normal within commercial environments.
The strong presence of judges and advisors from courts of cassation, appellate courts, and supreme courts from countries such as Egypt, the UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and Sudan, in addition to the Arab Investment Court, bore testimony to the commitment of Arab judicial systems in keeping pace with global developments in the field of dispute resolution.
The forum aimed to ‘institutionalize dialogue’ between judges and arbitrators. Participants engaged in in-depth technical working sessions dedicated to redress challenges in the application of the 1958 New York Convention, that takes root as the global constitution of arbitration.
The event program began with a session discussing the ‘Scope of Application of the New York Convention,’ featuring Dr. Mohamed Abdel Raouf, SCCA BOD member, and Dr. Dr. Mostafa Abdelghaffar, Partner in Majed Alrasheed Law Firm. They reviewed the practical aspects of recognizing foreign arbitration judgements, and the mechanisms for implementing Article II of the Convention in Arab courts to ensure the effectiveness of arbitration agreements.
In a session chaired by Dr. Abdullah Al Ajlan, SCCA BOD member, participants broached one of the most complex issues: ‘Public Policy Challenges.’ Former Jordanian Minister of Justice Dr. Salah Al-Din Al-Bashir and Advisor Ahmed Al-Warfali, former judge at the Court of Appeal in Tunisia, provided critical analyses on the rationale for maintaining the dual system of ‘recognition and enforcement,’ and on interpreting ‘public policy’ in its narrow scope so as not to hinder international trade, and to strike a balance between state sovereignty and international obligations.
The third session was dedicated to presenting a ‘Study on Saudi Judicial Precedents Related to Arbitration,’ delivered by Dr. Nadeen Hafayzah and Mr. Nawaf Al-Sulim. The presentation highlighted a tangible evolution in the Saudi judiciary’s approach to arbitration awards, emphasizing recent statistics that demonstrate the efficiency and flexibility of the Kingdom’s courts in enforcing foreign arbitration awards. This development enhances the ‘predictability of judgments’ and supports a favorable investment climate.
The forum’s deliberations concluded that the stability of judicial case law and the clarity of the methodology for handling arbitration judgements are fundamental pillars for attracting investments.
Participants considered Riyadh’s success in hosting this high-level dialogue, in partnership with the most prominent judicial organizations, as a progressive step towards unifying legal perspectives and honing the efficiency of the Arab judiciary in handling the complexities of the modern international economy.
