Arbitration in maritime transport contracts between Saudi law and international law

Abstract

In 2019, Saudi Arabia introduced the new Maritime Code, which is considered to be aligned with international law in providing a comprehensive legal framework for the maritime sector. Other steps Saudi Arabia has taken to enhance arbitration law in the maritime sector include the establishment of the Saudi Centre for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) and the revised SCCA Arbitration Rules in 2023. These developments in Saudi Arabian law present a viable scope for comparison between Saudi Arabian law and international law. This dissertation limited this comparison to the field of commercial arbitration for maritime contracts. The specific scope of this dissertation was to analyse the resolution of maritime commercial contract disputes under Saudi arbitration law. This research concerned the question of whether the Saudi law contained in the Maritime Code of 2019 provides provisions for arbitration in maritime transport contracts which are comparable with international law in this field. Using a combination of doctrinal research and comparative legal research methods, this dissertation engaged with the emerging law in Saudi Arabia around maritime contract dispute arbitration. The dissertation found that the Saudi legal system had made significant changes to the framework on foreign arbitration, thereby aligning itself with the New York Convention and the UNCITRAL Model Law. However, the dissertation also determined that the enforcement of foreign awards in the event of conflict with Sharia is still an area of concern.