New Enforcement Law (3): Conditions for Enforcing Foreign Judgments, Arbitral Awards and Settlement Agreements

A comparison of the conditions for enforcing foreign judgments, arbitral awards, settlement agreements and authenticated instruments under the new and previous Enforcement Laws, and the key differences between them.

Conditions under the New Enforcement Law

Subject to the Kingdom's obligations under international treaties and agreements, a foreign judgment or order may not be enforced unless reciprocity is established and the following conditions are satisfied:

a. The dispute in which the foreign judgment or order was issued must not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of Saudi courts.

b. No similar case may already be pending before Saudi courts prior to the registration of the foreign proceedings.

c. The parties to the proceedings must have been duly notified, properly represented, and granted the opportunity to defend themselves.

d. The foreign judgment or order must have become final in accordance with the laws governing the issuing judicial authority.

e. The foreign judgment or order must not conflict with a prior judgment or order issued in the same subject matter by a competent judicial authority in the Kingdom.

f. The foreign judgment or order must not contain anything contrary to public policy in the Kingdom.

Foreign arbitral awards and settlement agreements shall be enforced in accordance with the Kingdom's obligations under international treaties and agreements, subject to fulfillment of the conditions set out above.

Foreign authenticated instruments may be enforced after verifying compliance with the legal requirements applicable in the issuing country and on the basis of reciprocity between the Kingdom and that country.

Pursuant to Article (9) of the New Enforcement Law.

Conditions under the Previous Enforcement Law

Subject to treaties and agreements, the enforcement judge may not enforce a foreign judgment or order except on the basis of reciprocity and after verifying the following:
1. Saudi courts must not have jurisdiction over the dispute in which the judgment or order was issued, and the foreign courts issuing the judgment or order must have jurisdiction in accordance with the rules of international judicial jurisdiction prescribed under their laws.
2. The parties to the proceedings in which the judgment was issued must have been duly notified, properly represented, and granted the opportunity to defend themselves.
3. The judgment or order must have become final in accordance with the law of the court that issued it.
4. The judgment or order must not conflict with a judgment or order issued on the same subject matter by a competent judicial authority in the Kingdom.
5. The judgment or order must not contain anything contrary to public policy in the Kingdom.
The provisions of the preceding Article shall apply to arbitral awards issued in a foreign country.
Authenticated instruments issued in a foreign country may be ordered for enforcement under the same conditions prescribed in the laws of that country for enforcing authenticated instruments issued in the Kingdom, on the basis of reciprocity.
Judgments, judicial orders, arbitral awards, and authenticated instruments issued in a foreign country shall be submitted to the competent enforcement judge responsible for enforcing foreign judgments in order to verify fulfillment of the enforcement requirements and affix the enforcement seal thereto.

Pursuant to Articles (11, 12, 13, and 14) of the Law.

Points of Difference between the New and Previous Laws

Structure of the conditions

Previous Law: set out the conditions across several separate provisions through four Articles (11, 12, 13, and 14).
New Law: consolidates all conditions into a single Article in a more organized and comprehensive manner.

No similar pending case

Previous Law: did not include a condition requiring the absence of a similar pending case in the Kingdom prior to the foreign proceedings.
New Law: introduced an additional requirement: "There must not be a similar case pending in the Kingdom prior to the registration of the proceedings in which the foreign judgment or order was issued."

Wording of the jurisdiction requirement

Previous Law: the requirement was formulated as: "Saudi courts must not have jurisdiction over the dispute."
New Law: replaced this with: "The dispute must not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of a judicial authority in the Kingdom," which is a more precise formulation and more consistent with principles of judicial jurisdiction.

Finality of the foreign judgment

Previous Law: linked the finality of the foreign judgment or order to "the law of the court that issued it."
New Law: provides that the judgment or order must have become final in accordance with the rules governing the judicial authority that issued it.

Foreign settlement agreements

Previous Law: did not contain a separate regulation governing foreign settlement agreements in the same manner as the new Law.
New Law: expressly regulates the enforcement of foreign settlement agreements within the same Article under paragraph (2).

The enforcement seal

Previous Law: required submission of the enforcement instrument to the competent enforcement judge in order to verify fulfillment of the enforcement conditions and affix the "enforcement seal."
New Law: no longer expressly requires submission of the instrument to the competent enforcement judge or affixing the "enforcement seal."

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