New Judicial Fees
New Judicial Fees Mandatory in #Saudi_Arabia.
Overview
Judicial Fee Law was promulgated by the Royal Decree number (M/16) dated 30/01/1443 Hijri, corresponding to 7 September 2021, and the Cabinet Resolution number (65) dated 23/01/1443 Hijri, corresponding to 31 August 2021, published in the Saudi Gazette on 02 September 2021.
what is a Judicial Fee
A judicial fee is an amount of money to be paid by the Claimant litigant to the competent authority in consideration of the judicial service in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as organized under the Judicial Fees Law.
A judicial fee does not include any other payments resulting from the litigation proceedings; such as expert fees.
Objectives of Judicial Fees
Judicial Fee Law is aimed to:
- Reduce malicious lawsuits
- Encourage reconciliation between litigants
- Promote documentation of transactions and contracts
Matters exempted from Judicial Fees
There will be no judicial fee imposed on lawsuits and matters related to:
Family & Personal Status
- Divorce
- Khul' (woman’s right to divorce)
- Alimony/Family Support
- Child’s custody
- Legacy Allocation Matters
- Relevant Appeals & Petitions
Board of Grievance
- Rights and entitlements established in the laws of the civil and military services and retirement of Public Officers and employees of independent public legal agencies or their successors and beneficiaries
- Annulment of final administrative decisions filed by those concerned, when the appeal is based on lack of jurisdiction, formal defects, defect in the cause, violation of laws and regulations, error in the application or interpretation of the law, or abuse of authority, including disciplinary decisions and decisions issued by quasi-judicial committees and disciplinary boards. As well as the decisions issued by public interest associations - and the like - related to their activities, and it is considered as an administrative decision the refusal of the management body or its refusal to make a decision that it should have taken in accordance with the laws and regulations
- Compensation claims filed against decisions or actions of the Administration
- Disciplinary cases filed by the competent authority
- Cases related to contracts to which the Administration is a party to
- Applications for the execution of foreign judgments and judgments of foreign arbitrators
- Other administrative disputes
Public Order
- Public Criminal Cases & Relevant Petitions
- Disciplinary Cases & Relevant Petitions
Bankruptcy
- Protective Settlement Procedure
- Financial Restructuring Procedure
- Liquidation Procedure
- Protective Settlement Procedure For Small Debtors
- Financial Restructuring Procedure For Small Debtors
- Liquidation Procedure For Small Debtors
- Administrative Liquidation Procedure
Litigation Proceedings
- Requests for Settlement
- Requests raised by Opponents and Adjoined Parties
What are the judicial fee rates?
The Court will determine the Judicial Fee as follows:
No Additional Payments
No additional fee will be payable where:
- a claim is brought in the court with competent jurisdiction following an earlier court’s decision that it lacked jurisdiction
- The Court of Appeal overturns a judgement and refers the case back to a lower court
when are judicial fees refunded?
The entirety of the fees shall be refunded in the following events:
Who is Exempted from Judicial Fees?
There will be no judicial fee imposed on Parties involved in the following:
- Employees & their representatives/successors while claiming their entitlements resulted from their Employment
- Prisoners & Detainees at the time the Judicial Fee is due in Financial matters
- Ministries & Governmental Agencies
are there alternative solutions?
Saudi Arabia has been recently encouraging parties involved in a dispute to recourse to the ordinary judicial system as the last option. Accordingly, Saudi Arabia has adopted and promoted a number of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) means. We would like to preview the most common ADR means that are as legal and efficient as the ordinary judicial system as follow:
Conciliation (Solh) System
Conciliation is among the most important means of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Negotiation
Negotiation is among the most important means of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Mediation
Mediation is among the most common means of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Arbitration
Arbitration is among the most common means of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Conclusions
For decades, no court fees were payable in Saudi litigation. This may have resulted in many vexatious claims or a party bringing repeated claims to pressure its counterparty. The introduction of court fees will make parties think long and hard before commencing claims that have little merit and will hopefully encourage more parties to resolve their disputes out of court. The idea of accepting this type of fee may not be easy for some people, but we believe as a team who see the corridors of courts as homes that they will greatly improve the case flow mechanism, will improve the services provided, and will greatly speed up the litigation procedures that currently take a long time due to the number of lawsuits submitted every day.
For further information, please do not hesitate to Contact Us.
