The Saudi Center For Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) has underlined the qualitative leap the Kingdom is witnessing in lying down the foundation for a solid Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) industry, guided in this endeavor by the Saudi Leadership's strong will and pursuit to create a business-friendly and investment-attracting environment. In a lengthy report, published in the Middle East and African Arbitration Review 2021 of the Global Arbitration Review (GAR), the leading global platform for international arbitration news and community intelligence, the SCCA details the ADR mechanism to facilitating access to justice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the approach the Saudi consecutive governments have employed to align the national legislation with international standards and best practices, and the key actors in establishing a solid foundation for the industry. The SCCA also attributed the reason behind the advanced level of the ADR industry in general and the and the institutional arbitration industry in particular to the comprehensive official efforts of the relevant parties that have been based on four main pillars: legislative and procedural reform, diversification of dispute resolution alternatives in various business sectors, judicial support through enforcement of decisions resulting from ADR and institutional excellence, led by the SCCA in introducing a system of globally available services and options with normative power. The report also explained the support to the justice system, mainly from the Ministry of Justice, has had an immense impact in advancing the industry, adding that this support is embodied in judicial institutions' adoption of ADR, the enactment of mediation and conciliation as amicable means of resolving a dispute before proceeding to litigation, and enhanced enforcement of the rulings of ADR in arbitration and mediation decisions. The SCCA's report also noted that the Saudi relevant bylaws have undergone a series of legislative reform so that the Kingdom's legal system can serve as the supportive environment for the ADR industry, starting with the issuance of the new Arbitration Law, through the he Commercial Franchise Law, Government Tenders and Procurement Law and the Commercial Courts Law, as well as Saudi Arabia's signing of the Singapore Mediation Convention.
