Questions on urgent applications, orders & commercial judgments

1. 01How long does the commercial court have to decide an urgent application?

   Three working days from the date the application is referred to the circuit. An urgent application is referred to the competent circuit as soon as it is filed. Where needed, the court may decide it with only the applicant present, and outside official working hours or on official holidays. If the applicant does not attend when it is heard, the court declares it inadmissible.

   SourceCommercial Courts Law, Art. 34 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Arts. 104, 106 and 107 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

2. 02Can an urgent application be filed before the main commercial claim?

   Yes. An urgent application may be filed before or after the main claim. Once the claim is filed, the application may also go to the circuit hearing it at first instance or on appeal. The application must summarise the claim and set out the urgent order sought, its grounds and why the matter is urgent. If the urgent ruling is made before the main claim is filed, the claim must be filed within 7 days or the ruling lapses.

   SourceImplementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Arts. 101 and 102 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Commercial Courts Law, Art. 35 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

   Ask about your own case

3. 03Must the main claim be filed after obtaining an urgent ruling in a commercial matter?

   Yes, if the urgent ruling was made before the main claim was filed. The ruling lapses if the party it favours does not file the main claim within 7 days of its issue. It also lapses if the claimant abandons the case, the case is treated as never filed, or the claimant does not succeed on the main claims. A first-instance judgment rejecting the main claims is not enough on its own to make it lapse.

   SourceCommercial Courts Law, Art. 35 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Art. 112 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

   Ask about your own case

4. 04Can I ask for a precautionary attachment of a company's assets during a commercial dispute?

   Yes. Precautionary attachment is one of the urgent applications listed in Article 36 of the Commercial Courts Law. But having a claim is not enough on its own: the application must show why the matter is urgent, and the court looks only at whether the conditions for urgent relief are met, without deciding whether the right itself is proven. The court may require security to compensate the defendant if the applicant turns out not to be in the right.

   SourceCommercial Courts Law, Arts. 36 and 37 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Arts. 102 and 108 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

   Read moreThe new Enforcement Law: what has changed?

   Ask about your own case

5. 05Can I ask for a judicial receiver over a company or disputed assets?

   Yes. Judicial receivership is one of the urgent applications listed in Article 36 of the Commercial Courts Law. The commercial court hears it where the underlying dispute falls within its jurisdiction and there are urgent grounds for a receiver. It also hears claims and applications concerning the receiver where the dispute relates to a case within its jurisdiction.

   SourceCommercial Courts Law, Arts. 16 and 36 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

   Ask about your own case

6. 06Can I have the state of a project or construction works recorded before it changes?

   Yes. An inspection to record the existing state of affairs is one of the urgent applications under Article 36 of the Commercial Courts Law. The Law of Evidence also allows anyone who fears that the features of a fact likely to be disputed in court will be lost to ask, by urgent application, for it to be inspected and recorded. The court may appoint an expert for the inspection. It is best requested before the works are completed or the site is handed over.

   SourceCommercial Courts Law, Art. 36 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Law of Evidence, Arts. 108 and 109 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

   Ask about your own case

7. 07Can I ask the court to secure important business documents during a dispute?

   Yes. Securing specified documents is one of the urgent applications under Article 36 of the Commercial Courts Law. Identify the documents precisely and explain how they relate to the dispute and why the matter is urgent.

   SourceCommercial Courts Law, Art. 36 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Art. 102 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

   Ask about your own case

8. 08Can the court require security when deciding an urgent application?

   Yes. When hearing urgent applications, the court may ask for security to compensate the defendant if it turns out the claimant was not in the right; the compensation is decided with the judgment on the merits. Security may be a cash deposit, a bank guarantee, a mortgage or a liable guarantor. An application for a travel ban must be accompanied by cash security of at least 2% of the original claim.

   SourceCommercial Courts Law, Art. 37 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Arts. 7 and 113 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

9. 09Does an urgent ruling stay in force once the urgency has passed?

   Not necessarily. Any interested party may ask for the urgent ruling to be cancelled if the urgency has ended, the case has been stayed at the parties' request, the proceedings have been interrupted, or the case has been struck out. It may also be cancelled or varied if a new fact affecting the case arises. Such a request follows the same procedure as an urgent application.

   SourceCommercial Courts Law, Art. 35 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Art. 111 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

   Ask about your own case

10. 10Is a settlement recorded by a commercial judge enforceable?

    Yes. If the parties settle before the circuit, the settlement is recorded in the hearing minutes, signed by the parties and approved by the presiding judge. The approved minutes are an enforceable instrument, a copy is issued in the same way as a judgment, and the case ends. This applies even if the agreement comes after the pleadings close or before the court hearing an appeal.

    SourceCommercial Courts Law, Art. 29 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Art. 63 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

    Read moreJudicial costs in Saudi Arabia: assessment, objection and recoveryOpening an enforcement file under the new Enforcement Law: from instrument to attachment

    Ask about your own case

11. 11Does the defendant's absence halt a commercial case after service?

    No. If the defendant was served in person or through an agent, or either of them attended any hearing, or a defence memorandum was filed, the case proceeds as if the defendant were present, even if absent afterwards. If the defendant was served other than in person and does not attend, the court adjourns to a later hearing and serves notice of it; if the defendant is still absent, the court decides the case and the judgment counts as given in the defendant's presence. Service on a company in accordance with the Law counts as personal service.

    SourceCommercial Courts Law, Art. 30 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

    Read moreA commercial claim: what to prepare before registration, and when it is too late to plead

    Ask about your own case

12. 12Does valid service on a company count as personal service?

    Yes. Service on a legal person in accordance with the Commercial Courts Law always counts as personal service. Service on a company is made on its legal representative, a general partner, the manager or the manager's deputy, its legal department, or the section that receives its correspondence. It is also complete when made on the person authorised in the commercial register to receive notices. That is why a company should keep its address and authorised contact in the register up to date.

    SourceCommercial Courts Law, Arts. 9, 11 and 30 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Art. 40 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

    Read moreThe new commercial register: one register and the annual confirmation

13. 13What happens if the claimant misses a commercial-court hearing without an excuse?

    The case may be decided or struck out. If the case is ready for judgment, the court may decide it at the defendant's request, and the judgment counts as given in the claimant's presence. Otherwise it strikes the case out. The claimant may apply to reinstate it within 30 days of the strike-out. If that period passes without an application, or the claimant is absent after reinstatement, the court on its own motion treats the case as never filed. This does not apply to a hearing set after the pleadings have closed.

    SourceCommercial Courts Law, Art. 31 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Art. 95 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

    Read moreA commercial claim: what to prepare before registration, and when it is too late to plead

    Ask about your own case

14. 14Is a party treated as absent if it joins the hearing before it ends?

    No. Article 32 of the Commercial Courts Law provides that a party who attends before the time set for the hearing to end is not treated as absent. The Regulation sets the rules on attendance and the length of hearings.

    SourceCommercial Courts Law, Art. 32 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

15. 15Within how many days must a copy of a commercial judgment be issued after it is pronounced?

    Within 10 days of pronouncement, unless a special rule applies. The Commercial Courts Law requires a delivery date to be set no later than 20 days after pronouncement, and Article 170 of the Implementing Regulation sets the default at 10 days. In small claims the copy is issued immediately or on a date no more than 5 working days later. The date matters because the appeal period runs from it.

    SourceCommercial Courts Law, Arts. 61 and 79 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Arts. 170 and 250 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

    Read moreAppealing a judgment: what to review before drafting

16. 16Can commercial judgments only be enforced once they are final?

    No. Judgments in urgent cases and payment orders carry provisional enforcement even if the court does not say so. On the request of the successful party, the court may also order provisional enforcement where delay would cause serious harm, or where the judgment rests on an admission of the right or on an ordinary document the losing party did not deny. The court may ask the successful party for security. For judgments with provisional enforcement, it may order enforcement on the basis of the draft judgment.

    SourceCommercial Courts Law, Arts. 64 and 65 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)Implementing Regulation of the Commercial Courts Law, Arts. 177 and 178 (Ministry of Justice legal portal)

    Read moreOpening an enforcement file under the new Enforcement Law: from instrument to attachmentCollecting a debt with no enforcement instrument: from demand letter to payment order to claim

    Ask about your own case

These answers are brief general information. They are no substitute for a review of the facts and documents of a particular matter.