Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH —Commercial courts across Saudi Arabia held over 46,000 hearing sessions in its first year of operation.

The Ministry of Justice sees its implementation plans for commercial courts moving steadily on track since it was officially launched in October 2017.

The launch of commercial courts in the Kingdom has positively contributed to establishing a firm ground for a strong and promising economy, the ministry said in a statement.

Historically, commercial cases used to go through the commercial bureau under the umbrella of the Board of Grievances, but since October 2017, all commercial cases have been diverted to the newly established commercial courts.

This has led to holding more than 46,000 sessions so far at an average of 126 sessions per day.

Furthermore, during its first year, commercial courts have had over 10,415 new registered cases of various types. Of them, 15,000 have been closed.

Digital transformation

Commercial courts are making full use of digital transformation initiatives by the Justice Ministry. These new courts are using a «simple to use» electronic portal to receive cases from all involved parties and these portals allow parties to keep track of the progress of cases remotely.

This electronic portal has also helped commercial courts to speed up their daily procedures to provide services, allowing all involved parties to process their papers and claims without having to visit the courts. These services ranged from online applications to quick appointments, smaller cases procedures, and electronic appeals.

Paperless courts

Commercial courts are implementing the «paperless courts» project, minimizing the dependence on papers by redirecting all procedures online. This project succeeded in reducing a big amount of paper waste, enhanced the communication process with clients and beneficiaries through digital system, and are regarded as environmental friendly organizations.

The ministry has published all rulings in commercial disputes issued in the past 12 months on its web portal: www.moj.gov.sa. The move came as part of the ministry’s efforts to support its own research and development plans.

The ministry said it will update the rulings posted online on a monthly basis.

Commercial courts were first launched in October 2017 in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, in addition to a number of commercial sections in general courts across the Kingdom.