Since the beginning of the current Hijri year, Saudi courts have received approximately 480 commercial cases against companies and institutions, involving financial disputes and disagreements.
Commercial cases and disputes against small businesses accounted for about 60 percent of these cases.
The Commercial Court in Riyadh handled approximately 58 percent of these cases, with 277 cases.
The Commercial Court in Dammam received 88 cases, followed by the Commercial Court in Jeddah with 42 cases, then Madinah with 28 cases, the General Court in Buraidah with 14 cases, and the courts in the Tabuk region with seven cases.
The General Court in Jazan received six cases, followed by the Abha region with five cases, the courts of Arar and Sakaka with three cases each, and the courts of Najran with two cases.
The Ministry of Justice affirmed that the establishment of commercial courts will contribute to providing the highest level of protection for litigants and expediting the resolution of commercial disputes.
Any of the procedures stipulated in the regulations may be conducted electronically, including the filing and registration of lawsuits and petitions, their consideration, remote oral arguments, the exchange of briefs, the rendering of judgments, and the filing of objections.
The court has jurisdiction to hear disputes arising between merchants in connection with their primary or ancillary commercial activities, as well as lawsuits filed against merchants in commercial contract disputes, provided that the value of the original claim in the case exceeds 100,000 riyals; the Council may, where appropriate, increase this amount.
This is in addition to disputes among partners in a mudarabah partnership, lawsuits and violations arising from the application of the provisions of the Companies Law, lawsuits and violations arising from the application of the provisions of the Bankruptcy Law, as well as claims and violations arising from the application of intellectual property laws, and claims and violations arising from the application of other commercial laws.
It also has jurisdiction to hear cases and petitions relating to judicial custodians, trustees, liquidators, appointed experts, and the like, provided that the dispute relates to a case within the court’s jurisdiction, and claims for damages arising from a case previously heard by the court.
