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OCTOBER 2013
Legal Focus
I am in no doubt that selecting a good arbitration centre is no less important than selecting arbitrators who understand the different business culture and the business community of the Arab world, as the arbitrator has to be able to understand differing management styles and traditions.
This factor, of having arbitrators who are not familiar with the business and legal culture in the Arab world, was one of the most important causes for Arab businessmen losing their cases before international arbitration. Those businessmen would lose, not because they were in the wrong, but because their management of their legal affairs, such as cases and contracts in all their phases starting from negotiations and ending with execution and enforcement, is fairly poor.
If you add to this the culture that used to disbelieve in seeking legal help from professional lawyers unless things had got so bad, then you can easily see where the journey of a definite and enviable loss of arbitration cases begins.
Thankfully, more and more businesses now seek our advice beforehand and representation throughout the arbitration process and the results of such a new attitude speak for themselves: success and much better protection of economic interests and business vitality and reputation.
do you foresee the need for legislative change and if so, why?
There has been a recent major reform to the Saudi Arbitration Act; such reform transferred arbitration related laws and regulations in Saudi Arabia into a new reality. The Awards’ Execution Regulations in Saudi Arabia is going to be a further piece of legislation that aims to reinforce the new principles in the Arbitration Act and by doing so the new regulations will bring about more independence and effectiveness to arbitration.
Nevertheless, there is still an important role for bodies like Ministry of Justice, the chambers of commerce, the professional bodies, civil society organizations, business and universities to play in order to help create a healthy environment for arbitration to grow and thrive in Saudi Arabia as the country needs more national qualified arbitrators who are able to maintain and exercise arbitration in high professional, technical and legal, and moral standards.
Please tell us about yourself, your role and your firm.
I began my career after graduation from university where I obtained a certificate of
recognition for academic excellence in 1989, after which I worked as the secretary arbitration at
Jeddah Chamber of
Commerce. Such a position allowed me to be familiar with the alternative dispute resolutions, especially in big commercial cases, such as construction and commercial agencies.
After spending some years working for Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and, after that, for Clifford Chance’s branch in Saudi Arabia, I opened my own law firm in Jeddah in 1995. Five years later I opened my law firm’s branch in Riyadh in 2000 due to business expansion and to serve my clients in the central and eastern parts of Saudi Arabia more closely.
In 2005 I opened The Saudi Law Training Centre (SLTC) to promote legal education and the culture of law in the Saudi society and also to transfer the most important recent legal development and experience to the Saudi legal community.
SLTC began its works promoting the culture of arbitration and alternative dispute resolution receiving support from the Saudi Arbitration Team headed by H.H. Prince Dr. Bandar bin Salman the legal advisor to The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. The centre’s second field of focus was intellectual property laws offering our programmes in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Information.
The Saudi Law Training Centre then continued to offer what it saw as an important topic to the Saudi economy and businesses such as the stock exchange regulations, challenges facing family business, medical
law,
engineering projects, energy contracts and media law.
Currently we have academic and scientific partnerships with Arab and international universities such as La Sorbonne and Roma Tre and also with professional bodies such as the UIA (Union Internationale des Avocats). LM
contact:
dr Majed M Garoub, chairman the Law Firm of Majed M Garoub Website: www.lawgaroub.com Email: majed@lawgaroub.com
Head office, Jeddah the Law Firm of Majed M Garoub P.o. Box 18623 Jeddah 21425 Kingdom of Saudi arabia tel: +966 2 651 8222 Fax: +966 2 6518333
Riyadh office the Law Firm of Majed M Garoub P.o. Box: 67147 Riyadh 11596 Kingdom of Saudi arabia tel: +966 1 408 0058 Fax: +966 1 406 9002
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