The New Arbitration Law came into force in Saudi Arabia on 9
July 2012 ("New Law"). The New Law, based on the UNCITRAL
Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, removed many of
the barriers of the previous arbitration law so that businesses
could, in theory, have more confidence in arbitration as a means of
dispute resolution in Saudi Arabia. At the time the New Law was
enacted it was envisaged that it would have a wide reaching impact
on both local and international businesses trading in the domestic
market. However, with regards to insurance disputes, it is only
recently that local litigators have seen a change in approach by
the Insurance Disputes Committee ("IDC") towards the New
Law and that the insurance market is starting to see the
benefits.
