Voluntary Submission To The Saudi Judiciary Analytical Study Of Article (28) Of The Pleading System.

Abstract

Article 28 of the Saudi Law of Procedure before Sharia Courts affirms the right of citizens to voluntary (optional) submission to Saudi courts in cases or circumstances where such courts are not competent in accordance with the rules of international jurisdiction of Saudi courts. Although the text embraced the principle of voluntary submission as a controller of international jurisdiction, it did not address the conditions for such voluntary submission, nor did it address the adverse situation where individuals agree to strip jurisdiction from Saudi courts. Therefore, the research deals with commentary and analytical study of this text in the light of comparative law, in order to show the controls and deficiency of its application. This research aims, by commenting on the aforementioned text, to analyze and evaluate the text and conclude with the validity of provision contained therein in terms of principle, but it criticizes the lack of controls for its application, which prompted the researcher to set these controls using the comparative law. Moreover, the research criticized the duplicity of the Saudi regulator’s position, which allowed for voluntary submission to the Saudi judiciary, however, at the same time, it remained silent regarding the extent to which Saudi courts could face jurisdiction stripping, which also prompted the researcher to study the issue in comparative law. The research concluded with a request to amend the text of Article 28 of the Saudi Law of Procedure before Sharia Courts to add the conditions for voluntary submission and to recognize jurisdiction stripping impact.