DeHeng Middle East/Dubai Office Secured a Win in Saudi Court: Riyadh Commercial Court Declared Former DIFC-LCIA Arbitration Clause Invalid

2025-12-22

Recently, DeHeng Middle East/Dubai Office assisted a Chinese company in prevailing against a Spanish company before the Riyadh Commercial Court in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi commercial court held that the arbitration clause in the parties’ international engineering contract—providing for disputes to be submitted to the Dubai International Financial Centre–London Court of International Arbitration (DIFC-LCIA) Arbitration Centre—was invalid, declared that the Saudi courts had judicial jurisdiction over the case, and ruled in favor of the Chinese company on all claims, ordering the Spanish company to bear all litigation costs. This is the third judgment globally, and the first in the Middle East and North Africa region, to declare a DIFC-LCIA arbitration clause invalid outside the UAE itself, and is regarded as a landmark decision in international arbitration circles.