Judicial Costs Law

Purpose and scope

• Imposes judicial costs on claims and requests before the courts to curb vexatious and non-serious litigation, and sets exclusions, exemptions, reductions and refunds.
• It does not apply to: public criminal and disciplinary cases; personal status court cases except cassation and reconsideration; Board of Grievances cases; estate division cases except cassation and reconsideration; bankruptcy cases; and ex parte applications (Article 2).

Key rules, rights and obligations

• A claim carries costs of no more than 5% of the amount claimed, up to SAR 1 million (Article 3).
• Appeals, cassation, reconsideration, incidental requests, joinder and recusal carry costs of up to SAR 10,000 (Article 7); requests by non-parties for copies or inspection of case papers up to SAR 1,000 (Article 8).
• The losing party bears the costs; the claimant bears the share of any part of his claim that fails; if the case ends in settlement the parties share equally unless agreed otherwise (Article 13).
• Costs are reduced to a quarter if the parties settle before the court after the first hearing and before judgment (Article 15).
• No costs are charged to: prisoners and detainees in non-criminal financial cases; workers claiming dues under employment contracts; and government bodies (Article 17); if the exempt party wins, the other side pays (Article 18).

Violations, penalties and common problems

• If a case is struck off, deemed never filed or dismissed for poor drafting, an extra 25% is charged when it is heard again, borne by the claimant even if he wins (Article 4).
• A rejected action to annul an arbitral award: 1% of the amount awarded, up to SAR 1 million (Article 5).
• Inflating the amount claimed without basis raises the claimant's costs if it is not awarded.

Procedures and key deadlines

• The competent department notifies the claimant of the costs on filing; he may object to the assessment within fifteen days before the court president, whose decision is final (Article 11).
• Non-payment does not prevent filing or hearing, except cassation and reconsideration, where the applicant has thirty days to pay or loses the request (Article 12).
• Costs are refunded if the payer wins, a recusal or correction request is granted, the appealed judgment is reversed, or the claimant withdraws before the first hearing, among other cases (Article 16).
• The final assessment of uncollected costs is an enforcement instrument (Article 14).

An advisory summary prepared by Al-Bayan Al-Wadih Law Firm. It is not an official text and does not replace the law, its implementing regulations, or advice from a specialised lawyer. The official published text and its amendments prevail.