Transformation of the Legal Services Industry in Saudi Arabia - Women in Mediation

Jane Lambert

Yesterday I attended a webinar organized by the Abu Dhabi Global Markets Arbitration Centre and Phoenix Advisors Ltd. on  "Transformation in the Legal Industry" in Saudi Arabia.  The webinar has been recorded and may be viewed here,  It is part of a series of webinars that considers alternative dispute resolution, technology and third party funding in the legal systems of several countries around the world.  The series started in India and will consider legal services in Lagos, New York, London and Abu Dhabi.

Although Saudi Arabia is an important country very little is written about its legal system.  The few publications in English that do exist are not very enlightening.  I once had the pleasure of speaking at the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce International Intellectual Property Conference "Combating Transnational Intellectual Property Crime" in London in 2013 where I had the pleasure of meeting one of the first women to be called to the Saudi Arabia bar as well as some of the kingdom's judges, officials and practitioners.  One of the attendees on the mediator training course that I attended in 2000 was a Saudi lawyer.  That was just about the limit of my previous personal experience of the Saudi legal system before the webinar.

One of the first speakers in the webinar was Rozana T AL Tayyar who founded Taswea, a mediation service in Saudi Arabia.  According to its website:

"TASWEA, previously known as “The Mediation Gateway”, was established in 2015 to promote amicable conflict resolution within the business community in Saudi Arabia to support business sustainability and relationships. Rozana ALTayyar, founder of TASWEA, has 18 years of overall experience in the field, achieving a 70% success rate in 2018."

Ms Al Tayvar reported that mediation is well established in Saudi Arabia and many of the mediators are women.   She mentioned that Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to sign the Singapore Convention on Mediation which the UK has not yet done.

Bearing in mind that I had noted that Saudi women had only recently been allowed to practise law in their country (see Saudi Women can now practise Law 14 Oct 2013) I found Ms A; Tayvar's observations surprising but encouraging.   I asked a question about the sort of work that was referred to mediation generally and more particularly the sort of mediation work that was facilitated by women,  Ms Al Tayvar replied that all sorts of work were mediated and women handled every kind, In answer to a supplemental question, she explained that a legal qualification is not required of mediators.  She explained that she had acquired considerable expertise in financial services and that parties approached her because of that expertise.

Another speaker said that there was a tendency for mediators to adjudicate as well as mediate which is something that we are reluctant to do in this country.  The reasoning in Saudi Arabia seems to be that the mediator's expertise in the subject matter of the dispute qualifies him or her to determine issues in the dispute as well as catalyze negotiation.

Mediation was just one of many topics discussed yesterday.  Some questioners were interested in the use of blockchain technology, smart contracts and artificial intelligence.  There were polls on the effect of coronavirus on legal practice and the factors likely to attract clients which included creative fee arrangements.   I would have appreciated a bit of background on the legal system in the kingdom and how it works in practice but there is only so much that can be achieved in an hour's webinar.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article or any of the topics mentioned in it should message me through my contact page. I shall be glad to reply by phone, VoIP or email.