Disputes & ResolutionSettlement Conference
Synonyms: Conciliation Session، Mediation Session، Amicable Settlement Meeting
Last updated: 2026-09-25
Short Definition
A settlement (reconciliation) session is a meeting between the parties to a dispute, held before or during litigation under the supervision of a conciliator, mediator or competent body, to try to reach a consensual settlement that replaces or shortens a court judgment.
Overview
A settlement (reconciliation) session is a meeting between the parties to a dispute, held before or during litigation under the supervision of a conciliator, mediator or competent body, to try to reach a consensual settlement that replaces or shortens a court judgment. It ends either with a settlement document that has the force of an executive instrument, or without agreement, in which case the court or arbitration route continues.
Saudi Arabia has several reconciliation routes. The Ministry of Justice's Reconciliation Center operates through the electronic Taradhi platform, and the Execution Law treats settlement records issued by authorised bodies or certified by the courts as executive instruments. The Law of Civil Procedure allows the parties, at any stage of a case, to ask the court to record their settlement in the minutes, and the court must then issue a deed recording it. The Saudi Real Estate Arbitration Center under the Real Estate General Authority offers an optional reconciliation service for Ejar users, which requires a documented lease and excludes rent-payment and eviction claims where the lease is an executive instrument. Reconciliation is voluntary in principle, except for case classifications that a ministerial decision requires to be referred to reconciliation before registration; in 2021 the Ministry of Justice announced that these include General Court claims such as property rent, eviction and contract rescission, with referral mandatory for money claims of SAR 20,000 or less, and the Commercial Courts Law and its regulation require reconciliation before certain commercial claims are registered.
Contrary to a common belief, the Ejar platform is not a court and does not itself hold settlement sessions; a unified residential lease documented on it is filed directly with the Execution Court as an execution request rather than a lawsuit, so it does not go through a prior settlement session. A substantive claim before the General Court, however, may require referral to reconciliation depending on its classification and value, which becomes apparent when the statement of claim is submitted on Najiz. The practical value lies in the financial incentives: if a case settles before the first hearing is adjourned, judicial costs are refunded, and if it settles after that but before judgment, they are cut to one quarter. For a settlement to hold, it should be documented with specific amounts, payment dates and a clear consequence for default.
⚖️ Legal Basis
Reconciliation rests on Article 70 of the Law of Civil Procedure (M/1 dated 22/1/1435H), which requires the court to issue a deed recording any settlement the parties reach at any stage of the case; Article 9(3) of the Execution Law (M/53 dated 13/8/1433H), which treats settlement records issued by authorised bodies or certified by the courts as executive instruments, with a corresponding provision on settlement agreements and reconciliation documents in the new Execution Law (M/237 dated 3/11/1447H); and Articles 13, 15 and 16 of the Judicial Costs Law on refunding or reducing costs on settlement. The Commercial Courts Law (M/93 dated 15/8/1441H) and its regulation require reconciliation and mediation before certain commercial claims are registered; reconciliation offices operate under rules issued by decision of the Minister of Justice, and in 2021 the Ministry announced case classifications, including property rent and eviction, that must be referred to reconciliation before registration.
💡 Practical Example
When a flat lease in Jeddah ended, the landlord claimed SAR 14,000 in repair costs from the former tenant, while the tenant claimed back a SAR 5,000 deposit. Instead of filing two cases before the General Court, the landlord submitted an online reconciliation request, and a remote session was held in which the parties agreed that the landlord would keep the deposit (SAR 5,000) and the tenant would pay a further SAR 3,000 in two monthly instalments, with the full balance falling due if any instalment was late. A settlement document with the force of an executive instrument was issued, and when the tenant missed the second instalment the landlord filed it directly with the Execution Court. Had they sued and then settled before the first hearing was adjourned, the judicial costs would have been refunded in full.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
- ✗Believing Ejar requires a settlement session before enforcement — Ejar is a documentation platform, and a documented unified residential lease goes directly to the Execution Court.
- ✗Signing a vague settlement without amounts, dates or a default consequence — it is hard to enforce and opens a new dispute.
- ✗Relying on a verbal settlement — it lacks the force of an executive instrument unless documented by an authorised body or certified by the court.
- ✗Using reconciliation as a delaying tactic — challenge periods for judgments do not stop because of settlement talks.
- ✗Ignoring the reconciliation-referral requirement for classifications that need it, such as some property rent and eviction claims and specified commercial claims — the claim may not be registered until this condition is met.
🌍 International Differences
In Turkey, mediation has been a mandatory precondition for tenancy lawsuits since 1 September 2023, with eviction through enforcement offices excluded, a broader requirement than in Saudi Arabia. In the United States a "pretrial conference" is a judge-led case-management hearing that may include discussing settlement, not a stand-alone settlement session. In the UAE some rental dispute centres begin with an amicable-settlement stage before referral for adjudication. In Saudi Arabia reconciliation is optional in principle, with mandatory referral for specified classifications by ministerial decision, backed by strong financial incentives through refunded or reduced judicial costs and by the enforceability of the settlement document.
FAQs
Is reconciliation mandatory before filing a rental claim in Saudi Arabia?▾
Not in every case. In 2021 the Ministry of Justice announced that classifications including property rent, eviction and contract rescission must be referred to reconciliation before filing, with referral mandatory for money claims of SAR 20,000 or less. A documented Ejar residential lease, by contrast, is enforced directly before the Execution Court without a settlement session.
Is a settlement document from the Taradhi platform enforceable?▾
The Execution Law treats settlement records issued by authorised bodies or certified by the courts as executive instruments, so the settlement document can be filed directly with the Execution Court if one party defaults.
What reconciliation service does the Real Estate General Authority offer Ejar users?▾
The Saudi Real Estate Arbitration Center offers an optional reconciliation service to end disputes between Ejar users by mutual consent; it requires a documented lease and excludes rent-payment and eviction claims where the lease is an executive instrument.
Can parties settle after a case has been filed?▾
Yes. At any stage the parties may ask the court to record their settlement, and the court issues a deed. Judicial costs are refunded if they settle before the first hearing is adjourned and cut to one quarter if they settle after it but before judgment.
What happens if the reconciliation session fails?▾
The reconciliation ends without settlement, and each party keeps the right to sue before the competent court or to go to arbitration if there is an arbitration clause or agreement, including before the Saudi Real Estate Arbitration Center.
