Verdict

A verdict (judgment) is the decision the competent court issues on the merits after hearing the claim and the answer and examining the evidence; it settles all or part of the dispute and states each party’s rights and obligations. It is pronounced in a public session, and within no more than twenty days the court issues a judgment deed setting out a summary of the case, the defences, the reasons and the operative part (Articles 164 and 166 of the Law of Civil Procedure). A first-instance judgment is usually not final on issue. Saudi law provides three challenge routes: appeal, cassation and petition for reconsideration. The period to request appeal or audit (tadqiq) is thirty days — ten days in urgent matters — running from receipt of the copy of the judgment deed or the date set for receiving it; once it lapses without a challenge the right is lost and the judgment becomes final (Articles 179 and 187). A cassation request before the Supreme Court must be filed within thirty days (fifteen in urgent matters), and it does not stay execution unless the Supreme Court so orders (Articles 194 and 196). Judgments in minor claims designated by the Supreme Judicial Council are not appealable (Article 185). A judgment’s practical value appears at execution. Court judgments, decisions and orders head the list of executive instruments in Article 9 of the Execution Law, and they may not be forcibly executed while a challenge is still possible unless they carry expedited enforcement (Article 10). A court judgment differs from an Execution Court order on a documented unified Ejar lease — the latter enforces an existing instrument rather than deciding the merits — and an arbitral award is enforced only after an execution order is appended to it.