Regional New York Convention Roadshow in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Report written by Prof. Andrés Jana and Adam Jankowski
Judges from 22 Arab countries convened in Riyadh on 5 February 2026 for ICCA’s third consecutive New York Convention Roadshow in Saudi Arabia. The event was organised by ICCA in partnership with the Arab Center for Legal and Judicial Research and the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA), and formed part of Riyadh International Disputes Week 2026.
Building on the Riyadh programmes held in 2024 and 2025, this year’s Roadshow brought together judges from across Arab jurisdictions for a regional judicial dialogue on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards under the 1958 New York Convention. The format enabled discussion among courts sharing important linguistic, legal and institutional commonalities.
The event was opened by H.E. Justice Ibrahim Al-Atram, President of the Commercial Court in Riyadh and Member of the Supreme Judicial Council of Saudi Arabia; H.E. Marcin Czepelak, Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration; Prof. Andrés Jana, Chair of ICCA’s Judiciary Committee; Ms. Anna Joubin-Bret, Secretary of UNCITRAL; Dr. Hamed Merah, CEO of the SCCA; H.E. Mr. Adel Nassar, Minister of Justice of Lebanon; and Mr. Audley Sheppard KC, ICCA President-Elect.
Experts then led an Article-by-Article review of the New York Convention, followed by discussions on recent developments in the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in selected Arab states. Participants also considered issues regularly arising before national courts, including public policy, the scope of judicial review of awards, and the interaction between domestic arbitration legislation and the Convention.
The programme also included discussion of the practical challenges of enforcement in multi-jurisdictional settings, as well as key statistics and insights from the latest study on Saudi judicial precedents related to arbitration.
ICCA is grateful to its partners, speakers and participants for contributing to another successful Riyadh Roadshow and to the continued judicial dialogue on the application of the New York Convention.