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In the GCC, the government is not just a client — it is simultaneously the regulator, the counterparty, and often the shareholder, creating legal situations that have no equivalent in purely private-sector relationships.
Saudi Arabia's 2024 GTPL amendments introduced mandatory e-procurement for all government contracts above SAR 500,000, while the UAE's 2023 Federal Procurement Law created the first unified procurement framework across all federal government entities.
Saudi Arabia's Government Tenders and Procurement Law (Royal Decree M/128 of 2019) creates a specific framework for procurement, variation, price adjustment, and dispute resolution. Private-sector contractors who enter government projects without understanding the GTPL framework make structural errors that they cannot recover from — including accepting dispute resolution mechanisms that route all claims to the Board of Grievances rather than arbitration.
GCC SOEs have varying degrees of sovereign immunity. A claim against Saudi Aramco (a listed company with specific liability provisions) is legally different from a claim against a fully sovereign government entity or a PIF portfolio company. Mapping the precise legal status of the SOE counterparty before a contract is signed determines what enforcement options are available if the relationship breaks down.
Saudi Arabia's National Center for Privatization and PPP (NCP), the UAE's federal and emirate-level PPP frameworks, and Qatar's PPP programme are all creating concession structures with risk allocation fundamentally different from standard construction contracts. The allocation of demand risk, regulatory risk, and change-in-law risk determines whether the concession attracts bankable bids or fails at procurement.
What's at stake
A contractor who accepted a Saudi GTPL dispute resolution clause without understanding that the Board of Grievances process can take 2–4 years to reach a substantive hearing has given up the speed advantage that arbitration provides — on a government contract where payment delays are already structural.
A claim against a sovereign entity that is found to be immune from enforcement leaves the claimant with an award it cannot execute — regardless of the merits, the quantum, or the years of arbitration that produced it.
A PPP concession with inadequate change-in-law protection that is subsequently affected by new environmental regulation, Saudisation requirements, or VAT changes creates a commercial loss that the concessionaire has no contractual right to recover.
Industry challenges
These are the issues that keep decision-makers in your industry awake at night. We hear them every week — and we know how to fix them.
The Board of Grievances (Diwan Al-Mazalim) issued a decision in your favour against a Saudi government entity. But enforcement against government assets in Saudi Arabia follows a different procedure than private-sector enforcement under the Enforcement Law. Government entities can claim that specific assets are sovereign and not subject to execution. The distinction between commercial and sovereign assets is not defined by statute.
Post-decision enforcement delay of 12–24 months. Government entities have successfully argued sovereign asset protection in approximately 40% of enforcement attempts, forcing claimants to identify alternative executable assets or negotiate a reduced settlement.
You obtained an ICC award against a GCC state-owned enterprise. The SOE is now claiming sovereign immunity in the enforcement jurisdiction. Under the 2004 UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities (not yet widely ratified in the GCC) and common-law sovereign immunity doctrine, the distinction between sovereign and commercial acts determines whether immunity applies. The SOE's constitutional charter may provide sovereign status even for commercial activities.
Enforcement blocked for 18–36 months while the immunity question is litigated. If immunity is upheld, the entire award becomes unenforceable. Even if immunity is denied, the enforcement delay allows asset restructuring that reduces recovery rates to 30–50% of the award value.
Your commercial licence was revoked by a regulatory authority citing non-compliance with newly introduced regulations. The revocation was immediate, without the 90-day cure period your licensing agreement specified. The regulatory authority argues that public safety exceptions override contractual notice periods. Your business operations have ceased and your employees' visas are linked to the licence.
Immediate cessation of business operations. Employee visa cancellation triggers within 30 days. Revenue loss during the dispute period — which can exceed 12–18 months for administrative appeals — is typically unrecoverable even if the revocation is overturned.
Don't let these problems compound.
Let's solve them together.
We advise on Saudi GTPL compliance, bid preparation, evaluation criteria challenges, variation and price adjustment claims under GTPL implementing regulations, and dispute resolution before the Board of Grievances. For UAE government contracts, we advise on the 2023 Federal Procurement Law and emirate-specific procurement frameworks. We also assist contractors in understanding the procedural requirements that determine whether a claim survives the GTPL dispute resolution process.
We advise government authorities and private-sector bidders on PPP structuring across BOT, BOO, BOOT, and DBFOM models. Our work covers risk allocation matrices, government support mechanisms (viability gap funding, minimum revenue guarantees), direct agreements with lenders, termination compensation regimes, and the specific requirements for Islamic PPP finance structures (istisna'a-ijara) used in GCC infrastructure.
We challenge licence revocations, regulatory enforcement actions, and administrative decisions through the Board of Grievances (Saudi Arabia), UAE administrative courts, and French Conseil d'État. Our administrative law practice addresses the specific procedural requirements for challenging government decisions in each jurisdiction — including the short limitation periods that apply to administrative appeals.
We advise on SOE counterparty due diligence — mapping the precise legal status (listed company, government-related entity, fully sovereign entity) to determine available enforcement options. We structure contracts with SOEs to include waiver-of-immunity provisions where obtainable and forum selection clauses that maximise enforcement prospects under the New York Convention.
It depends on the contract. Saudi government contracts under GTPL generally route disputes to the Board of Grievances, not commercial arbitration. However, contracts with government-related entities (GREs) that have commercial legal personality may include arbitration clauses. The critical distinction is whether the counterparty is a sovereign ministry or a corporatised entity. Some Saudi SOEs have accepted SCCA and ICC arbitration clauses in recent years — but this must be negotiated before contract signature, not assumed.
Enforcement depends on the SOE's legal status. Listed SOEs like Saudi Aramco have commercial assets subject to execution. Fully sovereign entities may claim immunity. The enforcement strategy must be planned at the contract stage — including forum selection, waiver-of-immunity provisions, and identification of the SOE's commercial assets across jurisdictions. Post-award, enforcement typically involves parallel proceedings in multiple jurisdictions to maximise pressure and recovery.
The Board of Grievances has introduced electronic filing and case management systems, but substantive hearing timelines remain 2–4 years for complex government contract disputes. Acceleration options include requesting expedited procedures for urgent matters, pursuing interim measures to preserve rights during the proceeding, and (in some cases) demonstrating that the delay itself constitutes a denial of justice. Parallel negotiation with the government entity often produces faster commercial outcomes than waiting for the Board's decision.
The three highest-impact risks are: (1) change-in-law — whether the concession agreement protects against regulatory changes that increase costs or reduce revenue; (2) demand risk allocation — whether the government provides minimum revenue guarantees or the concessionaire bears full demand risk; and (3) termination compensation — whether the payment on government-initiated termination covers the full outstanding debt and equity return. Saudi PPP concessions are still standardising, meaning each project's terms are individually negotiated rather than following a model form.
Yes. UAE administrative law provides for judicial review of government administrative decisions, including licence revocations. The challenge must be filed within specific limitation periods (typically 60 days from notification). The grounds for challenge include procedural irregularity (failure to provide the contractually required notice period), disproportionality (the revocation was excessive relative to the violation), and legitimate expectation (the authority previously indicated the conduct was acceptable). Interim relief to suspend the revocation pending the appeal is available but requires demonstrating irreparable harm.
GSDA advised us on a SAR 4 billion government infrastructure contract where the Board of Grievances dispute resolution clause would have trapped us for years. They restructured the dispute mechanism to include SCCA arbitration for commercial claims while preserving the GTPL framework — saving us an estimated 30 months of dispute resolution time.
General Counsel — International Infrastructure Developer, Riyadh
Insights
The GSDA advantage
Direct experience advising government ministries, royal commissions, and sovereign entities in France, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Board of Grievances dispute capability — we understand the procedural requirements that most private-sector lawyers overlook.
Cultural fluency across European and Middle Eastern government institutions, with lawyers who operate in Arabic, French, and English.
PPP and infrastructure concession expertise that combines public-law knowledge with commercial transaction structuring.
Discreet, politically sensitive advice that accounts for the accountability requirements and public scrutiny facing government decision-makers.