Sherif Mahmoud
Founding Partner · 15 Sep 2025 · 3 min read
Introduction
The 1983 Riyadh Agreement for Judicial Cooperation, commonly known as the Riyadh Arab Agreement for Judicial Cooperation, is the main reason why foreigners residing in the Arab states that have signed the Agreement can no longer be served with claims and judicial documents in Egypt through the Public Prosecution.
When we go to the court bailiffs' office to serve a statement of claim, a legal notice or any other judicial document on a natural or legal person, the office often refuses to accept the papers, citing the Riyadh Agreement.
What is the Riyadh Agreement?
The Agreement was concluded in 1983 between the Arab states that are members of the League of Arab States. It aims to strengthen judicial cooperation between them in areas including:
- letters rogatory;
- extradition;
- the enforcement of judgments;
- other forms of judicial cooperation.
Egypt signed the Agreement, a presidential decree approved it and it was published in the Official Gazette. It has therefore become part of the Egyptian legal system and is binding on the Egyptian courts.
How service is made under the Agreement
Article 6 of the Agreement provides that judicial and extrajudicial documents issued in one contracting state for service in another must be sent directly from the competent judicial authority of the requesting state to the competent judicial authority of the requested state, through the two ministries of justice or the designated central authorities. The requested state must carry out service in accordance with its own domestic procedures and then return a certificate confirming that service has been made or stating why it could not be.
Under the Agreement, Egypt may not serve opposing parties who reside abroad in an Arab state that has signed it through the Public Prosecution, as was the practice under the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure where no international agreement applies. The route for service set out in the Agreement must be followed instead of service on the Public Prosecution.
Any judicial document must be served through the Egyptian Ministry of Justice, International Cooperation Department, and the notice must give full details of the person to be served in the Arab state where they reside. Any service that does not follow Article 6 of the Agreement, or that is made through the Public Prosecution, is void.
The position of the Court of Cassation
The Court of Cassation has consistently held that:
“where an international agreement has been ratified and published in the Official Gazette, its provisions prevail over those of the Code of Civil and Commercial Procedure, and the procedures it lays down must be followed when serving opposing parties who reside in the states party to the agreement.”