Article 44 of the Saudi Basic Law of Governance

This Article sets out the general structure of the State's authorities in the Kingdom, which are three:

• The judicial authority;
• The executive authority;
• The regulatory authority.

The Article then establishes two provisions on the relationship between these authorities:

1. Cooperation: the three authorities cooperate in performing their functions, and this is in accordance with this Law and other laws; that is, the work of each authority and its relationship with the others is governed by the Basic Law of Governance and the other laws.
2. Reference: the King is the reference for these authorities.

The text uses the description "the regulatory authority" for the authority responsible for making laws, and this Article does not detail the composition or powers of any authority but is content to state the general framework.

The Article falls at the start of Chapter Six, "The State's Authorities", and later Articles of the Law detail some of these authorities; for example, Article 45 provides that the source of fatwa in the Kingdom is the Book of God Almighty and the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace be upon him, and that the law sets out the organization of the Council of Senior Scholars and the Department of Scientific Research and Fatwa and their powers.

The benefit of the Article to the reader is that it gives a general picture of the division of authorities in the Kingdom and their reference, as an introduction to understanding the Articles specific to each authority.