Article 4 of the Saudi Child Protection Law

This article moves from protecting the child from what is done to them to protecting the child from conduct or circumstances that may lead to delinquency. A child, meaning anyone who has not exceeded eighteen under Article 1, is considered at risk of delinquency in any of the following cases:

1. Engaging in begging or any unlawful work.
2. Escaping the authority of the parents or of whoever is caring for the child.
3. Habitually running away from home or from educational or residential institutions.
4. Habitually sleeping in places not intended for residence or overnight stays.
5. Frequenting places that are morally or socially suspicious or unsuitable for the child's age, or associating with vagrants or corrupt people.
6. Engaging in acts connected with prostitution, immorality, gambling, drugs or the like, or serving those who engage in them.

Note that some of the cases depend on habit: a single escape or an occasional overnight stay away from home does not fall under items 3 and 4 merely by happening, unlike begging or frequenting suspicious places.

The purpose of this description is that the child is viewed here as someone in need of protection, not merely as a wrongdoer, and Article 5 confirms that the child has priority in enjoying protection, care and relief in all circumstances. These cases differ from the cases of abuse and neglect in Article 3, although exploiting a child in begging by someone else counts as abuse under that article.