Article 3 of the Saudi Civil Defense Law

This article shows that civil defense work is not the responsibility of a single body; many categories of bodies and individuals are relied on to carry it out. The work meant is that provided for in Article 1, such as warning of dangers, firefighting, rescue and first aid, evacuation and shelter plans, shelters, and storing necessary materials.

The categories relied on, according to the text, are three:

• (a) Civilian bodies and persons: ministries and government departments, persons with public and private legal personality, institutions, property owners and occupiers, and owners of cars and other vehicles and their drivers.
• (b) Forces: the civil defense forces, the other internal security forces, the National Guard, and the armed forces.
• (c) Volunteers in civil defense.

This is done according to the plans, rules and procedures set by the Civil Defense Council in coordination with the relevant bodies; the article does not itself specify what each category must do, but refers to what the Council sets.

The article also begins with an important qualification: that this is subject to what the laws provide and what the Supreme Defense Council decides under its own law, meaning this provision does not go beyond what other laws and the Supreme Defense Council decide.

The importance of the article for individuals and companies is that it places them, as owners or occupiers of property or owners of vehicles, among those relied on in civil defense work. It is followed by Article 4, which sets out the components of the civil defense apparatus: the Council, the General Directorate and the committees.