Article 40 of the Saudi Civil Status Law

This Article complements what Article 39 provides about notifying the police or the administrative governor on finding a newborn foundling and handing him to an approved institution or person for care. After the handover, the stage of registering the child begins, and the Article contains the following rules:

• Duty to notify: the institution or person entrusted with the child's care must notify the competent civil status office within fifteen days of receiving the foundling.
• Recording in the register: the registrar records the child in the register according to the usual procedure.
• Protecting the child in the birth certificate: the child's birth certificate is handed to the institution or person who undertook his upbringing and care, without stating that he is a foundling, which preserves the child's dignity and spares him stigma in his life.
• Parents becoming known later: if one or both parents become known, the child's entry is corrected by decision of the sub-committee.

Article 41 provides that the registrar of the births register draws up the birth certificate in two copies on the prescribed form, adds the entry number and date at its foot, hands one copy to the reporter as the Implementing Regulations specify and sends the second to the department he belongs to.

This Article was amended by Royal Decree No. M/25 dated 1/6/1422 AH. The Article does not state the procedures for submitting a correction request before the sub-committee; anyone who needs this may consult the civil status office or a lawyer who specializes in personal status.