Article 76 of the Saudi Civil Transactions Law

المادة 76 من نظام المعاملات المدنية · الفرع الأول: أركان العقد أولًا: الرضى

The article presumes that every contract whose cause is not stated has a lawful cause, unless evidence to the contrary is established.

Official text (Arabic)

This article has not been amended since the law was issued.

كل عقد لم يُذكر سببه يُفترض أن له سببًا مشروعًا؛ ما لم يقم الدليل على خلاف ذلك.

This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers

Article 76 explained in plain English

This article sets a presumption in favor of the validity of contracts: if a contract does not state its cause, the law presumes that it has a lawful cause.

What does this mean in practice?

The cause of a contract does not have to be stated in it for it to be valid; the absence of a statement of the cause does not mean the cause is absent or unlawful.
The rule is that a contract rests on a lawful cause, which protects everyday dealings from being called into question.
This presumption is rebuttable: whoever claims that a contract has an unlawful cause must establish evidence of that.

This article is linked to Article 75, which provides that a contract is void if the motivating cause for contracting is unlawful, provided it is stated in the contract or indicated by the circumstances of contracting. Article 75 determines when a contract is void because its cause is unlawful, and this article shows that lawfulness is the rule until the contrary is proven.

Reading the two articles together shows that a person who wants to rely on the nullity of a contract because its cause is unlawful bears the burden of proving it, because lawfulness is presumed in a contract.

If a person has something indicating that a contract he concluded, or that was concluded against him, rests on an unlawful cause, he is advised to consult a lawyer who specializes in civil cases and contracts to assess the available evidence.

Practical example

Abdulrahman signed a promissory note to pay a sum to his friend without stating the reason for the obligation. If Abdulrahman later claims that the obligation rested on an unlawful cause, the rule is to presume that the cause is lawful, and it is for him to establish evidence to the contrary.

Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.

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