Article 83 of the Saudi Civil Transactions Law
المادة 83 من نظام المعاملات المدنية · الفرع الثاني: إبطال العقد وبطلانه أولًا: حق الإبطال
If a contract is annulled or void because a party is partially or wholly incapacitated, he is not bound to return more than the considerable benefit he obtained by reason of performance of the contract.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
في حالتي إبطال العقد أو بطلانه لنقص أهلية المتعاقد أو انعدامها، لا يلزمه أن يرد غير ما عاد عليه من منفعة معتبرة بسبب تنفيذ العقد.
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 83 explained in plain English
This article sets out a special rule to protect a person who is partially or wholly incapacitated, as an exception to the general rule on the effects of nullity and annulment.
The general rule
Article 82 provides that in cases of annulment or nullity of a contract, the contracting parties return to the position they were in before contracting, and if that is impossible, compensation may be awarded. This usually means each party returns what he took.
The special rule in this article
If the reason for annulment or nullity is the partial or total incapacity of the contracting party, that party is not bound to return everything he took, but returns only the considerable benefit he obtained by reason of performance of the contract.
- If he took money and spent it on something that benefited him considerably, he must return the equivalent of that benefit.
- If no considerable benefit came to him from performance, he is not bound to return, according to the text of the article.
The text thus protects a person who is partially or wholly incapacitated, by not obliging him to return except to the extent of the considerable benefit he obtained by reason of performance of the contract.
Assessing whether a benefit is "considerable" and its amount depends on the facts, so a person who dealt with a partially incapacitated person, or the guardian of a partially incapacitated person, is advised to consult a lawyer who specializes in civil cases and contracts.
Practical example
A merchant in Riyadh sold an electronic device to a partially incapacitated young man, and the contract was then annulled for that reason. If the young man destroyed the device without obtaining any considerable benefit from it, he is bound to return only the considerable benefit he obtained by reason of performance of the contract.
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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Frequently asked questions about Article 83 of the Saudi Civil Transactions Law
What must a minor return if the contract is annulled?
He is not bound to return more than the considerable benefit he obtained by reason of performance of the contract.
Does the seller recover everything he paid to the minor?
If the annulment or nullity is for partial or total incapacity, the partially or wholly incapacitated person is bound only to return the considerable benefit he obtained.
More articles on Voidness and Termination of Contracts
- Article 49
The transactions of a minor unable to discern are void.
تصرفات الصغير غير المميز باطلة.
- Article 50
The purely beneficial transactions of a minor able to discern are valid and the purely harmful ones void; those between benefit and harm are valid, and his guardian, executor or he after majority may seek to annul them.
1- إذا كانت تصرفات الصغير المميز نافعةً نفعًا محضًا فهي صحيحة، وإذا كانت ضارةً ضررًا محضًا فهي باطلة. 2- إذا كانت تصرفات الصغير المميز دائرةً بين النفع والضرر ف
- Article 53
The transactions of a spendthrift and of a person of impaired judgment after interdiction are treated like those of a minor able to discern; before interdiction they are valid unless they resulted from exploitation or collusion.
تصرفات السفيه وذي الغفلة بعد الحجر عليهما في حكم تصرفات الصغير المميز، أما تصرفاتهما قبل الحجر فصحيحةٌ إلا إذا كانت نتيجة استغلالٍ أو تواطؤٍ.
- Article 56
If a partially incapacitated person resorts to fraudulent means to conceal his incapacity, he must compensate the other contracting party for the harm caused by the annulment of the contract.
إذا لجأ ناقص الأهلية إلى طرقٍ احتياليَّةٍ لإخفاء نقص أهليته لزمه التعويض عن الضرر الذي أصاب المتعاقد معه بسبب إبطال العقد.
- Article 57
A contracting party may seek annulment of the contract if he made a material mistake without which he would not have agreed to the contract, particularly a mistake in a quality of the subject matter, in the other party's person or quality, or in a statutory ruling.
للمتعاقد طلب إبطال العقد إذا وقع في غلط جوهري لولاه لم يرض بالعقد، وبخاصة إذا كان الغلط الجوهري في صفة المحل أو شخص المتعاقد معه أو صفته أو الحكم النظامي.
- Article 58
A contracting party's mistake is taken into account only if the other party made the same mistake, knew he had made it, or could easily have discovered it.
لا يُعتد بغلط المتعاقد إلا إذا كان المتعاقد الآخر قد وقع معه في الغلط نفسه أو علم بوقوعه فيه أو كان من السهل عليه أن يتبينه
The texts are reproduced from the official website of the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for reference; where they differ, the officially published Arabic text prevails. This content is not legal advice.