Article 2 of the Saudi Classified Information Penal Law
المادة 2 من نظام عقوبات نشر الوثائق والمعلومات السرية وإفشائها
Article 2 prohibits a public employee or person treated as one, even after his service ends, from publishing any classified document or disclosing any classified information he obtained or learned by virtue of his job, as long as that remains prohibited.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
يحظر على أي موظف عام أو من في حكمه ـ ولو بعد انتهاء خدمته ـ نشر أي وثيقة سرية أو إفشاء أي معلومة سرية حصل عليها أو عرفها بحكم وظيفته وكان نشرها أو إفشاؤها لا يزالان محظورين.
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 2 explained in plain English
This article sets the basic prohibition in the Law, and it is directed to the public employee or person treated as one. Article 3 specifies who is treated as a public employee in applying the provisions of this Law, including those who work for the State permanently or temporarily, and those whom a government body assigns a particular task.
The prohibition includes:
- Publishing any classified document.
- Disclosing any classified information.
Article 1 defines the meaning of a classified document and classified information; their criterion is that their disclosure would harm the State's national security, interests, policies or rights.
The text requires two conditions for the prohibition to apply:
- The employee must have obtained the document or information or learned of it by virtue of his job.
- Its publication or disclosure must still be prohibited; if the prohibition on it has ended it no longer falls within this provision.
The most important part of the article is the phrase "even after his service ends": the employee's duty of confidentiality does not end with his retirement, resignation or the end of his work, as long as the prohibition on that document or information continues.
Note that the prohibition is tied to the classified document or information in the sense set by Article 1, namely that whose disclosure harms the State's national security, interests, policies or rights, and that the regulation on classified documents and its lists issued by the National Center for Documents and Archives is what specifies the names of these documents and their degrees of secrecy.
To assess a particular situation, it is advisable to consult a lawyer specializing in criminal matters.
Practical example
Khaled retired from a government body in Riyadh, and a year later wanted to publish on his social media account the details of a classified document he saw during his work. The end of his service does not lift the prohibition from him; if publication of the document is still prohibited, he is barred from publishing it by the text of this article.
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 2 of the Saudi Classified Information Penal Law
May an employee after retirement publish classified information he learned in his work?
No. The article prohibits publication or disclosure even after the end of service, as long as publication of the document or information is still prohibited.
Does the prohibition cover people who are not government employees?
It covers the public employee and person treated as one, and Article 3 specifies who is treated as a public employee in applying this Law.
What is meant by classified information whose disclosure is prohibited?
Under Article 1, it is what an employee obtains or learns by virtue of his job, information whose disclosure would harm the State's national security, interests, policies or rights.
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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.