Article 26 of the Saudi Counter-Terrorism Law Implementing Regulations

This is a closing article that sets the date of effect of the Implementing Regulations of the Law of Combating Crimes of Terrorism and its Financing.

The rule: the Regulations take effect from the day after the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

The practical meaning is that the provisions of the Regulations do not apply on the day of publication itself, but on the day immediately following. There is no long period between publication and application, which means that the bodies addressed by them, such as financial institutions, the specified non-financial businesses and professions, non-profit organizations and the supervisory authorities, are bound by their provisions from that day.

The text before us does not state the publication date itself, so knowing the day the Regulations took effect requires referring to the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Note that the Regulations contain provisions that refer to other bodies to issue requirements or measures, such as Article 20, which obliges financial institutions to follow the wire transfer requirements issued by the Permanent Committee for Combating Terrorism; what those bodies issue is to be consulted at the relevant time.

A person with a question about whether the Regulations apply to a particular incident that occurred close to the date they took effect may consult a lawyer specialized in criminal cases.