Article 172 of the Saudi Criminal Procedure Law

المادة 172 من نظام الإجراءات الجزائية · الفصل السادس: إجراءات الجلسة ونظامها

Article 172 permits each litigant to submit to the court in writing what he has that relates to the case, to be added to its file.

Official text (Arabic)

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

لكل من الخصوم أن يقدم إلى المحكمة ما لديه مما يتعلق بالقضية مكتوبًا؛ لِيُضم إلى ملف القضية.

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 172 explained in plain English

This article establishes a simple but important right for each litigant: to submit to the court, in writing, what he has that relates to the case, to be added to the case file.

The elements of this right, as stated in the text, are:

Who holds it: each of the litigants, without singling out one party over another.
Form: what is submitted must be in writing.
Subject: what relates to the case.
Effect: it is added to the case file.

So alongside oral pleading in the session, a litigant can put his statements, defenses and the information he has in written form that stays in the case file. The article does not specify a particular form for the writing or a deadline for submitting it.

This article is connected to Article 171, which gives the litigants the right to obtain a copy of the expert's report, and to Article 173, which arranges oral pleading: the public prosecutor's claim is heard, then the answer of the accused or his agent or lawyer, then the claim of the private right claimant and then the answer of the accused, with each party entitled to reply, and the accused speaking last.

A lawyer specialized in criminal cases can help prepare what is submitted in writing to the court in a way that serves the case.

Practical example

After one of the sessions in a case before a court in Riyadh, the accused's lawyer prepared a written memorandum containing his defenses and his observations on the evidence, and submitted it to the court to be added to the case file.

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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