Article 175 of the Saudi Criminal Procedure Law

المادة 175 من نظام الإجراءات الجزائية · الفصل السابع: دعوى التزوير الفرعية

Article 175 requires a challenge as forged to be submitted to the court before which the case is pending, specifying the evidence challenged and the support for the forgery.

Official text (Arabic)

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

يقدم الطعن إلى المحكمة المنظورة أمامها الدعوى، ويجب أن يعين فيه الدليل المطعون فيه بالتزوير والمستند على هذا التزوير.

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 175 explained in plain English

This article regulates how a challenge as forged is submitted, which Article 174 permitted to the public prosecutor and the rest of the litigants against any of the case's evidence. It sets three rules for this:

Where it is submitted: the challenge is submitted to the court before which the case is pending, that is, the court hearing the case itself.
Specifying the evidence: the challenge must specify precisely the evidence challenged as forged.
Stating the support: it must specify the support for this forgery, that is, what the challenger relies on in his claim.

So the challenge is not merely a general objection to the evidence, but identifies the particular evidence and what supports the claim that it is forged. The article does not require any other form beyond what it mentions.

After the challenge is submitted, Article 176 regulates what the court does: if it sees a basis for proceeding with verifying the forgery, it must refer the papers to the authority competent under the Law to investigate forgery cases, and must stay the case until the forgery claim is decided if deciding the case before it depends on the challenged paper.

Since specifying the evidence and stating what the challenge relies on are two conditions in the text, it is advisable for a lawyer specialized in criminal cases to draft or review the challenge.

Practical example

Mona believed that a contract submitted by her opponent in a case before a court in Jeddah was forged. Under this article, she submits her challenge to the same court hearing the case, specifying the challenged contract and what she relies on in claiming it is forged.

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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