Article 1 of the Saudi Emergency Law

This is the definitions article. Its meanings apply wherever these terms appear in the law or in the orders issued under it, unless the context requires otherwise. The main ones are:

• The Council: the Supreme Emergency Council.
• Public entities: ministries, authorities, departments, public institutions and the like, including entities belonging to the regulatory and judicial authorities.
• Emergency event: the event described in Article 2, which defines it as any event or events that cause substantial harm to individuals, critical infrastructure, the environment, health, security, the economy and the like, or an imminent threat of that. Examples include disasters, earthquakes, wars, terrorist operations, epidemics and pandemics.
• State of emergency: the legal state declared by the King in accordance with the provisions of the law to respond to the emergency event, and which requires temporary exceptional measures to deal with it. The occurrence of an emergency event alone does not mean a state of emergency exists; it must be declared.
• Emergency orders: the orders issued under Article 12, which are royal orders issued when needed during the declaration of a state of emergency, containing necessary temporary measures and procedures that have the force of the laws issued by the regulatory authority.
• Critical infrastructure: public and private assets, facilities, utilities, systems and networks, such as roads and water, electricity, oil and telecommunications utilities, whose disruption, destruction or obstructed access leads to the occurrence of the emergency event, the imminent threat of it, or the declaration of a state of emergency.

Note that the definition of critical infrastructure includes private facilities, so facilities owned by companies may fall within this concept. Anyone who needs to know how these definitions affect their establishment can consult a lawyer who specializes in administrative cases.