Article 10 of the Saudi Emergency Law

This article deals with what happens after a state of emergency ends. The rule is that the end does not erase everything that resulted during it, since it does not affect three things:

1. Acquired positions, rights and obligations: the legal positions, obligations and acquired rights that arose while the state of emergency was in force remain. A right a person acquired, or an obligation that arose, during that period does not lapse merely because the period ended.

2. Completing procedures already begun: any procedure begun under the provisions of the law or any of the emergency orders may be completed, subject to two exceptions:

• if the relevant emergency order provides otherwise.
• or a final judgment is issued by the competent court regarding that procedure.

3. Final court judgments: any final court judgment issued in implementation of the provisions of the law or the emergency orders issued under it remains.

The purpose is stability: if everything done during a state of emergency fell away when it ended, transactions and rights would be disrupted. This article complements Article 9, which deals with the start of the state, providing that its mere declaration gives no one a right except what is stated in the law or in the declaration; the law thus addresses both the effect of the declaration and the effect of the end.

Note that the exception in paragraph (2) means that a procedure on which a competent court has issued a final judgment follows that judgment. Anyone who is a party to a procedure or obligation that arose during a state of emergency and wants to know their position after it ends can consult a lawyer who specializes in administrative cases.