Article 9 of the Saudi Employee Discipline Law
المادة 9 من نظام الانضباط الوظيفي
The article provides for forming, by decision of the Minister, one or more committees in each government body to consider and investigate employee violations, chaired by a legal specialist.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
تشكل لجنة -أو أكثر بحسب الحال- بقرار من الوزير في كل جهة حكومية، تتولى النظر في المخالفات التي يرتكبها الموظفون والتحقيق فيها، وتحدد اللائحة عدد أعضاء كل من اللجان المنصوص عليها في النظام وتشكيلها، وآلية عملها، وإجراءاتها، وطريقة اتخاذ توصياتها، على أن يراعى أن تكون كل لجنة برئاسة متخصص في الأنظمة.
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 9 explained in plain English
This article sets out the body that conducts the investigation into employee violations within each government body, namely the committee for considering violations which Article 1 calls "the Committee".
Its basic provisions:
- A committee, or more than one as the case requires, is formed in each government body.
- It is formed by decision of the Minister, and the Minister under Article 1 is the minister responsible for the affairs of his ministry or the head of the independent body.
- It is responsible for considering the violations committed by employees and investigating them.
- Each committee must be chaired by a specialist in laws.
What the article leaves to the Regulations: the number of members of each committee provided for in the Law, its composition, its way of working, its procedures, and how it adopts its recommendations. These details do not appear in the article and are found in the Implementing Regulations.
It is followed by Article 10, which explains how the employee is referred to this committee, and how its recommendations are submitted to the Minister for approval. It is preceded by Article 8, which provides that the end of an employee's service does not prevent proceedings except in the cases of death or total health incapacity.
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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Frequently asked questions about Article 9 of the Saudi Employee Discipline Law
Who investigates a government employee's violations?
The committee for considering violations does, and one or more committees are formed by decision of the Minister in each government body.
Who chairs the committee for considering violations?
The article requires each committee to be chaired by a specialist in laws.
How many members does a violations committee have?
The article does not specify this, but leaves it to the Implementing Regulations to set the number of members, composition, way of working, procedures and how recommendations are adopted.
More articles on Administrative Investigation of an Employee
- Article 4
The article requires the employee to be investigated, confronted and heard in writing before any penalty, with a reasoned decision, and bars filling the dismissed employee's job before the decision becomes unchallengeable or the judgment final.
1- لا يجوز إيقاع أي جزاء على الموظف إلَّا بعد التحقيق معه، ومواجهته بالمخالفة المنسوبة إليه، وسماع أقواله، وتحقيق دفاعه، وإثبات ذلك كتابة في محضر. ويكون القرار
- Article 10
The article regulates referring the employee to the committee and the Minister's approval of its recommendations, considering dismissal in a special committee, proportionality and non-duplication of penalties, and the Minister's right to refer to the Authority.
مع مراعاة ما نصت عليه كلٌّ من المادتين (الحادية عشرة) و(الثانية عشرة) من النظام: 1- إذا ظهر للجهة ارتكاب موظف لمخالفة، فيحال إلى اللجنة للتحقيق معه للنظر في إيق
- Article 14
The article allows the body employing an employee finally sentenced to a criminal penalty that does not require dismissal by operation of law to refer him to the committee if it considers his act breaches his job duties.
إذا صدر على الموظف حكم قضائي نهائي في دعوى جزائية بعقوبة غير موجبة للفصل بقوة النظام؛ فلجهة عمله إذا رأت أن ارتكابه للفعل يمثل إخلالًا بواجبات وظيفته، أن تحيل ا
- Article 15
The article allows the Authority, in the cases it considers, to close the investigation or propose a penalty specifying the acts attributed, and to refer the file to the employee's body to issue the penalty decision as it sees fit.
للهيئة -في الحالات التي تنظرها- أن تحفظ التحقيق، أو أن تقترح الجزاء المناسب على الموظف، مع بيان الأفعال المنسوبة إليه على وجه التحديد، وتحيل المعاملة إلى جهته ا
- Article 16
The article requires the government body to give the Ministry of Human Resources, the Authority, the General Court of Audit and the employee a copy of the penalty decision, with the Regulations setting the procedures.
تزود الجهة الحكومية المختصة وزارة الموارد البشرية والتنمية الاجتماعية، والهيئة، والديوان العام للمحاسبة، والموظف صاحب الشأن؛ بصورة من القرار الصادر عنها بإيقاع
- Article 19
The article suspends administrative proceedings on the violation and violations connected with it if the employee is referred to criminal investigation or trial over it, until those proceedings end.
في الأحوال التي يتقرر فيها إحالة الموظف إلى التحقيق، أو المحاكمة جنائيًّا، في مخالفة بوشرت فيها إجراءات إدارية أو في مخالفات مرتبطة بها؛ توقف الإجراءات الإدارية
The texts are reproduced from the official website of the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for reference; where they differ, the officially published Arabic text prevails. This content is not legal advice.