Article 11 of the Saudi Enforcement Law

المادة 11 من نظام التنفيذ · الباب الثالث: السند التنفيذي

The article provides that a request to enforce an instrument more than 10 years past its due date is not accepted, without prejudice to the relevant legal provisions.

Official text (Arabic)

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

دون إخلال بما تقضي به الأحكام النظامية ذات الصلة، لا يُقبل طلب التنفيذ بموجب سند تنفيذي مضى على تاريخ استحقاقه أكثر من (عشر) سنوات.

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 11 explained in plain English

This article sets a time limit for accepting an enforcement request, so an enforcement instrument does not remain enforceable indefinitely.

The rule: an enforcement request is not accepted if more than 10 years have passed since the due date of the enforcement instrument.

It is important to note the following:

The period is counted from the due date of the right established in the instrument, as the article states, not from the date of any other step.
The effect the article provides is that the enforcement request is not accepted after the period has passed.
The article begins with the words "without prejudice to the relevant legal provisions", meaning this rule does not cancel what other laws may provide on the subject. The article does not state those provisions.

The practical benefit of this article is that the holder of an enforcement instrument, such as a judgment, cheque or notarized contract, should not delay filing the enforcement request so that the period does not pass. As for counting the period in a particular case or the effect of other laws on it, that needs the opinion of a lawyer specializing in enforcement cases.

This article comes in the chapter on registering the enforcement request and ordering it, and is followed by Article 12, which refers to the Implementing Regulations the cases in which the creditor notifies the debtor before the request is registered.

Practical example

Fahd holds an enforcement instrument whose amount fell due 11 years ago, and he did not file a request to enforce it throughout this period. Under this article the request to enforce this instrument is not accepted, because more than 10 years have passed since its due date, without prejudice to what the relevant legal provisions may provide.

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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