Article 46 of the Saudi Environment Law

This Article sets out the relationship of the Environment Law to other laws and obligations, in three paragraphs:

1- Application where there is no special provision: The provisions of the Law apply to matters for which there is no special legal provision. But the existence of a special provision does not excuse compliance with the rest of the Law's provisions; that provision must not affect compliance with the other provisions of the Law. This paragraph is subject to paragraph 2, as the phrase "without prejudice to paragraph 2" indicates.

2- The minimum: The provisions of the Law and the regulations represent the minimum for achieving compliance with the controls, standards and measures needed to protect the environment and its sustainability. This means that what the Law and its regulations provide is the level below which environmental compliance may not fall.

3- International and Gulf obligations: Applying the Law does not affect the Kingdom's obligations under the relevant international agreements to which it is a party, or the laws and regulations issued by the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.

The benefit of this Article for facilities and individuals is that complying with a special law that regulates their activity does not replace complying with the other provisions of the Environment Law, and that the Law's standards and regulations are the minimum level of compliance.

The Article comes within the final provisions, after Article 45, which requires lending funds to take environmental considerations into account for projects, and before Article 47, which lists the matters set by the regulations. Deciding which provision applies in a particular case requires examining the relevant texts, and you may wish to consult a lawyer who specializes in environmental law.