Article 3 of the Saudi Law on Replacing Fines with Imprisonment

This article divides the power to issue a decision replacing a fine with compensatory imprisonment according to the type of judgment issued by the Sharia judge (that is, the judge) under the power of discretionary punishment (ta'zir):

• If the judgment combines a fine and imprisonment: the right to issue the decision replacing the fine with compensatory imprisonment belongs to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, within the bases set out in the provisions of this Law.
• If the judgment is a fine only: replacing it with imprisonment is by decision of the Minister of Interior.

This article complements Article 2, which provides that the replacement decision is issued by the Minister of Interior where the public interest requires and on condition that the convicted person's insolvency is established under Sharia, and which sets the method of calculation at SAR 10 for each day of imprisonment and a maximum of one year for a single fine. Article 3 shows that where a fine and imprisonment are combined in a single discretionary judgment, the power moves to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, while the work remains within the bases set out in the Law.

The practical benefit of this article is that the convicted person or his family know the authority from which the decision is issued, according to the type of judgment. Because the article does not mention the procedures or deadlines for submitting a request, a person who needs to know the practical steps in his case is best advised to consult a lawyer who specializes in criminal cases.