Article 22 of the Saudi General Warehouses Law

This article deals with the case of a depositor who does not recover his goods after the deposit period ends, and gives the warehouse keeper a legal way to satisfy his right.

The conditions:

• The term of the deposit contract stated in the storage receipt must have ended.
• The depositor must not have recovered the goods when it ended.
• The warehouse keeper must have warned the depositor.

The procedure:

The warehouse keeper asks the Board of Grievances for permission to sell the goods and satisfy his right from their price. He does not sell them himself without permission.

The Board's role:

It determines the method of sale of the goods in accordance with the enforcement procedures for commercial pledges, and the warehouse keeper then satisfies from the price of the goods the amounts due to him.

This provision is connected to the definition of the general warehouse in Article 2, which is a place for keeping goods for a fixed period until they are delivered in return for a known fee, so if the period ends and the depositor does not take delivery of his goods, the warehouse keeper may ask for permission to sell in order to satisfy what is due to him. The article does not state the content of the warning or its period, nor what happens to any amount in excess of the warehouse keeper's right.

It is followed by Article 23, which sets the penalties for violating the provisions of the Law. A depositor who has received a warning from the warehouse, or a warehouse keeper holding abandoned goods, is best advised to consult a lawyer specializing in commercial matters.