Article 1 of the Saudi Juveniles Law Implementing Regulations

This article sets the meanings of the words used in the Implementing Regulations of the Juveniles Law:

• The Law: the Juveniles Law, and the Regulations: its Implementing Regulations.
• The Ministry: the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.
• Juvenile: any male or female who has completed seven years of age but not yet eighteen. Someone who has not completed seven, and someone who has completed eighteen, are not within this definition.
• The court: the court or circuit competent to hear juvenile cases.
• The Home: a body attached to the Ministry, with separate places for placing male juveniles and others for females, and separate places of detention for male detainees and others for female detainees.

Two things appear from the definition of the Home: the separation of males from females, and the separation of places of placement from places of detention. The Home plays a central role in the Regulations: the juvenile is placed there when arrested, his report is recorded there, he is investigated there, and his social report is prepared there.

Because fixing age is the key to applying these provisions, Article 2 explains what the law enforcement authorities do if there is no official document proving the juvenile's age. Anyone with a son or relative in a juvenile case may consult a lawyer specializing in criminal and juvenile cases.