In force Last amended 29/11/1444 AH
Saudi Law of Sharia Procedure
نظام المرافعات الشرعية
The law covers general provisions, jurisdiction (international, subject-matter and territorial), filing and registering cases, appearance and absence of parties and representation, hearings, defenses, joinder and intervention, and related procedures.
- Articles
- 243
- In force
- 226
- Amended
- 33
- Issued
- 22/1/1435 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم ( م/1 ) بتاريخ 22 / 1 / 1435
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Law of Sharia Procedure by topic
Notification and Deadlines31 articlesJudicial Jurisdiction24 articlesFiling and Registering a Case11 articlesAttendance and Absence of Parties15 articlesHearing Procedures19 articlesDefenses and Incidental Requests17 articlesStay, Interruption and Abandonment of a Case10 articlesRecusal and Withdrawal of Judges9 articlesEvidence Procedures61 articlesIssuing the Judgment25 articlesAppeal, Cassation and Petition for Reconsideration34 articlesUrgent Proceedings11 articlesHeirs' Inventory and Non-Contentious Matters14 articles
Articles of the Saudi Law of Sharia Procedure
الباب الأول: أحكام عامةArticles 1–23
- Article 1Article 1 provides that courts apply Sharia rulings as indicated by the Quran and the Sunnah and the regulations issued by the ruler that do not conflict with them, and follow the Law of Sharia Procedure in procedures.
- Article 2Article 2 provides that every procedural step validly completed under a law in force remains valid, unless the Law of Sharia Procedure provides otherwise.
- Article 3Article 3 requires a lawful, existing interest for any request or defense to be accepted, with a potential interest sufficient in two cases, and requires the court to reject a sham or malicious case.
- Article 4Article 4 provides that a hisbah case may be filed only through the public prosecutor after the King's approval, and is not heard after 60 days from the date the claimed right arose.
- Article 5Article 5 provides that a procedure is void if the Law says so or if a defect defeats its purpose, but voidness is not ruled where the procedure's purpose was achieved despite an express provision.
- Article 6Article 6 requires a clerk to attend with the judge at hearings and in all case procedures to draft the record and sign it with him, and lets the judge do so himself if the clerk cannot attend.
- Article 7Article 7 bars bailiffs, clerks and other court aides from performing work within their duties in cases concerning themselves, their spouses or their relatives or in-laws up to the fourth degree, on pain of voidness.Amended
- Article 8Article 8 provides that the periods and time limits in the Law of Sharia Procedure are calculated by the Umm al-Qura calendar, and that sunset ends each day.
- Article 9Article 9 defines a person's place of residence as where he habitually lives (with special rules for nomadic Bedouins, detainees and prisoners), allows choosing a special place to receive notices, and requires telling the court of any change.
- Article 10The article bars transferring a case properly filed before a competent court to another court or body, or withdrawing it before judgment, and treats the case as filed from the date of its registration.
- Article 111- يكون التبليغ بوساطة المحضرين بناء على أمر القاضي أو طلب الخصم أو إدارة المحكمة، ويقوم الخصوم أو وكلاؤهم بمتابعة الإجراءات وتقديم…Amended
- Article 12لا يجوز إجراء أي تبليغ في مكان الإقامة قبل شروق الشمس ولا بعد غروبها، ولافي أيام العطل الرسمية، إلا في حالات الضرورة وبإذن كتابي من القاضي.Amended
- Article 13يجب أن يكون التبليغ من نسختين متطابقتين، إحداهما أصل، والأخرى صورة، وإذا تعدد من وجه إليهم تعّين تعدد الصور بقدر عددهم. ويجب أن يشمل…Amended
- Article 14Article 14 sets the order in which a bailiff delivers a copy of the notice (to the person, then someone standing in for him, then the neighborhood head, police, center head or tribal identifier), with a registered letter within 24 hours, and the notice takes effect from delivery.
- Article 15Article 15 requires center heads, police stations, neighborhood heads and tribal identifiers to assist the bailiff in carrying out his task, within their jurisdiction.
- Article 16يكون التبليغ نظاميًا متى سلم إلى شخص من وجه إليه ولو في غير مكان إقامته أو عمله.Amended
- Article 17The article states to whom the copy of the notice is delivered according to the status of the person being served, such as government bodies, companies, military personnel, persons under interdiction, prisoners and those with no address.
- Article 18Article 18 provides that where a person to be notified under Article 17 (or his deputy) refuses to receive the copy or sign its original, the bailiff records the refusal and delivers the copy to the competent emirate or the body it designates, and the notice takes effect from delivery.
- Article 19The article provides that a person residing outside the Kingdom is served by sending the copy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for diplomatic delivery, and a reply confirming it reached him is sufficient.
- Article 20Article 20 provides that where the place of notification is inside the Kingdom but outside the hearing court's jurisdiction, the papers are sent from that court to the court within whose jurisdiction the notification falls.
- Article 21Article 21 adds 60 days to the legal time limits for a person whose place of residence is outside the Kingdom, and allows the court, where necessary, to extend this by a similar period.
- Article 22Article 22 sets the rules for calculating time limits: the day of the announcement is not counted, a period in which the step must be taken expires at the end of its last day, and a limit ending on an official holiday extends to the next working day.
- Article 23The article makes Arabic the official language of the courts, requires hearing non-Arabic speakers through an interpreter, and requires an approved translation from a licensed office for foreign-language papers.
الباب الثاني: الاختصاصArticles 24–40
- Article 24Article 24 gives the courts of the Kingdom jurisdiction over cases brought against a Saudi even if he has no general or chosen residence in the Kingdom, except real actions concerning real estate outside the Kingdom.
- Article 25The article makes the Kingdom's courts competent over claims against a non-Saudi who has a general or chosen place of residence in the Kingdom, except real actions concerning real estate outside it.
- Article 26The article sets three cases in which the Kingdom's courts are competent over a claim against a non-Saudi with no general or chosen place of residence in it: property or obligation, bankruptcy, and multiple defendants.
- Article 27The article sets cases in which the Kingdom's courts are competent over a claim against a non-Saudi Muslim with no place of residence in it, relating to marriage, divorce, maintenance, lineage, guardianship and other personal status matters.
- Article 28The article makes the Kingdom's courts competent over a claim if both litigants accept their jurisdiction, even if it does not fall within it, except real actions concerning real estate outside the Kingdom.
- Article 29The article makes the Kingdom's courts competent to take precautionary and interim measures enforced in the Kingdom, even if they are not competent over the original claim.
- Article 30Article 30 provides that the jurisdiction of the courts of the Kingdom over the original case carries with it jurisdiction over preliminary questions, incidental requests and requests connected to the case that the proper course of justice requires be heard with it.
- Article 31Article 31 gives the general courts jurisdiction over all cases outside the jurisdiction of other courts, notaries and the Board of Grievances, and specifically over real estate cases and cases arising from traffic accidents and traffic violations.Amended
- Article 32The article makes the general court in a governorate or district without a specialized court competent over what falls within that court's jurisdiction, unless the Supreme Judicial Council decides otherwise.
- Article 33The article sets the jurisdiction of the personal status courts over all personal status matters, including marriage, divorce, custody, maintenance, inheritance, determining heirs and guardianship, and the claims arising from them.
- Article 34Article 34 gives the labor courts jurisdiction over disputes on employment contracts, wages, work injuries, disciplinary penalties, dismissal, Labor Law penalties, social insurance complaints after an objection is rejected, and government workers under the Labor Law.
- Article 35تختص المحاكم التجارية بالنظر في الآتي: أ - جميع المنازعات التجارية الأصلية والتبعية التي تحدث بين التجار. ب - الدعاوى التي تقام على التاجر…Repealed
- Article 36Article 36 sets the general rule on territorial jurisdiction: a case is filed in the court of the defendant's place of residence, then the plaintiff's if the defendant has none in the Kingdom, with rules for multiple defendants.
- Article 37Article 37 provides that a case against a government body is brought in the court within whose area its main headquarters falls, and may be filed with the branch's court in matters relating to that branch.
- Article 38Claims concerning companies, associations and private institutions are filed in the court of their administrative center, and may be filed with the branch's court on matters relating to that branch.
- Article 39Article 39 gives the plaintiff a choice of court in maintenance cases, a woman's cases on marital matters, custody, visitation and guardians' prevention of marriage, and traffic accident cases.
- Article 40Article 40 provides that a city, governorate or center is the territorial area of the court located in it, with the Supreme Judicial Council allocating areas among several courts, and conflicts of territorial jurisdiction referred to the Supreme Court.
الباب الثالث: رفع الدعوى وقيدهاArticles 41–48
- Article 41Article 41 requires a case to be filed by a signed statement of claim with specified details, bars combining unrelated requests, and applies the rules of other labor disputes to collective labor disputes.Amended
- Article 42The competent clerk registers the case on the day its statement of claim is submitted after recording the hearing date, and hands the original and copies to the process server or claimant for service by the next day at the latest.
- Article 43The process server or claimant must deliver a copy of the statement of claim to the defendant within 15 days at most, or before the hearing if it is sooner, observing the appearance period.
- Article 44The article sets the appearance period at eight days before the general court and four days before the labor, commercial and personal status courts, and allows it to be shortened to 24 hours on conditions.
- Article 45The article requires the defendant to file his defense memorandum three days before the hearing before the general court and one day before others, except urgent claims and those where the appearance period was shortened.
- Article 46Failing to observe the time limit for delivering the statement of claim or the appearance period does not invalidate the statement, while the served party keeps the right to a postponement to complete the period.
- Article 47If both litigants come to court of their own accord and ask for their dispute to be heard, the court hears it at once if possible, even if outside its territorial jurisdiction, and otherwise sets a hearing.
- Article 48If the court has set a hearing for two litigants and they appear at a time other than the one set and ask for their dispute to be heard, the court must grant their request if possible.
الباب الرابع: حضور الخصوم وغيابهم والتوكيل في الخصومةArticles 49–60
- Article 49Litigants attend on the day the case is heard in person or through a representative, and a representative who is an agent must be someone with the right to act as an agent under the law.
- Article 50The article requires the agent to declare his attendance on behalf of his principal and file a certified copy of his power of attorney, allows proving the authorization at the hearing, and applies the filing duty to guardians, legal guardians and trustees.
- Article 51What an agent states in his principal's presence counts as the principal's own admission unless he denies it at the hearing, and in the principal's absence the agent has no power over serious acts such as admission, settlement and waiver without special authorization.
- Article 52An agent's withdrawal or dismissal without the court's approval does not stop the proceedings, unless the principal informs his opponent of appointing another agent or of his intention to pursue the claim himself.
- Article 53If it appears to the court that the agent asks for extensions too often on the pretext of consulting his principal in order to stall, it may require the principal himself or another agent.
- Article 54The article bars the judge, members of the Investigation and Public Prosecution Authority and court staff from acting as agents for litigants, even before another court, except for their spouses, ascendants, descendants and those under their guardianship.
- Article 55If the claimant is absent from any hearing without an acceptable excuse the court may strike the claim, and it is treated as never filed if 60 days pass without a request to proceed or he does not attend after proceedings resume.Amended
- Article 56If the claimant is absent from the hearings under Article 55, the defendant may ask for judgment on the substance of the claim; the court rules if the claim is ready for judgment, and its judgment counts as given in the claimant's presence.Amended
- Article 57The article explains the effect of the defendant's absence and when a judgment against him is in his absence or in his presence, and allows compelling his attendance in marital, custody, maintenance, visitation and guardians' refusal-to-marry matters.
- Article 58If there are several defendants, some served in person and some not, and they are absent, the claim must be adjourned (unless urgent) to serve those not served in person, and the judgment counts as given in presence for those served.
- Article 59Someone who attends thirty minutes before the set end of the hearing is not considered absent if the hearing has not convened, and someone who attends while the hearing is still in session is considered present.
- Article 60The article allows a person sentenced in his absence to object to the judgment before the court that issued it within the objection periods, and regulates the objection memorandum, the effect of his absence and stay of enforcement.
الباب الخامس: إجراءات الجلسات ونظامهاArticles 61–74
- Article 61The number of judges required by law must attend the pleading hearings; if short, the court president assigns someone to complete it, and if that is not possible the president of the Supreme Judicial Council does.
- Article 62The recording clerk prepares for each day a list of the claims scheduled, ordered by their hearing time, and it is announced, after being shown to the judge, on the board provided for it before the day of the hearings.
- Article 63The article provides that litigants are called at the time set for hearing their case.
- Article 64The rule is that pleading is public, and the judge may hold it in private, on his own motion or at a litigant's request, to maintain order, observe public morals or protect family privacy.
- Article 65The article makes the proceedings for hearing the claim and the pleading written while allowing the parties to be heard orally, and requires the court to give litigants suitable time limits to review documents.Amended
- Article 66The article requires the judge to ask the claimant what is needed to settle the statement of his claim before questioning the defendant, and to dismiss the claim if the claimant cannot or refuses to settle it.
- Article 67If a defendant refuses to answer, or answers with something unrelated to the claim, the judge repeats the request for a proper answer three times in the same session; if the defendant persists, he treats them as refusing to answer after a warning.
- Article 68The judge may grant a party who asks for time to respond to a valid defense a grace period if he sees it is necessary, and the period is not repeated for a single response unless for an excuse the judge accepts.
- Article 69Pleadings close as soon as the parties finish, but before pronouncing judgment the court may reopen them and return the case to the session roll for acceptable reasons.
- Article 70At any stage of the case the parties may ask to have what they agreed on, such as an admission or settlement, recorded in the case record, and the court must issue a deed to that effect.
- Article 71The court clerk, under the judge's supervision, records the pleadings in the record with specified details; the judge, the clerk and those named in it sign, and any refusal to sign is noted.
- Article 72Statements in case petitions, notifications, case records, reports and the like may be recorded electronically, and they have the effect of written documents under the Electronic Transactions Law.
- Article 73The article gives the presiding judge authority to run the session and remove anyone who disrupts it, with detention of up to 24 hours, regulates crimes inside the session, and gives the court that issued the judgment jurisdiction over delay-damages claims.
- Article 74The presiding judge puts the questions to the parties, witnesses and others; members and parties may ask him to put their questions, and he may delegate this to a member.
الباب السادس: الدفوع والإدخال والتدخل والطلبات العارضةArticles 75–85
- Article 75A defense that the case petition is void, that the court lacks territorial jurisdiction, or that the case should be referred to another court must be raised before any request, defense or objection to admissibility, otherwise the right to raise it is lost.
- Article 76Defenses of lack of jurisdiction (authority, type or value of the case), of inadmissibility, and of a matter already adjudicated may be raised at any stage, and the court rules on them on its own.
- Article 77The court rules on the defenses in Articles 75 and 76 separately, unless it decides to join them to the merits of the case, in which case it states what it ruled on each defense and on the merits.
- Article 78If the court rules that it lacks jurisdiction and the ruling becomes final, it must refer the case to the competent court and notify the parties, subject to Article 178.
- Article 79A party may ask the court to bring into the case anyone who could properly have been sued when it was filed; the usual summons procedures apply, and the court rules on the request and the original case in one judgment where possible.
- Article 80The court, on its own or at a party's request, may order the joining of anyone whose joining serves justice or reveals the truth, and sets a date for his appearance not exceeding 15 days.
- Article 81Any interested person may intervene in the case, joining one of the parties or seeking a judgment for himself on a related claim, by petition or orally in the session; intervention is not accepted after pleadings close.
- Article 82Incidental claims are submitted by the plaintiff or the defendant by a petition notified before the session or orally in the session in the opponent's presence, and are not accepted after pleadings close.
- Article 83The article sets the incidental claims the plaintiff may submit: correcting or amending the claim, complementary or related claims, a change of cause, a precautionary or temporary measure, and what the court permits.
- Article 84The article sets the incidental claims the defendant may submit: judicial set-off, compensation for harm from the case or a procedure in it, claims that would defeat or limit the plaintiff's claims, inseparable related claims, and what the court permits.
- Article 85The court rules on incidental claims together with the original case where possible; otherwise it holds the incidental claim back to rule on it after investigating it.
الباب السابع: وقف الخصومة وانقطاعها وتركهاArticles 86–93
- Article 86A case may be stayed by the parties' agreement for no more than 6 months from the court's approval; if they do not resume within 10 days after the period ends, the plaintiff is deemed to have abandoned his case.
- Article 87If the court considers that its judgment on the merits depends on deciding another matter, it orders the case stayed, and the parties may ask to proceed once the reason for the stay ends.
- Article 88Proceedings are interrupted by the death of a party, loss of his capacity to litigate, or end of the capacity of his representative, unless the case is ready for judgment; the end of an agency does not interrupt them.
- Article 89A case is considered ready for judgment on its merits if the parties made their closing statements and requests in the pleading session before the reason for interruption arose.
- Article 90Interruption of the litigation stops all pleading deadlines running against the parties and invalidates all procedures carried out during the interruption.
- Article 91A case interrupted is resumed at the request of a party by a summons properly notified to the successor of the person affected by the reason for interruption or to the other party, or by the successor's appearance at the set session.
- Article 92A plaintiff may abandon the litigation by one of the specified means, such as notification, a signed memorandum or an oral request in the session; after the defendant raises his defenses, abandonment requires his acceptance.
- Article 93Abandonment results in cancelling all the proceedings of the litigation, including the case petition, without affecting the right claimed.
الباب الثامن: تنحي القضاة وردهم عن الحكمArticles 94–100
- Article 94A judge is barred from hearing a case, even if no party asks, in specified situations such as relationship or marriage ties to the fourth degree, an existing dispute, agency, interest, and prior fatwa or involvement in the case.
- Article 95A judge's work or judgment is void in the situations of bar in Article 94 even if done by agreement of the parties; if the voidness occurs in an affirmed judgment, a party may ask the Supreme Court to set it aside.
- Article 96The article sets the grounds on which a judge may be recused from hearing a case, and provides that filing a recusal request stays the case until it is decided.
- Article 97A judge may not refrain from deciding a case before him except where he is barred from hearing it or a ground for recusal exists, and he must inform his direct superior to be permitted to step aside and have it recorded.
- Article 98Article 98 permits a party to ask for a judge's recusal if a ground exists and he has not stepped aside, and sets when the request must be made and when the right is lost.
- Article 99The article sets the form of a recusal request: a signed report deposited with the court administration, stating the grounds and accompanied by supporting papers.
- Article 100The article regulates deciding a recusal request: the judge is informed at once, writes to the court president within 4 days, who decides, and an order rejecting the request is final.
الباب التاسع: إجراءات الإثباتArticles 101–158
- Article 101The article requires that facts to be proved during pleadings be related to the case, material to it, and admissible.
- Article 102If a party's evidence is in a place outside the court's jurisdiction, the court must delegate the judge of that place to hear and vet the evidence.
- Article 103The court may withdraw from evidentiary procedures it ordered, provided it states the reasons in the record, and may decline to adopt a procedure's result, provided it states the reasons in its judgment.
- Article 104The court may question a party who is present, and any party may ask to question his opponent who is present; the answer is given in the same session unless the court grants time, and in the requester's presence.
- Article 105The court may order a party to attend to be questioned, on its own or at his opponent's request, if it sees a need, and the person it decides to question must attend the session it sets.
- Article 106A party with an acceptable excuse is questioned at his place of residence by the judge or someone he appoints; if he is outside the court's jurisdiction, the judge delegates the court of his residence.
- Article 107If a party fails to attend questioning without an acceptable excuse, or attends and refuses to answer without justification, the court may hear the evidence and draw inferences, and if he has no evidence he is treated as refusing to answer.
- Article 108A party's admission, in questioning or without it, is binding only on him, and it must be made before the court while the case concerning the admitted fact is in progress.
- Article 109For an admission to be valid, the person admitting must be of sound mind, an adult, acting by choice and not under interdiction; the admission of a person under interdiction for imprudence is accepted in whatever Sharia does not interdict him in.
- Article 110An admission is not divided against the person making it: the harmful part is not taken and the favorable part left, but it is taken as a whole, unless it concerns multiple facts, the existence of one not necessarily implying the others.
- Article 111A person who administers the oath to his opponent must state precisely the facts on which he wants him to swear; the court prepares the oath wording required by Sharia, and the oath of a person who cannot speak is accepted by his understood gesture if he cannot write.
- Article 112An oath, and refusal to take it, take place only before the judge of the case in the court session and have no weight outside it, unless a provision provides otherwise.
- Article 113A person called to court to take an oath must attend; he must swear at once or return the oath to his opponent, otherwise he is treated as refusing, and refusing, failing to attend without excuse, or an unconvincing objection also makes him a refuser.
- Article 114If the person to whom the oath is administered has an excuse preventing attendance, the court goes to have him swear or assigns one of its judges, or delegates the court of his residence if he is outside its jurisdiction, with a signed record.
- Article 115An oath must be taken in the presence of the person who requested it, unless he declares that he waives attending or fails to attend without an acceptable excuse while knowing of the session.
- Article 116The court may decide, on its own or at a party's request, to inspect the disputed thing by having it brought to court if possible, by going to it, or by assigning one of its members, stating the inspection date, and may delegate the court of the thing's location.
- Article 117The court, or the assigned or delegated judge, must invite the parties at least 24 hours before the set date, excluding travel time, by a notice stating the place, day and hour; the court may take custody of the thing to be inspected.
- Article 118The court, and the assigned or delegated judge for an inspection, may appoint one or more experts to assist in the inspection and may hear witnesses they see fit at the site of the dispute.
- Article 119A record of the inspection result must be drawn up, signed by the inspector, the clerk and those of the experts, witnesses and parties who attended, and entered in the case record.
- Article 120A person with an interest may bring an urgent case before the court competent by place to inspect a fact that may become the subject of a future dispute and record its condition in the presence of those concerned.
- Article 121A party asking during pleadings to prove by witnesses must state in the session, in writing or orally, the facts he wants to prove; if the court finds them provable, it decides to hear the witnesses, sets a session, and asks him to bring them.
- Article 122A witness with an excuse preventing him from attending is heard by the judge going to him or by a judge the court assigns; if he resides outside the court's jurisdiction, the court delegates the court of his residence.
- Article 123Each witness is heard separately in the presence of the parties and without the other witnesses; the absence of the party testified against does not prevent hearing, and the witness must state his full name, age, occupation, residence and connection to the parties, with his identity verified.
- Article 124Testimony must be given orally, and written notes may not be used except with the judge's permission and where the nature of the case justifies it; the party testified against may show the court anything that undermines the witness or his testimony.
- Article 125The judge may put to the witness, on his own or at a party's request, whatever questions he sees as useful in uncovering the truth, and must grant a party's request unless the question is immaterial.
- Article 126A party who asks for time to bring absent witnesses gets the shortest sufficient period; if he fails, he gets another with a warning, then the court may decide, preserving his right to sue if he had an excuse.
- Article 127The article requires a witness's testimony and answers to be recorded in the case record in the first person without change, read back to the witness, who may amend it, and signed by the witness and the judge.
- Article 128The article allows the court to appoint one or more experts and to set their task, deadlines and advance on fees, refers fee rules and the expertise department's powers to the regulations, and sets conditions for the experts list.
- Article 129If a party does not deposit the expert's amount by the deadline, the other party may deposit it and keep his right of recourse; if neither does and the case depends on the expert, the court may stay the case.
- Article 130If the parties agree on a particular expert, the court may approve their agreement; otherwise it chooses whomever it sees fit and must give its reason.
- Article 131The article requires the court to call the expert within 3 days of the deposit, explain his task and give him a copy of the appointment decision, and allows him to review the case file but not copy from it without permission.
- Article 132The article allows an expert not attached to the court to ask to be relieved within 3 days of receiving the appointment decision, in which case the court appoints a replacement and may charge an expert who does not perform his task with the costs he caused.
- Article 133The article allows experts to be challenged on the grounds that permit challenging judges; the court decides the request by an unappealable judgment, and it is not accepted from the party who chose the expert unless the ground is new, or after pleadings close.
- Article 134The article requires the expert to set a start date no later than 10 days after receiving the appointment decision, notify the parties of the meeting place and time, and proceed with his work even in their absence if they were properly summoned.
- Article 135The article requires the expert to prepare a detailed record of his work and the parties' attendance and statements, plus a signed report with his result, opinion and reasons; if experts differ, they submit one report stating each one's opinion.
- Article 136The article requires the expert to deposit his report, work records and papers handed to him with the court administration, and to notify the parties of the deposit within 24 hours by registered letter.
- Article 137The article allows the court to call the expert to discuss his report, send the report back to him to correct an error or deficiency, or assign that to one or more other experts.
- Article 138The article provides that the expert's opinion does not bind the court, but the court draws guidance from it in its judgment.
- Article 139The article divides written evidence into an official paper, in which a public employee records what was done before him, and an ordinary paper bearing the signature, seal or thumbprint of the person it came from.
- Article 140The article allows the court to assess whether scraping, erasure, interlineation and other physical defects deprive a paper of its value as evidence, and to question its author if it doubts the paper's authenticity.
- Article 141Official papers may be challenged only by alleging forgery, unless they state something contrary to the provisions of Islamic Sharia.
- Article 142If the person to whom a paper is attributed, or his successor or representative, denies his handwriting, signature, thumbprint or seal, the paper is relevant and the case facts do not convince the court, it may order a comparison by an expert.
- Article 143The article provides that comparison of a denied handwriting, signature, thumbprint or seal is made against what is established of the handwriting, signature, thumbprint or seal of the person to whom the paper is attributed.
- Article 144The article requires the judge and clerk to sign the disputed paper to show they have seen it, and a record to be drawn up in the case record describing its condition, signed by the judge, the clerk and the parties.
- Article 145The article requires the parties to attend at the time the judge sets to submit comparison papers; a party bearing the burden of proof who is absent without excuse may lose his right to prove with the disputed paper, and if his opponent is absent the papers may be treated as suitable.
- Article 146The article requires the judge and the clerk to sign the comparison papers before starting the comparison and to state this in the record.
- Article 147If the original of an official paper exists, a certified copy issued by a public employee within his jurisdiction has the force of the original, unless a party disputes it, in which case it is checked against the original; an uncertified copy cannot be relied on.
- Article 148The article allows the holder of an ordinary paper to sue the person against whom it states a right so that he acknowledges it, even if the obligation is not yet due, and the court records an acknowledgment or orders the paper verified if he denies it.
- Article 149The article allows the court, on its own or at a party's request, to order documents obtained from government bodies if the party cannot get them, or a third party to be brought in to produce documents in his possession.
- Article 150The article allows alleging forgery at any stage of the case by a petition to the court administration stating every alleged instance and the investigation procedures; the other side may halt the investigation by giving up reliance on the paper, and the court may seize or preserve it.
- Article 151The article requires the person alleging forgery to hand the challenged paper, or the copy served on him, to the court administration; if it is with his opponent, the judge orders him to hand it over, and if he refuses and it cannot be found it is treated as non-existent.
- Article 152The court orders an investigation into the allegation of forgery if it is relevant to the dispute, the case facts and documents do not convince it of the paper's authenticity or forgery, and it finds the investigation requested by the challenger relevant.
- Article 153If forgery of a paper is proved, the court must send it with copies of the related records to the competent authority to take the necessary criminal procedures.
- Article 154The court may, even if forgery was not alleged before it, rule to exclude any paper that appears forged or suspect, and may disregard a paper whose authenticity it doubts, stating in its judgment the circumstances and indications.
- Article 155The article allows a person who fears a forged paper will be used against him to sue the holder of the paper and whoever benefits from it for a judgment declaring it forged, by a statement of claim under the usual procedures.
- Article 156The article allows the judge to infer one or more presumptions from the case facts or from discussion with the parties or witnesses, to base his judgment on or to complete an incomplete piece of evidence.
- Article 157The article gives each litigant the right to prove the opposite of a presumption the judge has inferred, and if he proves it, the presumption loses its value as evidence.
- Article 158The article makes possession of movable property a simple presumption of the possessor's ownership when ownership is disputed, while allowing the litigant to prove the opposite.
الباب العاشر: الأحكامArticles 159–175
- Article 159The article requires the court, once pleading is complete, either to rule immediately or to postpone judgment to a session it sets, informing the litigants that pleading is closed and of the date for pronouncing judgment.
- Article 160The article makes deliberation on judgments confidential where there are several judges, and limits participation in it to the judges who heard the pleading, except as provided in Article 162.
- Article 161The article prevents the court, during deliberation, from hearing clarifications from one litigant except in the presence of the other litigant.
- Article 162The article regulates the issuance of a judgment by several judges, unanimously or by majority, the recording of the minority's opinion and the response to it, and the method of tipping the balance where no majority emerges.
- Article 163The article requires that, after pleading is closed and the judgment is reached, it be recorded in the record of pleading preceded by its reasons, then signed by the judge or judges who took part.
- Article 164The article requires the judgment to be pronounced in a public session by reading its operative part, or the operative part with its reasons, in the presence of the judges who took part in deliberation, except one who had an impediment and signed the judgment.
- Article 165The article requires the court, after pronouncing the judgment, to inform the litigants of the means of objection and their time limits, and to inform guardians, custodians, endowment administrators and representatives of government bodies that the judgment must be appealed or reviewed.
- Article 166The article requires the judgment deed to be issued with its specified particulars within no more than 20 days of its pronouncement, the judgment to be registered, and a copy delivered within the same period.
- Article 167The article explains that the successor of a judge whose jurisdiction ended before judgment continues the case from where it stopped, and when the earlier record is adopted and when pleading is repeated.
- Article 168The article requires the judgment deed under which enforcement is carried out to be sealed with the court's seal and appended with the executory formula, and limits its delivery to the party with an interest in enforcement.
- Article 169The article specifies the cases in which a judgment must carry provisional enforcement, with or without security at the judge's discretion.Amended
- Article 170The article allows the court to which an objection is submitted to order a stay of provisional enforcement if it considers that the grounds of the objection may lead to the judgment being quashed and serious harm is feared from enforcement.
- Article 171The article empowers the court to correct purely clerical or arithmetical errors in the judgment deed by a decision, at the request of a litigant or on its own motion.
- Article 172The article distinguishes between a refusal to correct, which is objected to together with the judgment itself, and a correction decision, which may be objected to independently.
- Article 173The article allows the litigants, where there is ambiguity or obscurity in the operative part of the judgment, to ask the court that issued it to interpret it, by a statement of claim following the procedures for filing a case.
- Article 174The article requires the judgment of interpretation to be recorded on the original copy of the judgment, signed and sealed, and treats the interpretation as complementing the original judgment and subject to the same rules of objection.
- Article 175The article allows the interested party, where the court omitted to rule on some substantive claims, to ask it to summon his opponent to appear to hear this claim and rule on it.
الباب الحادي عشر: طرق الاعتراض على الأحكامArticles 176–204
- Article 176The article specifies three means of objection to judgments: appeal, cassation and petition for reconsideration.
- Article 177The article limits the right to object to a judgment to the party against whom it was given or one who was not awarded all his claims, unless the Law provides otherwise.
- Article 178The article prevents objecting to judgments issued before the case is decided except together with the judgment on the merits, and excepts judgments that may be objected to immediately without staying enforcement of some of them.
- Article 179The article specifies when the time limit for objecting to a judgment begins, whether or not the party against whom judgment was given attends to receive a copy of the deed, and the case of a judgment by default and of a prisoner or detainee.
- Article 180The article suspends the running of the objection period upon the death of the objector, loss of his capacity to litigate, or the end of the capacity of the person conducting the litigation on his behalf, until the heirs are informed or the impediment ends.
- Article 181The article requires the court hearing an objection based on the judgment's violation of jurisdiction to confine itself to examining the question of jurisdiction.
- Article 182The article provides that quashing a judgment results in cancellation of all decisions and procedures that followed the quashed judgment where that judgment was their basis.
- Article 183The article provides that if a judgment is quashed in only one part, it remains in force in its other parts, unless division is not possible.
- Article 184The article provides that the rules and procedures set for courts of first instance apply to the courts of appeal and the Supreme Court, unless the Law provides otherwise.
- Article 185The article makes first-instance judgments appealable except in minor cases, regulates review without pleading, and sets the cases in which a judgment must be referred to the court of appeal.
- Article 186The article prohibits submitting new claims before the court of appeal and requires the court to rule on its own motion that they are inadmissible.
- Article 187The article sets the period for objecting by appeal or review at thirty days, or ten days in urgent matters; the right lapses if it is missed and the judgment becomes final.
- Article 188The article explains that an objection by appeal or review is filed by a memorandum lodged with the court that issued the judgment, and sets its contents and how it is registered and referred.
- Article 189The article allows the circuit that issued the judgment to reconsider it in light of the objection memorandum, then confirm it and refer it for appeal, or amend it and notify the parties.
- Article 190The article governs the Court of Appeal's hearing of an objection with pleadings, the lapse of the appellant's right after sixty days of absence, and its ruling to uphold or set aside the judgment and decide what was set aside.
- Article 191The article requires the Court of Appeal, in cases reviewed without pleadings, to uphold a judgment that accords with its Sharia basis and to rule on anything it sets aside after hearing the parties.
- Article 192The article requires the Court of Appeal, if it overturns a judgment of lack of jurisdiction or one accepting a preliminary defense that bars proceeding with the case, to return the case to the issuing court to hear its merits.
- Article 193The article allows a party against whom judgment was given to request that Court of Appeal judgments be set aside before the Supreme Court in four specified cases.
- Article 194The article sets the period for objecting by request for cassation at thirty days, or fifteen days in urgent matters, and the right lapses if the objection is not lodged within it.
- Article 195The article explains that a request for cassation is submitted by a memorandum lodged with the Court of Appeal, specifies its contents, and requires it to be sent to the Supreme Court within three days after the objection period ends.
- Article 196The article provides that an objection before the Supreme Court does not stay execution of the judgment, though the court may order a temporary stay on a request in the memorandum where serious, irreparable harm is feared.
- Article 197The article requires the Supreme Court to examine the formal requirements of the objection and the objecting party's standing, then decide whether it is admissible in form, issuing a separate decision if it is not.
- Article 198The article explains that the Supreme Court decides an objection admitted in form on the papers without addressing the facts, upholding the judgment or setting it aside and remanding, and ruling on the merits itself on a second cassation.
- Article 199The article bars relying before the Supreme Court on a ground not stated in the objection memorandum, unless it relates to public order, in which case the court takes it up on its own motion.
- Article 200The article sets out the seven cases in which parties may petition for reconsideration of final judgments, and gives the same right to someone against whom the judgment is binding who was not a party.
- Article 201The article sets the period for a petition for reconsideration at thirty days, and explains when it starts to run according to the ground of the petition stated in Article 200.
- Article 202The article regulates bringing a petition for reconsideration by a statement of claim before the court that issued the judgment, which body decides whether to accept it, and provides that it does not stay execution unless the court so orders.
- Article 203The article allows objection by appeal or cassation, as the case may be, to judgments on the merits issued on the basis of a petition by a court other than the Supreme Court.
- Article 204The article bars a petition against a decision rejecting a petition or against the judgment issued after one is accepted, and allows another petition on Article 200 grounds not previously considered.
الباب الثاني عشر: القضاء المستعجلArticles 205–217
- Article 205The article makes the court competent over the merits the one that rules provisionally on urgent matters relating to the dispute, without its ruling affecting the merits of the case.
- Article 206The article lists the urgent cases, including inspection to record the condition of something, travel bans, possession, stopping new works, sequestration and a day laborer's wage.
- Article 207The article sets the appearance period in urgent cases at twenty-four hours, and allows the court to shorten it by its order in case of extreme necessity.
- Article 208The article allows anyone asserting a right to ask that an opponent be banned from traveling during the case or immediately before it, on conditions and with security to compensate the defendant if the claimant proves not entitled.
- Article 209The article allows a holder of an apparent right to bring an urgent case to prevent interference with his possession or to recover it, and bars combining a possession case with a claim to the underlying right.
- Article 210The article allows anyone harmed by works carried out without right to bring an urgent case to stop new works, and the judge issues the prohibition order if satisfied of its grounds.
- Article 211The article explains that a sequestration case is brought before the court competent over the merits concerning disputed movable or immovable property whose right is not established, and the judge orders it where urgent danger is feared.Amended M/191
- Article 212يكون تعيين الحارس باتفاق ذوي الشأن جميعًا، فإذا لم يتفقوا تولى القاضي تعيينه. ويحدد الحكم الصادر بالحراسة ما على الحارس من التزام، وما له…Repealed
- Article 213يلتزم الحارس بالمحافظة على الأموال المعهود إليه حراستها، وبإدارة ما يحتاج إلى إدارة من هذه الأموال، ويبذل في ذلك عناية الرجل المعتاد، ولا…Repealed
- Article 214لا يجوز للحارس - في غير أعمال الإدارة - أن يتصرف إلا برضا ذوي الشأن جميعًا، أو بإذن من القاضي.Repealed
- Article 215للحارس أن يتقاضى الأجر المحدد له في الحكم، ما لم يكن قد تنازل عنه.Repealed
- Article 216يلتزم الحارس باتخاذ دفاتر حساب منظمة، وعلى القاضي إلزامه باتخاذ دفاتر عليها ختم المحكمة عند الاقتضاء، ويلتزم بأن يقدم - في الفترات التي…Repealed
- Article 217تنتهـي الحراسـة باتفـاق ذوي الشأن جميعًا أو بحكم القاضي، وعلى الحارس حينئذ أن يبادر إلى رد الشيء المعهود إليه حراسته إلى من يختاره ذوو…Repealed
الباب الثالث عشر: الإنهاءاتArticles 218–239
- Article 218The article applies to uncontested matters the rules on judges' recusal, dismissal, stay, interruption and abandonment where a dispute exists, and the rules on correction and interpretation, and refers to the regulations for the rules on dividing joint property.Amended
- Article 219The article bars the judge from registering the creation of any waqf until the founder's ownership of it is established and its record is confirmed free of anything preventing registration.
- Article 220The article requires whoever requests registration of a waqf to submit his request to the competent court, accompanied by an official document proving his ownership of what he wishes to endow.
- Article 221الأوقاف التي ليس لها صكوك استحكام مسجلة، يجري إثبات وقفيتها وفق القواعد والإجراءات المقررة لإجراء الاستحكام.Repealed
- Article 222The article sets six conditions for registering a waqf deed over real estate owned by a non-Saudi in the Kingdom, subject to the provisions on non-Saudis' ownership of real estate.Amended
- Article 223The article bars the administrator of a public or private waqf from selling, exchanging, transferring it or carrying out specified acts regarding it except after seeking the court's permission.
- Article 224The article requires a guardian other than the father, and a custodian, to obtain the competent court's permission before specified dealings with the real estate, deposited funds and company interests of a minor or absent person.Amended
- Article 224 bisThe article makes financial guardianship over a minor, by reason of age, continue until he completes 18 unless the court rules it continues, and lets the guardian ask the court for it to continue when there is a need.Amended
- Article 225The article requires the court of appeal to review judgments on permissions for dealings by guardians, custodians and administrators, with specified exceptions, and makes its ruling on that review final.
- Article 226The article sets where the transfer of a waqf, minor's or absent person's real estate takes place when expropriated for the public benefit, and requires its value to be deposited until the court permits its release.
- Article 227الاستحكام هو طلب صك بإثبات تملك عقار في غير مواجهة خصم ابتداءً. ولا يمنع من سماع الدعوى بالحق متى وجدت.Repealed
- Article 228مع مراعاة أحكام تملك غير السعوديين للعقار، لكل من يدعي تملك عقار - سواء أكان ذلك أرضًا أم بناءً - حـق طلب صـك استحكام من المحكمة التي يقع…Repealed
- Article 229يطلب صك الاستحكام باستدعاء يبين فيه نوع العقار وموقعه وحدوده وأضلاعه ومساحته - بموجب تقرير مساحي معتمد - وإرفاق وثيقة التملك إن وجدت.Repealed
- Article 230يجب على المحكمة أن تتأكد من صحة موقع العقار وحدوده وأضلاعه ومساحته، وأن يقف عليه القاضي - أو من ينيبه - مع مهندس إن لزم الأمر، ويحرر محضر…Repealed
- Article 231قبل البدء في تدوين الإنهاء بطلب الاستحكام والشروع في إجراءات الإثبات لذلك، على المحكمة أن تكتب إلى كل من: وزارة الشئون البلدية والقروية،…Repealed
- Article 232يجب على المحكمة - علاوة على ما ذكر في المادة (الحادية والثلاثين بعد المائتين) من هذا النظام - إذا طلب منها عمل استحكام لأرضٍ فضاء لم يسبق…Repealed
- Article 2331- إذا مضى ستون يومًا على آخر الإجراءين من إبلاغ الجهات الرسمية المختصة، أو النشر حسب ما نصت عليه المادة (الحادية والثلاثون بعد المائتين)…Repealed
- Article 2341- إذا جرت الخصومة على عقار ليس له صك استحكام مسجل، فعلى المحكمة - إذا كان العقار داخل اختصاصها المكاني - أن تجري معاملة الاستحكام أثناء…Repealed
- Article 235لا يجوز إخراج صكوك استحكام لأراضي منى وباقي المشاعر وأبنيتها، وإن حصلت مرافعة في شيء من ذلك - سواء في أصل العقار أو منفعته - وأبرز أحد…Repealed
- Article 236The article sets what a request to prove a death and determine the heirs, submitted to the competent court, must contain about the deceased, the heirs and the witnesses.
- Article 237The article lets the court, where necessary, ask for a request to prove a death and determine the heirs to be published in a newspaper, and ask the administrative governor to investigate the truth of what the applicant submitted.
- Article 238The article requires the judge to investigate himself if he finds the investigation results insufficient, then issue an instrument of death, if proven, determining the heirs with their particulars.
- Article 239The article makes the instrument proving a death and determining the heirs, issued under the prescribed procedures, evidence that is relied on unless a judgment contrary to it is issued.
الباب الرابع عشر: أحكام ختاميةArticles 240–242
- Article 240The article names the bodies that prepare the Implementing Regulations of the Law of Sharia Procedure and how they are issued and amended, and assigns the court departments the necessary administrative tasks.
- Article 241The article provides that this Law replaces the Law of Sharia Procedure issued by Royal Decree No. (M/21) dated 20/5/1421 AH, and repeals any provisions that conflict with it.
- Article 242The article provides that the Law of Sharia Procedure takes effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
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