Article 24 of the Saudi Law of the Judiciary

المادة 24 من نظام القضاء

The president and members of each circuit, or its judge, are appointed by decision of the court's president, who (or his delegate) presides over the circuit when its president is absent.

Official text (Arabic)

This article has not been amended since the law was issued.

يسمى رئيس كل دائرة وأعضاؤها أو قاضيها بقرار من رئيس المحكمة. ويتولى رئيس المحكمة - أو من ينيبه من أعضاء المحكمة - رئاسة الدائرة عند غياب رئيسها.

This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers

Article 24 explained in plain English

This article sets out who appoints the judges of the circuits in the courts, and how a circuit is run when its president is absent:

Appointment: the president and members of each circuit, or its judge if the circuit has a single judge, are appointed by a decision of the president of the court.
Absence: if the president of a circuit is absent, the president of the court or whoever he delegates from the members of the court presides over it.

This article is connected to the composition of circuits regulated by Article 23 in the general courts in the governorates and centers, where each circuit is made up of one or more judges as the Supreme Judicial Council determines. The Council determines the composition, and the president of the court appoints whoever sits in the circuit.

The phrase "or its judge" means that the Law takes account of single-judge circuits, which have no president and members but one judge.

The purpose of the absence rule is to ensure that the circuit keeps working and that the hearing of cases is not held up because its president is absent.

This article is not concerned with determining which court has jurisdiction over cases. That is a matter regulated by Article 25, which provides that the courts have jurisdiction to decide all cases, without prejudice to the Law of the Board of Grievances, under the jurisdiction rules in the Law of Sharia Procedure and the Law of Criminal Procedure. The article also sets no rules or criteria for how the president of the court chooses the judges of the circuits.

Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.

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