Article 59 of the Saudi Law of the Judiciary

المادة 59 من نظام القضاء

The article makes the disciplining of judges the jurisdiction of a circuit in the Supreme Judicial Council of three of its full-time judge members, whose decisions are issued by majority and are not final until the Council approves.

Official text (Arabic)

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

يكون تأديب القضاة من اختصاص دائرة تشكل في المجلس الأعلى للقضاء من ثلاثة من القضاة أعضاء المجلس المتفرغين، وتصدر قراراتها بالأغلبية، ولا تكون نهائية إلا بعد موافقة المجلس عليها.

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 59 explained in plain English

This article sets out the body competent to discipline judges and how its decisions are issued.

The competent body: a circuit formed in the Supreme Judicial Council, made up of three of the full-time judges who are members of the Council. That discipline is in the hands of judges who are members of the Council is consistent with the independence of judges that Article 1 provides.

How decisions are issued:

The circuit's decisions are issued by majority.
Its decisions are not final until the Supreme Judicial Council approves them.

This means that a decision of the disciplinary circuit passes through two stages: it is issued by the circuit by majority, then approved by the Council so that it becomes final.

Its connection to neighboring articles:

Article 58 provides that a judge whose violation is repeated or continues after the court's president has warned him is tried on disciplinary grounds, and this trial takes place before the circuit that Article 59 creates.
Article 60 regulates the filing of the disciplinary case before the disciplinary circuit: it is filed by the head of the judicial inspection department or his delegate at the request of the president of the Supreme Judicial Council, either on his own initiative or on the proposal of the president of the court to which the judge belongs, and the request is submitted only on the basis of a criminal or administrative investigation conducted by a judge whose grade is not lower than appeal judge.

Practical example

A disciplinary case is filed against a judge at a court in Riyadh. The case is heard by the disciplinary circuit made up of three of the full-time judges who are members of the Supreme Judicial Council. If it issues its decision by majority, it does not become final until the Supreme Judicial Council approves it.

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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