In force
Saudi Mental Health Law
نظام الرعاية الصحية النفسية
Regulates mental health care in Saudi Arabia, including the oversight councils, patients' rights, voluntary and compulsory admission for treatment, and the duties of treatment facilities. It concerns patients, families and mental health facilities.
- Articles
- 30
- In force
- 30
- Amended
- 0
- Issued
- 20/9/1435 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم ( م/56 ) بتاريخ 20 / 9 / 1435
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Mental Health Law by topic
Definitions and Aims of Mental Health Care5 articlesMental Health Care Monitoring Boards6 articlesRights of Mental Patients2 articlesVoluntary and Emergency Admission for Psychiatric Treatment3 articlesInvoluntary Admission for Psychiatric Treatment5 articlesCompulsory Treatment Care and Electroconvulsive Therapy4 articlesPsychiatric Evaluation at the Request of the Judiciary1 articlePatients' Rights Committee and Post-Discharge Care3 articlesPenalties for Mental Health Care Violations3 articles
Articles of the Saudi Mental Health Law
- Article 1The Article defines the terms of the Mental Health Care Law, including mental disorder and when it is severe, the mental patient, the treatment facility, practitioners and the guardian.
- Article 2The Article sets out the Law's objectives: regulating and strengthening mental health care, protecting patients' rights, dignity, families and society, and setting how patients are treated.
- Article 3The Article regulates forming the General Supervisory Council for Mental Health Care by decision of the Minister of Health, its members, the four-year term, its secretariat and the nomination of members.
- Article 4The Article sets the powers of the General Supervisory Council, including overseeing the Law's application and monitoring facilities, creating local councils, hearing grievances and reviewing compulsory admission decisions.
- Article 5The Article regulates the General Supervisory Council's meetings at least every two months, its quorum, majority decisions, barring members from decisions affecting relatives, and deciding grievances.
- Article 6The Article regulates forming the local supervisory council for mental health care by decision of the Minister of Health, its members, the four-year term, its secretariat and the nomination of members.
- Article 7The Article sets the local council's powers, including supervising facilities, hearing grievances, canceling compulsory admission decisions and approving non-conventional treatment.
- Article 8The Article regulates the local council's meetings every 15 days, its quorum and decisions, and requires it to answer grievances within 21 working days, failing which they may go to the General Council.
- Article 9The Article lists the mental patient's rights, such as care in a safe environment, knowing the diagnosis, consent to treatment, protection from degrading treatment, limits on isolation, confidentiality, complaint and being told his rights in writing.
- Article 10Admission to a mental treatment facility is voluntary, with written consent from the capable patient or his guardian, and he may leave whenever he wishes unless the conditions for compulsory admission apply.
- Article 11The Article lets an emergency-department physician admit a mental patient temporarily for emergency care when the Article 13 conditions apply, except paragraph 3, for no more than 72 hours with notification duties.
- Article 12The Article lets a psychologist, social worker, counselor or psychiatric nurse temporarily detain a mental patient in hospital when no physician is available, for no more than 8 hours.
- Article 13Compulsory admission is allowed only when three conditions are all met: a severe mental disorder posing danger, admission being necessary for recovery or improvement, and written approval by two psychiatrists.
- Article 14Compulsory admission lasts 72 hours and may be extended on two psychiatrists' reports to 30, then 90, then up to 180 days, with a right of grievance and ending as soon as its reasons cease.
- Article 15The Article regulates psychiatric assessment of an accused person suspected of mental illness or intellectual disability at the request of the judiciary or investigators, through forensic psychiatric committees and fixed periods.
- Article 16The Article requires the mental treatment facility to verify the conditions for compulsory admission, notify the local council of names within 48 working hours, keep a register, and allow the supervisory councils to inspect.
- Article 17The Article regulates compulsory treatment care at outpatient clinics or at home on the decision of two psychiatrists, for up to 180 days, with the right to object and to ask for it to end.
- Article 18The Article requires treatment team members to record every treatment intervention in the mental patient's file, including electroconvulsive therapy and its procedures, as the Regulations set out.
- Article 19Electroconvulsive therapy requires explicit, free written consent from the patient or his guardian after being told its nature, purpose, side effects and alternatives.
- Article 20The Article creates in every inpatient mental treatment facility a technical medical committee of three psychiatrists, one at least a consultant, to deal with cases that obstruct the treatment plan.
- Article 21A patients' rights committee is formed in each inpatient mental facility by decision of the regional health director to inform patients of their rights, receive their complaints and refer them when needed.
- Article 22The Article requires the treating physician to tell the facility's management when no bed is available for a patient who needs admission, so it informs the regional health director to provide what is needed.
- Article 23If the treatment team finds that returning home is not in the patient's interest or he has no shelter, he is referred to a convalescent home for mental illness with the local council's approval.
- Article 24If a compulsorily admitted patient escapes or does not return from medical leave, the facility's management coordinates with the security authorities to bring him back.
- Article 25The Article sets the penalties for violating the Law, from up to two years in prison and a fine of up to SAR 200,000 for false reports and unlawful detention, to a fine of up to SAR 50,000 for breaching rights.
- Article 26The Article assigns investigation and prosecution of the Article 25 violations to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution, and the application of penalties to the competent court.
- Article 27The Article gives employees appointed by the Minister of Health to catch violations of the Law the status of judicial officers under the Law of Criminal Procedure.
- Article 28The Article authorizes the Minister of Health, in coordination with the relevant bodies, to regulate procedures for strengthening mental care and preventing disorders, and the rules for practicing psychiatry.
- Article 29The Article requires the Minister of Health to issue the Law's Implementing Regulations within 90 days of the Law's issuance, and they apply from the date the Law takes effect.
- Article 30The Mental Health Care Law takes effect 90 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.