In force Last amended 20/8/1443 AH
Saudi Military Retirement Law
نظام التقاعد العسكري
The law governing military retirement. The text is set out in 37 articles.
- Articles
- 37
- In force
- 37
- Amended
- 15
- Issued
- 5/4/1395 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم م/24 بتاريخ 5 / 4 / 1395 · قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم 331 بتاريخ 2 / 4 / 1395
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Military Retirement Law by topic
Scope of the Law and Retirement Contributions8 articlesService Period Counted for Retirement4 articlesEntitlement to and Calculation of the Pension3 articlesMilitary End-of-Service Award3 articlesRetirement Age5 articlesDisability and Injury Pension8 articlesDeath and Martyrdom Pension3 articlesBeneficiaries of a Pensioner3 articlesAttachment and Suspension of the Pension3 articles
Articles of the Saudi Military Retirement Law
- Article 1The article names the law the Military Retirement Law and provides that its provisions apply to all Saudi military personnel.
- Article 2The article defines the terms of the Military Retirement Law, including Minister, military forces, military person, officer, enlisted person, retiree, pensioner, beneficiary, salary, pension, award, the Authority and the Fund.
- Article 3The article provides for deducting 9% of a military person's salary monthly for the retirement fund, with the Government paying the equivalent of 13%, and allows the Council of Ministers to adjust the Government's share.
- Article 4مدة الخدمة التي تحسب في تطبيق أحكام نظام التقاعد العسكري تشمل: أ ) مدة الخدمة الفعلية في القوات العسكرية التي تستوفي عنها العائدات…Amended
- Article 5The article sets out the additional service periods counted for a military person's retirement, such as war, captivity, flying, parachuting, submarines, special areas and military college years, and bars combining two periods for one service period.Amended
- Article 6The article excludes from service for retirement purposes absence without leave, unpaid leave other than sick and study leave, periods of deprivation of salary, and fractions of a month.
- Article 7The article sets out when a military person is entitled to a pension on retirement, according to his service period, age or reason his service ended, and how the award is settled if he does not reach the pension period.Amended
- Article 8The article provides that the military pension is settled at one thirty-fifth of the last basic salary, and that the pension may not exceed the amount of that salary.Amended
- Article 9The article gives a military person who is not entitled to a pension under Article 7 an award of monthly salaries for his actual military service years, reduced if his service ended by a disciplinary ruling, absence or a crime.
- Article 10The article provides that the retirement pension is settled, and the Article 9 award is granted, on the basis of the last salary the military person was receiving.Amended
- Article 10 bisThe article allows attachment of a pension or award by order of the Prime Minister for Government debts or by court judgment for other debts, up to 25%, gives maintenance debt priority, and grants the retirement organization priority over creditors.Amended
- Article 11The article sets the age at which officers are retired by rank, with a lower age for pilots, and the age at which enlisted personnel are retired by rank, with the rank of general and above retired by royal order.
- Article 12The article allows the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, on the Minister's request, to suspend the application of Article 11 on retirement age for specific periods.
- Article 13An officer may be kept on after retirement age for two years, extendable to four; a medical officer for up to ten years but not past 65; a technical person for five years, extendable by five.Amended
- Article 14Age is determined by birth certificate or civil status record; if the day of birth is unknown, age runs from the first day of the seventh month of the Hijri year of birth.
- Article 15For a deceased member, or one discharged as medically unfit or after an accident unrelated to work, the pension is 70% of the last salary or the amount due under Article 8, whichever is greater.
- Article 16Medical unfitness of a military member is established by the Military Medical Committee at the request of the sick or injured person or the authority he belongs to.
- Article 17A member totally disabled during and because of his work gets a pension equal to his last salary; if partial disability requires discharge, four-fifths of it. The Military Medical Committee decides, with Minister approval.
- Article 18For total disability from war operations, captivity, armed organizations or chasing smugglers, the pension is the top-grade salary of the next rank up; four-fifths of it for partial disability.Amended
- Article 19Article 18 applies to members injured during live-ammunition training, breaching obstacles, laying or clearing mines, air and sea landings, air and naval training, and cases specified by the Prime Minister.
- Article 20The beneficiaries of a member who dies during and because of work get a pension equal to his salary at death; for a martyr in war, training or missions, the maximum scale salary of the next rank up.Amended
- Article 21The Military Medical Committee establishes injuries and deaths; for war or war operations, a written report from the formation commander stating the circumstances, time and place is enough.
- Article 22A member disabled or dying because of weather or environmental diseases at a post he was ordered to serve in is treated under Article 17 and paragraph (a) of Article 20, as applicable.
- Article 23إذا توفي صاحب المعاش فيُقرر للمستحقين عنه معاش بقدر المعاش المستحق له يُوزع بينهم بالتساوي. المستحقون عن صاحب المعاش هم: الزوجة، والأم،…Amended
- Article 23 bisA pensioner whose disappearance is established by a final court judgment is treated as deceased, for beneficiaries' rights, from the date of disappearance; the pension is not stopped before the judgment, and rights are re-settled if he is found alive.Amended
- Article 24Male beneficiaries' pensions end at 21 (except students and the disabled); females' pensions stop on marriage and return on divorce or widowhood; rules on combining pension with salary or other pensions and on suspended shares.
- Article 25The age of beneficiaries of a retirement pension is determined by the birth certificate or the civil status record of their father.
- Article 26A pensioner returned to service in a post subject to the law has his pension suspended, his later service added to his earlier service, and his pension settled on his last salary.
- Article 27A member returned to service may have earlier service counted, for which he received compensation, an award or contributions, if he requests it within a year of returning and refunds what he received in one payment or installments.Amended
- Article 28A military member who no longer holds Saudi Arabian nationality is granted an award calculated under Articles 9 and 10.Amended M/80
- Article 29The Military Medical Committee is formed by decision of the Minister from at least three doctors, and the decision sets the committee's term.
- Article 30A deficit in the retirement fund is settled in the way set by the board and approved by the Council of Ministers; if there is a surplus, new benefits may be granted on the board's recommendation and Council approval.
- Article 31The Fund is bound only by pensions and contributions due under this law and the Military Retirement Law of 1380 AH; the Ministry of Finance bears what fell due under earlier laws.
- Article 32The Chief of the General Staff may keep a retiree on for up to two months to hand over his custody, with an award equal to his salary and allowances; the period is not counted and the pension runs from the referral date.
- Article 33Outside the armed forces, the Minister specifies who holds the powers of the Chief of the General Staff and the head of the Army Administration Authority under the Military Retirement Law.
- Article 34This law repeals the previous military retirement law.
- Article 35The Council of Ministers has the right to interpret the Military Retirement Law.