Article 18 of the Saudi Municipal Penalties Regulations

Article 18 sets the date the Regulations begin to apply, and contains a rule and an exception:

• The rule: the Regulations take effect after thirty days from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
• The exception: by decision of the Minister this period may be extended for some provisions of the Regulations, not exceeding one hundred and eighty days from the date of publication.

So the principle is that the whole of the Regulations applies after thirty days, but the Minister may postpone the application of certain provisions, provided the postponement does not exceed one hundred and eighty days counted from the date of publication, not from the end of the thirty days. The postponement is for some provisions, not for the Regulations as a whole.

The Article does not state the publication date itself, or which provisions have been postponed, if any.

The Article is linked to Article 17, which provides that these Regulations replace the Regulations of Fines and Penalties for Municipal Violations issued by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 218 dated 6/8/1422 AH, and repeal any conflicting provisions. The effective date set by this Article is what separates the two regulations.

Anyone who needs to know whether a particular provision of the Regulations was in force when his violation occurred may consult a specialized lawyer in administrative matters (the Board of Grievances).