In force Last amended 26/1/1447 AH
Saudi Notarization Law
نظام التوثيق
The Notarization Law was approved by Royal Decree No. M/164 dated 19/11/1441 AH. This page presents the official Arabic text of each article with plain-English explanations.
- Articles
- 57
- In force
- 57
- Amended
- 5
- Issued
- 19/11/1441 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم (م/164) وتاريخ 1441/11/19هـ · قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم (728) وتاريخ 1441/11/16هـ
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Notarization Law by topic
Definitions in the Notarization Law3 articlesAppointing a Notary Public9 articlesPowers of the Notary Public4 articlesThe Private Notary and Notarization Office4 articlesThe Marriage Officiant3 articlesThe Notarization License8 articlesDuties of the Notary Public and Private Notary6 articlesNotarization Procedures and Powers of Attorney8 articlesEvidentiary Weight of Documents and Challenging Them5 articlesInspection of Notaries Public and Private Notaries3 articlesPenalties for Notarization Violations6 articlesNotarization Fees and Outsourcing to the Private Sector4 articles
Articles of the Saudi Notarization Law
الباب الأولArticles 1–13
- Article 1The article defines the key terms of the Notarization Law, such as notarization, notary, licensed notary, marriage officiant, license, notarization form and the parties concerned.
- Article 2The article requires the notary and the licensee to apply the provisions of Islamic Sharia and the laws when carrying out any notarization work.
- Article 3The article makes establishing Notary Offices, setting their subject-matter and territorial jurisdiction and composition, and abolishing them subject to a decision of the Minister of Justice, with the head of the Notary Office supervising.
- Article 4The article sets five conditions for appointing a notary, including original Saudi nationality, good conduct, health fitness, a Sharia degree, and passing a written examination.
- Article 5After appointment a notary must take a training course of at least 3 months and serve a two-year probation period; the Minister decides to dispense with them if they prove unfit.
- Article 6The article classifies notary posts into eight: notary (D), (C), (B) and (A), then head of notary office (D), (C), (B) and (A).
- Article 7The article sets the qualifications and experience required for each of the posts of notary (D), (C), (B) and (A), and leaves the Regulations to specify the type of experience.
- Article 8The article requires at least two years in the post of notary (A) for promotion to head of notary office (D), and two years in the previous post for promotion to (C), (B) and (A).
- Article 9The article provides an appointment allowance equal to three months' salary to anyone appointed for the first time in the service to one of the notary posts.
- Article 10The article provides that notaries' salaries at all grades follow a special salary scale for them, issued by royal order.
- Article 11The article sets the notary's competence to notarize contracts and acknowledgments, and lists ten matters they notarize in particular, including divorce, settlement, endowments, partition and conveying deeds.Amended M/21
- Article 12The article prevents a notary from notarizing an acknowledgment or contract where a party lacks or has limited capacity, is absent, or is an endowment or will administrator, except in five specific cases.Amended M/21
- Article 13The article allows the Kingdom's consuls abroad, or those acting in their place, to carry out some of the notary's competences, in accordance with controls the Minister of Justice issues in coordination with the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
الباب الثانيArticles 14–25
- Article 14The article sets seven conditions for the licensed notary, including Saudi nationality, good conduct, a Sharia or law degree with at least Good, an exam, a training course, and not combining notarization with a job or another profession other than law practice.
- Article 15The article lists the work a licensed notary notarizes, such as conveying deeds, powers of attorney, mortgages, company contracts and financial suretyship, without prejudice to Articles 11 and 12.Amended
- Article 16The article requires the licensed notary to start within 120 days of the license being issued, and to notify the competent department if they do not practice or want to stop for more than 60 days, returning only after notice and annotation.
- Article 17The article requires every licensed notary to have an office for practicing their profession as set by the Regulations, and allows forming a professional notarization company under the Professional Companies Law.
- Article 18The article entrusts the marriage officiant with notarizing marriage contracts where both parties are Saudis or both are non-Saudis, as set out in the Regulations.
- Article 19The article sets five conditions for the marriage officiant: Saudi nationality, good conduct with an exception for those 5 years past completing a sentence, medical fitness, a Sharia university degree, and passing a written exam.
- Article 20The article provides that the license of a licensed notary or marriage officiant is issued by decision of the Minister of Justice on the recommendation of the competent department.
- Article 21The article creates a committee to decide notarization license applications within 30 days, requires a refusal decision to be reasoned, and allows a grievance before the competent court against refusal or failure to decide in time.
- Article 22The article sets the term of a notarization license at five years, renewable, and leaves the Regulations to set the procedures and controls for issuing, renewing and reissuing the license.
- Article 23The article provides that notarization licenses are entered in the register with the competent department, and leaves the Regulations to state how the entry is made and the data it includes.
- Article 24The article allows licensed notaries and marriage officiants to advertise their profession in accordance with controls prepared by the competent department and issued by decision of the Minister of Justice.
- Article 25The article sets the fee for issuing a licensed notary's license at SAR 2,000 and for renewing it at SAR 1,000.
الباب الثالثArticles 26–45
- Article 26The article prohibits practicing notarization work except after obtaining the license in accordance with the provisions of the Notarization Law and its Implementing Regulations.
- Article 27The article requires the notary and the licensee to record the statements of the parties only after verifying their capacity, status and identity and confirming their documents are valid, and refers the details to the Implementing Regulations.
- Article 28The article requires the notary and the licensee to use an approved translator for anyone who does not speak Arabic well, requires the translator to sign, and bars using a translator with an interest in what is notarized.
- Article 29The article bars the notary and the licensee from notarizing matters touching their own interest or that of their spouse, ascendants, descendants or persons under their guardianship, even when acting as a representative.
- Article 30The article requires the notary to receive notarization requests and take the necessary steps under the Law and its Regulations, and gives anyone whose request is refused the right to file a grievance with the competent department.
- Article 31The article confines the notary's work to the notary's office except under controls set by the competent department, allows the licensed notary to travel at the parties' request, and bars removing the notarization record and official documents otherwise.
- Article 32The article prohibits the notary and the licensee from disclosing the secrets of transactions and any information they saw or obtained because of their work.
- Article 33The article requires the marriage officiant, before performing a marriage contract, to verify that the pillars and conditions are met, that no impediments exist between the spouses, and that the guardian required under Sharia is present.
- Article 34The article refers to the Implementing Regulations the statement of notarization procedures followed at the notary's office and with the licensee, whether a licensed notary or a marriage officiant.
- Article 35The article permits recording notarization data electronically and gives it the status of written documents in accordance with the provisions of the Electronic Transactions Law.
- Article 36The article requires contracts and acknowledgments to be notarized in Arabic.
- Article 37The article requires the notary and the licensee to accept documents issued outside the Kingdom after verifying that they do not conflict with Sharia or statutory requirements and after the Ministry attests them, and this applies to the original of their Arabic translation.
- Article 38The article sets the term of a power of attorney deed at five years from its date of issue, unless it ends earlier through revocation, death, loss of capacity, or a shorter term set by the principal.Amended M/21
- Article 39The article requires notarization records to be kept at the notary's office and with licensees, and refers to the Regulations the controls for this, the procedures for handing over the records, copies of notarized contracts, and the departments competent to receive them.
- Article 40The article provides that notarization work is done on forms prepared by the Ministry of Justice, or by the government body concerned in coordination with it, while preserving the contracting parties' right to add any condition that does not conflict with statutory provisions.Amended M/21
- Article 41The article gives documents issued under the Notarization Law evidentiary force and the status of an enforceable instrument, and provides they may be annulled only by a court judgment for conflict with Sharia or statutory principles or for forgery, after a fully completed hearing.
- Article 42The article allows anyone with an interest, even a potential one, whether a natural or legal person, public or private, to bring a claim against the holder of a document issued under the Law or its beneficiary before the competent court.
- Article 43The article bars noting a suspension or restraint on a notarization record, or lifting either, except by an order of the competent court or an authority competent under a statutory provision.
- Article 44When the minute of a deed issued by a notary before the Law, or a notarization record, is lost or damaged so its content cannot be known, the minute is re-drawn after the parties' confirmation if the deed matches its basis; otherwise it goes to the competent department.
- Article 45The article provides for re-registering a deed issued by a notary before the Law if its register is lost or damaged so its content cannot be known, when the deed matches its basis; otherwise it goes to the competent department.
الباب الرابعArticles 46–52
- Article 46The article assigns to the competent department inspection, supervision and investigation of the notary and the licensee under procedures set by the Regulations, without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the Judicial Inspection Department of the Supreme Judicial Council.
- Article 47The article provides that the Minister suspends a licensee from work for no more than 90 days during an investigation on the recommendation of the competent department, and the suspension ends when its term ends or the investigation ends without conviction, whichever is earlier.
- Article 48The article provides for the Minister to form one or more committees to consider the results of investigations into violations by the notary and the licensee and impose the penalties in Articles 49 and 50, sets their composition and procedure, and allows appeal to the Board of Grievances.
- Article 49The article sets the disciplinary penalties that may be imposed on the notary: a reprimand, a salary deduction not exceeding the net salary of 3 months, deprivation of one periodic increment, and dismissal.
- Article 50The article sets the penalties for the licensee, a licensed notary or marriage officiant: a warning, a fine not exceeding SAR 500,000, suspension of the license for no more than 3 years, and cancellation of the license, without prejudice to any more severe penalty.
- Article 51The article requires the final penalty decision to be noted in the table, allows a person whose license was cancelled to apply after 5 years from the decision to be re-entered and licensed, and refers the procedures to the Regulations.
- Article 52The article punishes anyone who impersonates the name or capacity of a licensee, or practices the licensee's work without a license, with imprisonment up to one year or a fine up to SAR 100,000, or both, with the judgment's summary possibly published.
الباب الخامس: أحكام ختاميةArticles 53–57
- Article 53The article allows the Minister, by decision, to assign some notarization work to the private sector.
- Article 54The article allows fees for the notary's notarization work, set by the Council of Ministers, and provides that the Regulations set a financial consideration of SAR 100 to SAR 5,000 for the licensee's work, with the Council able to amend the upper limit.
- Article 55The article provides that the civil service laws and regulations apply to notaries in matters on which the Notarization Law has no special provision.
- Article 56The article requires the Minister to issue the Implementing Regulations of the Notarization Law, after coordination with the Supreme Judicial Council, within 180 days of the date of issue of the Law.
- Article 57The article provides that the Notarization Law comes into force 180 days after its publication in the Official Gazette and repeals any provisions that conflict with it.
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