Article 16 of the Saudi Notarization Law

المادة 16 من نظام التوثيق · الفصل الأول: الموثق ومكتب التوثيق

The 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.

Official text (Arabic)

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

على الموثق البدء بمزاولة مهنته خلال مدة لا تزيد على مائة وعشرين يوماً من تاريخ صدور الرخصة، فإن لم يزاول المهنة، أو أراد التوقف عنها مدة تزيد على ستين يوماً، فيجب عليه أن يُبلغ الإدارة المختصة بذلك وفق النموذج المعدّ، ويؤشَّر في الجدول بالتوقف، ولا يعود إلى مزاولة المهنة إلاَّ بعد إشعار الإدارة المختصة، والتأشير في الجدول بعودته.

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 16 explained in plain English

This article regulates the licensed notary's starting and stopping work, so that the register of licensees (the register, under Article 1) reflects reality.

The article contains the following provisions:

Deadline to start: the licensed notary must start practicing their profession within a period not exceeding 120 days of the date the license is issued.
Duty to notify: if they do not practice the profession, or want to stop for a period exceeding 60 days, they must notify the competent department of this in the prepared form.
Annotation in the register: the stoppage is annotated in the register.
Return: the licensed notary may return to practicing the profession only after notifying the competent department and annotating their return in the register.

A short stoppage of no more than 60 days therefore does not require notification under the text, whereas a longer one requires notification and annotation. The article does not state a specific penalty for breaching these provisions, and does not detail the content of the prepared form.

The article is linked to Article 15, which sets out what the licensed notary is entrusted with notarizing; for anyone dealing with a licensed notary it matters that the notary is practicing and not annotated as stopped in the register.

Practical example

A license as a licensed notary was issued to Abdulrahman in Khobar, but he will travel to study for four months. He must notify the competent department in the prepared form so that his stoppage is annotated in the register, and when he returns he does not resume notarization until after notifying the department and annotating his return.

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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