In force
Saudi Anti-Corruption Authority Law
نظام هيئة الرقابة ومكافحة الفساد
Establishes the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority in Saudi Arabia and sets out its role in oversight and combating corruption. It concerns government bodies and their employees.
- Articles
- 24
- In force
- 24
- Amended
- 0
- Issued
- 23/1/1446 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم (م/25) وتاريخ 1446/1/23هـ · قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم (68) وتاريخ 1446/1/17هـ
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Anti-Corruption Authority Law by topic
Corruption Crimes2 articlesPowers of the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority3 articlesReporting Corruption and Protecting Informants1 articleInvestigating Corruption Crimes3 articlesCriminal Investigation and Prosecution Unit4 articlesOrganization and Budget of the Authority8 articlesDismissal of Employees in Corruption Cases2 articlesIllicit Enrichment and Asset Recovery2 articlesFinancial Settlement in Corruption Crimes1 article
Articles of the Saudi Anti-Corruption Authority Law
الباب الأول: تعريفاتArticles 1–2
- Article 1The article defines the basic terms in the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority Law: the Law, the Authority, the President, the Unit and public bodies.
- Article 2The article sets the crimes that count as corruption crimes for the purposes of the Law: bribery, assault on public funds, abuse of authority, and any crime a law states to be a corruption crime.
الباب الثاني: جهاز الهيئة ومهماته واختصاصاتهArticles 3–17
- Article 3The article links the Authority to the King and gives it legal personality and financial and administrative independence, sets its seat in Riyadh with branches permitted, and provides for its impartiality and no interference in its work.
- Article 4The article sets the Authority's mission of administrative oversight of public bodies, protecting integrity and combating corruption, and lists eighteen powers including reports, investigation, seizure and protecting whistleblowers.
- Article 5The article allows the Authority to request records, documents and information relating to its powers from the bodies it covers, requires the bodies to provide them within the set periods, and binds the Authority to confidentiality rules.
- Article 6The article subjects corruption crimes before the Authority to the Law of Criminal Procedure and its Regulations and the Public Prosecution Law, taking the Law's provisions into account, and sets powers by a regulation the King approves.
- Article 7The article authorizes the Authority's President to issue a decision specifying the Authority's staff who have the status of criminal seizure officers.
- Article 8The article provides that the Authority has a President with the rank of minister, a deputy and one or more assistants, appointed by royal order.
- Article 9The article gives the Authority's President administrative and financial supervision of it, the power to propose its regulations and structure, issue internal regulations and the oversight and administrative investigation regulation, represent it, and supervise its budget.
- Article 10The article provides that the Authority has specialized units, including six main units, among them the Anti-Corruption Unit and the Criminal Investigation and Prosecution Unit.
- Article 11The article links the Criminal Investigation and Prosecution Unit to the President and gives it criminal investigation and prosecution in corruption crimes, and regulates its circuits and its members' conditions, appointment and end of service.
- Article 12The article gives the work of members of the Criminal Investigation and Prosecution Unit judicial status and complete independence; they are subject only to Sharia and the laws, no one may interfere in their work, and they may not be assigned other work.
- Article 13The article makes the job titles of members of the Criminal Investigation and Prosecution Unit those in the Public Prosecution Law, treats them as members of the Public Prosecution, and gives the President and his deputies the powers of the Attorney General and his deputy.
- Article 14The article establishes the council of the Criminal Investigation and Prosecution Unit, sets its composition, its jurisdiction over the job affairs of the Unit's members and its quorum, and makes its decisions final and not open to judicial challenge.
- Article 15The article requires members of the Unit, and Authority personnel designated by the administrative regulations, to take an oath before the President before starting their duties, and requires Authority personnel to file financial disclosure statements.
- Article 16The article gives the Authority an independent annual budget, held in a special account in its name at the Saudi Central Bank and spent under its financial regulations, and sets its fiscal year as the State's fiscal year.
- Article 17The article requires the Authority to prepare an annual report, which the President submits to the King within ninety days of the end of the fiscal year, and special reports as needed.
الباب الثالث: أحكام متصلة بمكافحة جرائم الفسادArticles 18–22
- Article 18The article provides that a final judgment of the competent court convicting a public employee, or anyone treated as one, of a corruption crime results in dismissal from his post.
- Article 19The article shifts the burden of proving that funds were lawfully acquired to a public employee whose wealth increased after taking up the post out of proportion to his income, based on financial investigations.
- Article 20The article governs recovery of funds from a corruption crime when the accused flees the Kingdom or dies, by bringing a case for their return or confiscation and then enforcing the final judgment at home or abroad.
- Article 21The article allows the President of the Authority, where an investigation yields strong suspicions affecting the dignity of the post or integrity, to propose an employee's dismissal by royal order after consulting the head of his agency, without affecting the criminal case.
- Article 22The article allows the Authority to conduct financial settlements with those who committed corruption crimes and took the initiative to request them, whether individuals or entities, under rules prepared by the Authority and issued by royal order.