Article 33 of the Saudi Publications Law

This article determines who bears responsibility for what is published in the newspaper, and sets two responsibilities that exist together:

1. The editor-in-chief: the newspaper's editor-in-chief is responsible for what is published in it. If he is absent, whoever acts in his place is responsible.
2. The writer of the text: the writer is responsible for what the text contains, without prejudice to the responsibility of the editor-in-chief or whoever acts in his place.

"Without prejudice" means that the writer's responsibility does not remove the editor-in-chief's responsibility, nor the reverse; the two may be held responsible together for the same text. This article does not specify the type of responsibility or the penalty.

Under Article 1, a newspaper is any printed material with a fixed title issued periodically or on occasions, such as newspapers, magazines and bulletins, and a journalist is anyone who has taken press editing as a profession, whether primary or secondary.

This article comes after Article 32, which allows editorial advertisements of institutions and individuals to be published provided it is indicated that they are advertising material, and of states after the Ministry's approval. After it comes Article 34, which provides that Umm Al-Qura newspaper is the official newspaper of the state.

In practice, the editor-in-chief must review what is published, and the writer must bear responsibility for what he writes. Anyone facing accountability because of published material can consult a lawyer who specializes in media and publishing law.