Article 35 of the Saudi Private Health Institutions Law

This closing article sets out two things:

• Publication: the law is published in the Official Gazette.
• Entry into force: the law takes effect 90 days after the date of its publication, not from the date it was issued and not from the day of publication itself.

The purpose of this period is to give private health institutions and the relevant bodies time to prepare to apply its provisions.

This article also connects to Article 34, which deals with licenses issued before the law: those licenses remain valid, and the institutions must bring their status into line within five years starting from the date the Implementing Regulations take effect. That is a separate date from the start date of the law set in this article. That period can be extended with the approval of the Prime Minister on the proposal of the Minister of Health.

What this means in practice: to know the date on which the law became effective, count 90 days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. The article itself does not state the publication date. Anyone who needs to determine which law applies to an event that occurred close to this date can consult a lawyer specializing in health regulations and administrative cases.