In force Last amended 30/3/1414 AH
Saudi Provinces Law
نظام المناطق
Organizes the administrative regions of Saudi Arabia, including the duties of regional emirs, governors and center heads, and the formation, powers and work of the regional councils. It concerns regional administration and coordination with ministries.
- Articles
- 41
- In force
- 41
- Amended
- 11
- Issued
- 27/8/1412 AH
Issued by: أمر ملكي رقم أ/92 بتاريخ 27 / 8 / 1412
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Provinces Law by topic
Objectives of the Law of Provinces and Regional Divisions4 articlesThe Regional Emir and Deputy4 articlesPowers of the Regional Emir1 articleGovernors and Heads of Centers4 articlesGovernment Agencies in the Region5 articlesFormation and Membership of the Regional Council11 articlesPowers of the Regional Council5 articlesRegional Council Meetings and Decisions10 articles
Articles of the Saudi Provinces Law
- Article 1The article sets the Law of Provinces' objectives: raising the level of administrative work and development in the Kingdom's provinces, preserving security and order, and safeguarding citizens' rights and freedoms within the framework of Islamic Sharia.
- Article 2The Kingdom's provinces and the seat of each province's emirate are organized by royal order, on the recommendation of the Minister of Interior.
- Article 3Each province consists of governorates, sub-districts and centers according to set considerations; a governorate is organized by royal order, and sub-districts and centers by decision of the Minister of Interior.
- Article 4Each province has an emir with the rank of minister and a deputy with the Excellent grade who assists and stands in for the emir in absence; both are appointed and relieved by royal order on the Minister of Interior's recommendation.
- Article 5The emir of the province is accountable to the Minister of Interior.
- Article 6The emir of the province and his deputy must take a prescribed oath before the King before starting work, covering loyalty, keeping state secrets, safeguarding the state's interests and laws, and performing duties with truthfulness, honesty and justice.
- Article 7The article sets out the duties of a province's emir in running it, including keeping security, enforcing final court judgments, safeguarding rights and freedoms, developing the province, protecting state funds, and supervising government bodies.Amended A/21
- Article 8The article requires an annual meeting of the provinces' emirs chaired by the Minister of Interior to discuss provincial affairs, with the Minister submitting a report to the Prime Minister.
- Article 9The article requires a meeting chaired by the province's emir for the governors of governorates at least twice a year to discuss the province's affairs, with the emir submitting a report to the Minister of Interior.Amended A/21
- Article 10أ - يعين لكل منطقة وكيل أو أكثر، بمرتبة لا تقل عن المرتبة الرابعة عشرة، بقرار من مجلس الوزراء، بناء على توصية من وزير الداخلية. ب- يكون…Amended A/21
- Article 11The article requires provincial emirs, governors and heads of centers to reside at their place of work and not to leave their area of work except with permission from their direct superior.Amended A/21
- Article 12The article provides that governors and heads of centers carry out their duties within the administrative area of their authorities and within the powers granted to them.Amended A/21
- Article 13The article sets the governors' competences: administering their governorates within Article 7's competences except items (f), (i) and (j), monitoring heads of centers, and submitting periodic reports to the emir.Amended A/21
- Article 14The article requires every ministry or agency with services in the province to appoint a head of its bodies there at a rank not lower than the twelfth, who reports to the central body and coordinates with the emir.
- Article 15The article provides for a council in each province called the Provincial Council, seated at the seat of the provincial emirate.
- Article 16The article sets the Provincial Council's composition: the emir as chair, his deputy, the emirate's deputy, specified heads of government bodies, and at least ten citizens appointed for a renewable four-year term.Amended A/21
- Article 17The article requires a Provincial Council member to be a Saudi national by origin and birth, of recognized integrity and competence, at least 30 years old, and resident in the province.
- Article 18The article gives a Provincial Council member the right to submit written proposals to the council chair on matters within its competence, which the chair includes in the agenda for study.
- Article 19The article bars a Provincial Council member from attending the deliberations of the council or its committees on a subject that concerns his interest, that of a person whose testimony for him is not accepted, or that of a principal he represents.
- Article 20The article regulates the resignation of an appointed member: he submits his request to the Minister of Interior through the emir of the province, and it takes effect only with the Prime Minister's approval on the Minister's proposal.
- Article 21The article bars removal of an appointed member during his term, except in cases provided for in the Law, other than by order of the Prime Minister on the proposal of the Minister of Interior.
- Article 22The article requires that, when an appointed member's place falls vacant, a replacement be appointed within three months of the vacancy, for the remainder of his predecessor's term, under item (e) of Article 16.
- Article 23The article gives the Provincial Council competence to study everything that raises the level of services, including identifying needs, prioritizing projects, studying master plans, and following up implementation of the plan and budget.
- Article 24The article tasks the Provincial Council with proposing any public-benefit work for the province's citizens, encouraging citizens' contribution to it, and submitting it to the Minister of Interior.
- Article 25The article bars the Provincial Council from considering any subject outside its set competences, makes its decisions void if it exceeds them, and has the Minister of Interior issue a decision to that effect.
- Article 26The article requires the Provincial Council to hold an ordinary session every three months on its chair's call, permits an extraordinary meeting, and bars closing a session before the whole agenda is discussed.
- Article 27The article makes attending council meetings a duty of office for the emirate's deputy and heads of bodies, and makes an appointed member's absence from two consecutive sessions without excuse a ground for dismissal and a two-year bar on reappointment.
- Article 28The article requires the attendance of at least two-thirds of the Provincial Council's members for its meetings to be valid, with decisions issued by an absolute majority and the chair's side prevailing in a tie.
- Article 29The article permits the Provincial Council to form special committees when needed, to seek the assistance of experienced persons, and to invite whomever it wishes to attend its meetings and take part in the discussion without the right to vote.
- Article 30The article permits the Minister of Interior to call the Provincial Council to meet under his chairmanship in any place he sees fit, and to chair any council meeting he attends.
- Article 31The article provides that the Provincial Council may not meet except on the call of its chair or his deputy, or by order of the Minister of Interior.
- Article 32The article requires the chair of the Provincial Council to submit a copy of the council's decisions to the Minister of Interior.
- Article 33The article requires the chair of the Provincial Council to notify each ministry and government agency of the council's decisions that concern it.
- Article 34The article requires government bodies to take into account the Provincial Council's decisions on development needs and project priorities, and regulates what happens if a body sees fit not to act on them.
- Article 35The article requires every ministry and agency with services in the province to keep the Provincial Council informed of its projects set in the budget as soon as it is issued and of what is decided in the development plan.
- Article 36The article permits every minister and agency head to seek the Provincial Council's opinion on subjects within his competence in the province, and requires the council to give its opinion.
- Article 37The article provides that the remuneration of the Provincial Council's chair and members is set by the Prime Minister on the Minister of Interior's proposal, taking transport and accommodation costs into account.Amended A/21
- Article 38The article limits dissolving the Provincial Council to an order of the Prime Minister on the Minister of Interior's proposal, requires reappointment within three months, and says who exercises the council's competences meanwhile.
- Article 39The article creates a secretariat for the Provincial Council at the provincial emirate and sets its tasks in preparing the agenda, invitations, minutes and decisions, and keeping order in sessions.
- Article 40يصدر وزير الداخلية اللوائح اللازمة لتنفيذ هذا النظام.Amended A/21
- Article 41The article provides that the Law of Provinces may be amended only in the same way in which it was issued.Amended A/21