Article 4 of the Saudi Public Decency Regulations

Article 4 sets the first specific form of violating public decency, which concerns dress, and contains two prohibitions:

1. Indecent dress: one may not appear in a public place in indecent dress or clothing.
2. Dress with offensive content: one may not wear dress or clothing that carries pictures, shapes, signs or phrases that offend public decency.

The second prohibition is independent of the first: clothing may be decent yet carry an offensive phrase or picture, and then it falls within the prohibition. The article does not set detailed standards of decency and does not list the offensive phrases or pictures.

The prohibition is limited to the public place, which under Article 1 is a site open to the public free of charge or for a fee, such as markets, restaurants, gardens, beaches and means of transport.

This article implements the general duty in Article 3, which requires everyone in a public place to respect the values, customs, traditions and prevailing culture in the Kingdom. It is followed by Article 5, which prohibits writing or drawing on the walls, components or contents of public places or on means of transport unless licensed by the relevant authority.

Anyone against whom a violation has been issued because of his dress who believes he did not breach the rule can consult a specialized lawyer in administrative cases (the Board of Grievances).