Article 1 of the Saudi Expropriation of Real Estate for Public Interest Law

This is the definitions Article, and it is the reference for understanding the rest of the Law's articles; whenever one of these terms appears in the Law, it is understood in the meaning set here, unless the context requires otherwise.

The most important things the Article defines:

• The Authority: the General Authority for State Properties, the Board is its board of directors, and the Governor is its governor.
• The project owner: not government bodies alone, but also a company or a public-benefit civil association when it carries out work aimed at a public interest under the Law.
• The supervising body: the government body that supervises the activity of the project owner if it is a company or association.
• The government body: includes ministries, departments, institutions, public authorities and any independent public body in the Kingdom, and the bodies affiliated with them.
• The real estate: the land and everything fixed on it that cannot be moved without damage, such as buildings and plantings.
• The project plan: an engineering drawing showing the properties to be expropriated or temporarily occupied.
• The survey: a technical report showing a property's boundaries, lengths, total area, geographic coordinates and the angles of its corners.
• The accredited valuer: a natural or legal person licensed to practice the valuation profession, who works according to the valuation standards and guides approved by the Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers.

The Article also explains that "the Regulations" are the Implementing Regulations of the Law. In application of these definitions, Article 2 provides that no real estate may be expropriated or temporarily occupied except for the public interest and in return for fair compensation.