In force
Saudi Succession Commission Law
نظام هيئة البيعة
Establishes the Allegiance (Succession) Commission by royal order and sets out its tasks, seat, members' oath, chairmanship of meetings, deliberations and voting.
- Articles
- 25
- In force
- 25
- Amended
- 0
- Issued
- 1/1/1427 AH
Issued by: أمر ملكي رقم أ/135 بتاريخ 26 / 9 / 1427
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
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Articles of the Saudi Succession Commission Law
- Article 1The article creates the Succession Commission by royal order, and names its members from the sons of the Founding King and those the King appoints, and how a vacant seat is filled.
- Article 2The article provides that the Succession Commission exercises its tasks in accordance with the Succession Commission Law and the Basic Law of Governance.
- Article 3The article binds the Succession Commission to the Book of God, the Sunnah of His Messenger, preserving the entity of the State, the unity and cooperation of the ruling family, national unity and the interests of the people.
- Article 4The article sets the Succession Commission's seat in Riyadh and its meetings in the Royal Court, and, with the King's approval, allows meetings at other Royal Court premises or a place the King determines.
- Article 5The article requires the chairman, members and Secretary General of the Succession Commission to take a prescribed oath before the King before they start their work in the Commission.
- Article 6The article requires the Succession Commission, on the death of the King, to call for pledging allegiance to the Crown Prince as King of the country in accordance with this Law and the Basic Law of Governance.
- Article 7The article regulates choosing the Crown Prince: after consultation the King chooses up to three candidates, on one of whom the Commission agrees or else nominates others, and any disagreement is settled by a vote.
- Article 8The article requires a candidate for the position of Crown Prince to meet what paragraph (b) of Article 5 of the Basic Law of Governance provides.
- Article 9The article requires the Crown Prince to be chosen in accordance with Article 7 within no more than thirty days from the date the King is pledged allegiance.
- Article 10The article creates a temporary governing council of five Succession Commission members to manage State affairs temporarily in set cases, and bars it from amending the basic laws or dissolving the Council of Ministers or the Shura Council.
- Article 11The article regulates the King's inability to exercise his powers for health reasons: a medical report, then a temporary transfer of powers to the Crown Prince, or pledging allegiance to him as King if the condition is permanent.
- Article 12The article regulates the inability of both the King and the Crown Prince for health reasons: the temporary governing council manages the State, and if it is permanent the Commission chooses the most suitable to rule within seven days.
- Article 13The article requires the Succession Commission, if the King and Crown Prince die at the same time, to choose the most suitable to rule within seven days, with the temporary council managing the State until allegiance is pledged.
- Article 14The article forms a medical committee of the medical officer of the Royal Clinics, the medical director of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and three deans of medical colleges, which issues the medical reports referred to in the Law.
- Article 15The article gives the chair of the Succession Commission to the eldest of the sons of the Founding King in age, deputized by the next in age of his brothers, and then the eldest of the sons of the sons.
- Article 16The article makes the Succession Commission's meetings confidential, held with the King's approval and attended only by members, the Secretary General and the recorder of deliberations, with others allowed to be invited to clarify without a vote.
- Article 17The article makes the chairman of the Succession Commission responsible for calling its meetings in the cases provided for in Articles 6, 11, 12 and 13 of the Law.
- Article 18The article requires Succession Commission members to attend meetings, to notify the chairman in writing if absent, and not to leave permanently before the meeting ends without its chair's permission.
- Article 19The article sets the powers of the chair of a Succession Commission session in running meetings, and allows a subject not on the agenda to be discussed with the approval of ten members.
- Article 20The article requires two-thirds of the Succession Commission's members, including the chairman, for a valid meeting, with decisions by a majority of those present and a reduced quorum for emergencies.
- Article 21The article requires minutes of every Succession Commission meeting containing specified details, signed by the chair of the meeting, the members present and the Secretary General.
- Article 22The article requires voting on the Succession Commission's decisions to be by secret ballot according to a form prepared for this purpose.
- Article 23The article provides that a Succession Commission member views the agenda and its attachments at the Commission's meeting place and may not take its documents outside that place.
- Article 24The article provides that the King appoints a Secretary General of the Succession Commission responsible for calling meetings, minutes, decisions and announcing statements, and a deputy who takes over his tasks in his absence.
- Article 25The article requires a royal order, after the approval of the Succession Commission, to amend the provisions of the Succession Commission Law.