Enforcement Law

Purpose and scope

• Governs the enforcement of judgments and instruments before enforcement courts: when compulsory enforcement is allowed, how it is requested, disclosure, tracing, attachment and sale of assets, enforcement in personal status matters, and penalties.
• It replaced the Enforcement Law of 1433H and takes effect 180 days after publication (Article 65), that is from 17/5/1448H, 28 October 2026.
• The enforcement court supervises enforcement and decides enforcement disputes, except criminal penalties and matters of the Board of Grievances, and checks the instrument's conditions without reviewing the underlying right (Article 4).

Key rules, rights and obligations

• Compulsory enforcement requires an enforcement instrument for a specific right that is due. Instruments include final judgments and judgments with provisional enforcement, arbitral awards, notarised settlements, cheques, bills of exchange and promissory notes registered on the national electronic platforms, notarised contracts and acknowledgements, and foreign judgments that meet the conditions (Article 7).
• A foreign judgment is enforced on reciprocity and conditions, including that Saudi courts do not have exclusive jurisdiction, that the parties were notified and able to defend, and that it does not breach public order (Article 9).
• The debtor must disclose his assets from notification of the enforcement order; where there are signs of concealment the court may order his agents, dealers and debtors to disclose (Article 15).
• All the debtor's assets secure his debts from notification, and the creditor may sue to annul dispositions made after that date (Articles 23 and 24).
• Attachment is limited to the amount of the debt, and a debtor who proves he has more may designate the asset to be used first (Article 25).
• Exempt from attachment: public property, the home and vehicle within need, tools of the trade and government aid. Up to half a salary may be attached for maintenance debts and a third for other debts; for pensions, half for maintenance and a quarter for others (Article 26).
• Attached assets are sold at public auction unless the debtor is allowed to sell them voluntarily; the award clears the property sold (Articles 29 and 30). As a rule the debtor bears enforcement costs (Article 32).
• Custody and visitation judgments are enforced compulsorily, if needed with the police and entry into homes, in the child's best interest (Articles 39 and 40).

Violations, penalties and common problems

• After five working days without compliance: credit bureaus are notified, current and future assets are attached, and the court may impose a fine of up to SAR 5,000 per day of delay within a cap set by the regulation (Article 18).
• A travel ban is not automatic: it is ordered on the creditor's request for up to three years, extendable to no more than six, and lifted for medical treatment, small debts, work that requires travel, or disclosure of sufficient assets (Article 19).
• For an obligation to do or not to do: after thirty working days of coercive measures the debtor may be detained for up to 180 days, extendable; minors, the sick, pregnant women, mothers of children under two, and the creditor's parents or children are not detained; detention does not cancel the right (Article 37).
• Hiding or smuggling assets, deliberately obstructing or resisting enforcement, or giving misleading information: up to three years' imprisonment and a fine of up to SAR 1 million, or either; accomplices face the same (Article 50).
• A debtor who squanders substantial assets: up to fifteen years' imprisonment even if insolvency is proven (Article 52); a public official who prevents or obstructs enforcement: up to five years (Article 51).
• A creditor who abuses enforcement to harm the debtor, or delays closing the request after being paid: up to three years and SAR 100,000, or either (Article 53).
• Refusing or resisting a custody, guardianship or visitation order: up to ninety days and SAR 30,000, or either (Article 54); penalties may be doubled for repeat offences (Article 56).

Procedures and key deadlines

• Requests are filed online; if registration is refused for missing requirements, they must be completed within ten working days or the request is deemed rejected (Article 13).
• Once the instrument is accepted, the enforcement order is issued and notified immediately, and periods run from notification or publication (Article 14).
• The debtor has five working days from notification to comply, extended by ten working days if he provides a sufficient bank guarantee (Article 18).
• Competent bodies must respond to the enforcement court's orders within three working days (Article 3).
• A request based on an instrument due more than ten years ago is not accepted (Article 11).
• Grievances against enforcement decisions are filed within ten working days (Article 46); disputes over the validity or conditions of the instrument are heard as urgent cases (Article 45); neither stops enforcement unless so decided (Article 47).
• The creditor must close the request once paid (Article 42); a request closed for lack of assets may be resumed later if grounds appear (Article 43).

An advisory summary prepared by Al-Bayan Al-Wadih Law Firm. It is not an official text and does not replace the law, its implementing regulations, or advice from a specialised lawyer. The official published text and its amendments prevail.