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Enforcement & Debt

Enforcement and debt in Saudi Arabia: bounced cheques, promissory notes, insolvency, and recovering financial rights — guides documented against official sources.

Recovering financial rights in Saudi Arabia: bounced cheques, promissory notes, Najiz enforcement requests, and insolvency — guides that explain the path and the competent venue for each situation.

Start with the guide that matches the document in your hand — cheque, note, or judgment — because the path differs with each.

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Common questions in this section

What is the difference between a paper promissory note and a Nafith note?

A Nafith note is created and registered electronically with its statutory elements, with both parties' details verified and the debtor accepting electronically; it cannot be amended once approved. That cuts off the signature and data disputes common with manual paper forms, which is why electronic creation via Nafith is currently preferred, especially in commercial and financing dealings.

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My cheque bounced — do I go to the police or to Najiz?

They are different tracks. Civil collection is an execution request on Najiz, because Article 9 of the Enforcement Law treats commercial papers as executive instruments, after obtaining the bank's non-payment statement. The criminal track aims at the penalty in Article 118 of the Commercial Papers Law, which requires bad faith.

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Does claiming insolvency extinguish the debt?

No. Article 81 of the Enforcement Law requires the execution judge to order attachment of assets that come to the insolvent debtor in future, to notify a licensed credit-information registrar of the insolvency, and it preserves the creditor's right to re-submit the same executive instrument later if any asset of the debtor appears.

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Can a creditor have a debtor's services suspended directly?

No. The controls require a statutory basis, a Council of Ministers decision, a royal order, a judicial order, or an order from the Public Prosecution, and the suspension is carried out through the electronic platform. A creditor cannot suspend a debtor's services directly.

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