Saudi Enforcement Law 2026: start date, travel bans and fines

The short answer

The new Saudi Enforcement Law has applied since 180 days passed from its Gazette publication on 1 May 2026, and under Article 65 it replaced the M/53 law. Adding 180 days to 1 May gives 28 October 2026, a calculated date. The law sets rules for travel bans, fines and closing requests, while leaving some details to its implementing regulation. The Implementing Regulation of the Enforcement Law was published in Umm Al-Qura on 23 October 2026 (12/5/1448H) and applies from the law's start date.[1][4]

7 min read

On this page

When did the new Saudi Enforcement Law take effect?

The Enforcement Law issued by Royal Decree M/237 was published in Umm Al-Qura on 1 May 2026. Under Article 65 it replaced the M/53 law, and it has applied since 180 days passed from its publication. Source 1

28 October 2026 is a calculated date: 1 May plus 180 calendar days. The Ministry of Justice page we examined on 23 October displayed a status label meaning “effective from” without a date. We therefore do not present 28 October as a separately verified official announcement. Article 65 remains the controlling reference. Source 2 Source 3

Main provisions of the new Enforcement Law

Topic	Rule in the new law
Executive instruments	Article 7(1)(d) requires bills of exchange and promissory notes to be registered on national electronic platforms. Under Article 6 of the regulation, the platform must be approved by the Ministry, and registration requires the obligor's consent and the data needed for the instrument's validity under the relevant laws. Cheques are separately listed in Article 7(1)(e). Source 4 Source 5
Ten-year limit	Article 11 bars acceptance of an execution request on an instrument more than 10 years past its due date, without prejudice to related statutory provisions. Its wording concerns the request, not a blanket cancellation of the underlying debt. Source 6
Money enforcement	Under Article 18(1), compulsory measures start after 5 working days from notification or announcement without performance. A sufficient bank guarantee allows 10 additional working days. Source 7
Daily fine in money enforcement	Article 18(3) allows the court to impose up to SAR 5,000 per day; under Article 18(1) of the regulation, the total may not exceed the value of the debt under execution. The court may cancel all or part upon performance; collection follows distribution of enforcement proceeds, and the fine goes to the State Treasury. Source 8 Source 9
Travel ban	Article 19 provides for a court order at the creditor's request after the Article 18(1) period: up to 3 years, renewable on a new request within 6 years in total. The order ends with the execution request. Under Article 19(2) of the regulation, the order issues only if assets sufficient to pay cannot be attached or there is an impediment to recovering from them. Source 10 Source 11
Amount seized	Article 25 limits seizure to the amount claimed unless the asset cannot be divided. Article 26 separately protects specified assets and income. Source 12
Direct performance	Article 36 concerns doing or refraining from an act. After its specified enforcement conditions, it provides a fine up to SAR 10,000 per day; under Article 40 of the regulation, the total may not exceed SAR 500,000. This is a different provision from Article 18. Source 13 Source 14
Ending a request	Articles 42-43 distinguish payment, lack of assets, all measures taken plus expiry of the specified request period after the last measure (one year from the last enforcement step, under Article 47(1) of the regulation), impossibility, creditor closure and release of the debt. Some closure grounds permit resumption if justified. Source 15 Source 16

Travel bans under the new Enforcement Law

Article 19(3) provides five grounds for the court to lift a ban: an approved medical report establishing a need for treatment abroad; small debts as defined by the regulation; work that requires foreign travel; harm resulting from the ban; or disclosed assets sufficient to pay the debt with no obstacle to collection. The regulation sets the implementing controls. Under Article 19(1) of the regulation, the debt or debts under execution count as a small amount if the unpaid amount does not exceed SAR 50,000. Source 17 Source 18

Article 19(2) also preserves the competent authorities' powers over a non-Saudi person's residence, departure and deportation under the relevant laws. A travel-ban provision does not itself determine immigration status. Source 19

The new rules do not amount to an automatic cancellation of all existing bans. Item Second of the decree preserves the validity of judgments, orders and decisions issued before commencement under the rules then applicable. Which measure applies to a particular file is not determined by this overview. Source 20

Salary, pension and essential assets

Article 26 distinguishes wages/salaries from civil and military retirement pensions. The fractions below describe that article's text, not a calculation of a person's available balance. Source 21

Income	Maintenance debt	Other debts	When they compete
Wages and salary	Half of the total	One third of the total	Half for maintenance and one third of the remaining half for other debts, shared among those creditors. Article 26(3). Source 22
Civil/military retirement pension	Half of the total	One quarter of the total	Half for maintenance and one quarter of the remaining half for other debts, shared among those creditors. Article 26(4). Source 23

Article 26 also protects government assistance and specified necessities, including housing and transport within sufficiency limits, personal necessities and items needed to practise a profession personally. The necessities listed in paragraph 2 can be seized if pledged to the creditor or if they are the creditor's own property. The protection is therefore not an unconditional exemption for every home or vehicle. Source 24

Ending a request does not always cancel the debt

Article 42 requires the creditor to end the request after receiving the right, within the period set by the regulation. Article 43(1)(c) requires all enforcement measures to have been taken and the specified request period to have elapsed after the last measure; exhaustion alone is not the complete condition. Article 47(1) of the regulation sets that period at one year from the last enforcement step. Article 43(2) permits a creditor to resume a request, if justified, following the closure grounds in paragraph 1(b)-(e). Payment and release of the debt are separately listed in 1(a) and 1(f). A closed file is not, by itself, proof that the debt was forgiven. Source 25 Source 26

Article 53(1) also addresses a creditor's request for an enforcement measure made with intent to harm the debtor, or delay in ending the request after the right is recovered, with that intent. It provides up to 3 years' imprisonment and a fine up to SAR 100,000, or either. The intent to harm condition is essential; the provision does not describe every delayed closure as an offence. Source 27

Does the new Enforcement Law abolish debtor imprisonment?

Article 37 retains coercive detention in the direct-performance track after 30 working days following an Article 36 measure without performance, on the creditor's request: up to 180 days, with a further extension on request. Its exemptions include a debtor no older than 18, medically established inability to endure detention, a pregnant woman or a woman with a child no older than 2, and a debtor who is an ascendant or descendant of the creditor. Article 50 separately contains criminal penalties for the specified intentional concealment, obstruction and misleading-information offences. A claim that the law abolishes all imprisonment would omit these provisions. Source 28

Earlier instruments and existing cases

Pre-commencement bills and notes: decree item Fifth preserves otherwise qualifying bills of exchange and promissory notes issued before commencement, lacking only national-platform registration, as executive instruments for one year after commencement. Source 29
Prior decisions and disputes: item Second preserves the validity of earlier judgments, orders and decisions under prior rules. Item Third excludes enforcement-dispute cases already decided by a final judgment before commencement from the new law. Source 30
Continuing older provisions: items Sixth and Seventh keep the specified M/53 precautionary-attachment and insolvency provisions operating pending the legislative steps described in the decree. The replacement of the former law is therefore subject to these express transition provisions. Source 31

New Enforcement Law implementing regulation: publication and settled values

Article 64 requires the implementing regulation to be issued within 180 days of the law's issuance and to apply from the law's commencement. The Implementing Regulation of the Enforcement Law was published in Umm Al-Qura on 23 October 2026 (12/5/1448H), and under its Article 54 it applies from the law's start date. Source 32 Source 33

The published law leaves the small-debt amount under Article 19, aggregate fine ceilings under Articles 18 and 36, registration details under Article 7, and the post-payment closure period under Article 42 to the regulation. The regulation sets the small amount as an unpaid amount not exceeding SAR 50,000 (Article 19(1)); caps the total Article 18 fine at the value of the debt under execution (Article 18(1)) and the total Article 36 fine at SAR 500,000 (Article 40); and requires registration on a Ministry-approved platform, with the obligor's consent and the data needed for validity (Article 6). It addresses the Article 42 period in its Article 46, which this guide does not restate. Separately, Article 47(1) sets the Article 43(1)(c) period at one year from the last enforcement step. Source 34 Source 35

Article 7 concerns executive instruments and Article 65 governs the transition. The existing Najiz execution-request guide explains its separately dated service information; this page supplies the new-law overview. General information cannot determine the legal position of a specific execution file. Source 36

Article 7 addresses promissory notes, Article 19 travel bans, and decree item Seventh the continuing insolvency provisions. Related guides cover promissory notes through Nafith, service suspension and insolvency claims, each with its own source-check date. Source 37 Source 38

Read the full law and official sources

The Enforcement Law published in Umm Al-Qura contains the full text, including Articles 64-65 on the regulation and commencement. Royal Decree M/237 contains the transition provisions. This page's source-check date is separate from credentialed legal review. Source 39 Source 40

Save or share this guide card:

The image includes its creation date and time in Riyadh.

Share this guide with someone who needs it:

The shared link contains no inputs, results, or private details

Frequently asked questions

Is 28 October 2026 an officially confirmed commencement date?

Article 65 specifies 180 days from Gazette publication on 1 May 2026. Adding 180 calendar days gives 28 October 2026. In the official pages examined on 23 October, we did not verify a separately printed commencement date; 28 October is therefore labelled as calculated.[1][3]

Did the new law automatically remove existing travel bans?

The decree preserves the validity of judgments, orders and decisions issued before commencement under the prior rules. Article 19 sets the new travel-ban rules, including court action and lifting grounds. These texts do not announce blanket cancellation of existing travel bans.[1][2]

Does ending an execution request erase the debt?

Not necessarily. Article 43 distinguishes payment and release of the debt from other closure grounds. Paragraph 1(c) requires all enforcement measures and expiry of the specified request period after the last measure, not exhaustion alone; Article 47(1) of the regulation sets that period at one year from the last enforcement step. Paragraph 2 preserves resumption, if justified, for the closure grounds in paragraph 1(b)-(e), including no assets, that exhaustion-and-period ground, impossibility and creditor closure.[1][4]

Is every daily fine SAR 5,000?

No. Article 18 allows the court to impose up to SAR 5,000 per day in money enforcement. Article 36 provides for up to SAR 10,000 per day in direct performance of an act or abstention, after its specified conditions are met. Under the regulation, the total of the Article 18 fine may not exceed the value of the debt under execution (Article 18(1)), and the total of the Article 36 fine may not exceed SAR 500,000 (Article 40). Fines go to the State Treasury.[1][4]

Has Hala Law verified the final implementing regulation?

Yes. The Implementing Regulation of the Enforcement Law was published in Umm Al-Qura on 23 October 2026 (12/5/1448H), and this page cites that published text. Article 64 of the law requires the regulation to apply from the law's commencement, and Article 54 of the regulation provides that it applies from the law's start date.[1][4]

Official sources

Source	Article / reference	As of
Enforcement Law, Royal Decree M/237: Umm Al-Qura, published 1 May 2026	Articles 7, 11, 18, 19, 25, 26, 36, 37, 42, 43, 50, 53, 64 and 65	2026-10-28
Royal Decree M/237 of 3/11/1447H: Umm Al-Qura	Items Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh: transition and continuing provisions	2026-10-28
Enforcement Law 1447H: Ministry of Justice Legal Portal	Publication metadata and Articles 64-65	2026-10-23
Implementing Regulation of the Enforcement Law — Umm Al-Qura 12/5/1448H (23 October 2026)	Articles 6, 18, 19, 40, 46, 47 and 54	2026-10-28

Change log

2026-10-23First source-checked overview of the published M/237 law and decree; commencement arithmetic and unverified regulatory details are explicitly separated.
2026-10-29The Enforcement Law issued by Royal Decree M/237 took effect: the page now states that it has applied since 180 days passed from its 1 May 2026 publication and treats the M/53 law as the former law, and the pre-commencement framing was removed. The law's figures, articles and conditions are unchanged. The implementing regulation published in Umm Al-Qura on 23 October 2026 is now cited, adding its settled values: the fine ceilings, the SAR 50,000 small-amount threshold and the travel-ban precondition, the one-year closure period and the bill and note registration conditions; sources were re-checked on 28 October 2026.

Content on this site is general legal information, not legal advice, and is no substitute for consulting a licensed lawyer. We link you to official sources and do not represent any government body.