Succession Commission Law (Law of Pledge of Allegiance Commission)

Royal Order (A /135)

Dated 26 Ramadan 1427H – 19 October 2006

 

Article 1:

A commission called the Pledge of Allegiance Commission shall be constituted pursuant to a Royal Order as follows: -

(1) The sons of the Founder-King Abdulaziz ibn Abdurrahman Al-Faisal Al-Saud.

(2) A son of every deceased, decliner or incapacitated, pursuant to a medical report, to be appointed by the King from among the sons of the Founder-King Abdulaziz ibn Abdurrahman Al-Faisal Al-Saud, provided that he is known for his righteousness and competency.

(3) Two to be appointed by the King, one from among his sons and the other from the sons of the Crown Prince, provided that they are known for their righteousness and competency.

And if the place of any member of the Pledge of Allegiance Commission becomes vacant, the King shall appoint a substitute in accordance with the conditions referred to in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Article.

 

Article 2:

The Commission shall exercise the duties entrusted to it in accordance with this Law and the Basic Law of Governance.

 

Article 3:

The Commission shall adhere to the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Prophet, Muhammad may God’s peace and blessings be upon him, maintain the State’s entity, uphold the solidarity and cooperation of the royal family, and guard against its dissention and preserve the national unity and the interests of the people.

 

Article 4:

The seat of the Commission shall be in the City of Riyadh and its meetings shall be held at the royal court and may be held, with the King’s approval, at any of the royal courts in the Kingdom or any other place specified by the King.

 

Article 5:

The Commission’s chairman, members and secretary general shall take the following oath before the King and prior to assuming their duties in the Commission:

I swear to God Almighty to be loyal to my religion and then to my King and country and shall not disclose any of the State’s secrets, protect its interests and laws, safeguard the solidarity and cooperation of the royal family and the national unity and discharge my duties with truthfulness, integrity, sincerity and fairness.

 

Article 6:

Upon the King’s death the Commission shall call for the pledge of allegiance to the Crown Prince as King of the country in accordance with this Law and the Basic Law of Governance.

 

Article 7:

(a) After receiving the pledge of allegiance and after consultation with members of the Commission, the King shall choose one or two or three he deems fit to be crown prince. Such choice shall be brought before the Commission which shall exert effort to agree on one nominee to be named Crown Prince. In case the Commission does not nominate any of them, then it shall nominate whom it deems fit to be crown prince.

(b) The King may at any time ask the Commission to nominate whom one it deems fit to be crown prince. In case the King disapproves the Commission’s nominee in accordance with any of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Article, then the Commission shall vote on its nominee and another chosen by the King, and the one with the majority of votes shall be named crown prince.

 

Article 8:

A nominee for crown prince must satisfy the provisions of paragraph (b) of Article 5 of the Basic Law of Governance.

 

Article 9:

The crown prince shall be chosen in accordance with the provision of Article 7 within a period not exceeding thirty days from the date of the pledge of allegiance to the King.

 

Article 10:

The Commission shall form a provisional council for governance from five of its members. The Council shall run the State’s affairs temporarily in the cases provided for in this Law.

However, the Council shall in no case have power to amend the Basic Law of Governance, this Law, the Law of the Council of Ministers, the Law of the Shura Council, the Law of Provinces, the Law of the National Security Council or any other Law relating to Governance, nor to dissolve the Council of Ministers or the Shura Council or to reconstitute them. The Council shall, during the transitional period, safeguard the unity of the State, its internal and external interests and its laws.

 

Article 11:

In case the Council is convinced that the King is unable to exercise his powers for health reasons, the Commission shall entrust the medical committee provided for in this Law to prepare a medical report on the health status of the King. If the medical report proves that the inability of the King to exercise his powers is temporary, the Commission shall prepare minutes to this effect. Henceforth, the King’s powers shall be exercised temporarily by the Crown Prince till the recovery of the King. When a written notice from the King reaches the chairman of the Commission that the medical reasons for his inability to exercise his powers no longer exist or when the Commission is convinced of the same, then it shall direct the said medical committee to prepare a medical report on the King’s health status within a period not exceeding twenty four hours. If the medical report confirms the ability of the King to exercise his powers, then the Commission shall prepare minutes to this effect; henceforth, the King shall resume exercising his powers.

However, if the medical report proves that the inability of the King to exercise his powers is permanent, the Commission shall prepare minutes to this effect. Henceforth, the Commission shall call for Pledge of Allegiance to the Crown Prince as King of the Country, provided that these procedures are carried out in accordance with this Law and the Basic Law of Governance within a period not exceeding twenty four hours.

 

Article 12:

In case the Commission is convinced that both the King and the Crown Prince are unable to exercise their powers for health reasons, then the Commission shall request the medical committee provided for in this Law to prepare a medical report on their health status. If the medical report confirms that their inability to exercise their power is temporary, then the Commission shall prepare minutes to this effect; henceforth, the Provisional Council of Governance shall run the State’s affairs and look after the people’s interests till the recovery of either of them. When a written notice is received by the Commission from the King or the Crown Prince that he has recovered or when the Commission is convinced of the recovery, then it shall direct the said medical committee to prepare a medical report on his condition within a period not exceeding twenty four hours. If the medical report confirms the ability of either of them to exercise his powers, then the Commission shall prepare minutes to this effect; henceforth, he shall resume exercising his powers. However, if the medical report proves that their disability is permanent, then the Commission shall prepare minutes to this effect, and the Provisional Council of Governance shall run the State’s affairs, provided that the Commission shall, within a period not exceeding seven days choose the most fit for governance from among the sons of the Founder-King Abdulaziz ibn Abdurrahman Al-Faisal Al-Saud and the sons of the sons and to call for pledge allegiance to him as King of the Country in accordance with this Law and the Basic Law of Governance.

 

Article 13:

In case of the death of both the King and the Crown Prince at the same time, the Commission shall within a period not exceeding seven days choose the most fit for governance from among the sons of the Founder-King Abdulaziz ibn Abdurrahman Al-Faisal Al-Saud and the sons of the sons and call for pledging allegiance to him as King of the Country, in accordance with this Law and the Basic Law of Governance.

The Provisional Council of Governance shall run the State’s affairs till the pledge of allegiance is given.

 

Article 14:

A medical committee shall be formed of the following:-

1. The medical director of the royal clinics.

2. The medical director of King Faisal Specialist Hospital.

3. Three of the deans of colleges of medicine in the Kingdom chosen by the Pledge of Allegiance Commission.

The Committee shall issue the medical reports referred to in this Law and may seek the assistance of any physician it chooses.

 

Article 15:

The Commission shall be presided by the eldest member of the sons of the Founder-King Abdulaziz ibn Abdurrahman Al-Faisal Al-Saud and shall be represented by the second eldest of his brothers and in case there is none of them the meeting shall be presided by the eldest of the sons of the sons in the Commission.

 

Article 16:

The meetings of the Commission are secret and shall be held with the consent of the King provided that it shall not be attended except by its members and secretary general in addition to the person entrusted with recoding its deliberations with the consent of the King.

The Commission may with the consent of the King summons any one to give explanations or information without being entitled to vote.

 

Article 17:

The chairman of the Commission shall be responsible to call for its meetings in the cases provided for in Articles 6, 11, 12 and 13 of this Law.

 

Article 18:

The members of the Commission must attend the meetings of the Commission and if any member has an execute that justifies his absence from any meeting he should inform the chairman of the Commission in writing and no member shall withdraw finally from the Commission meeting before its end except with the permission of the chairman of the meeting.

 

Article 19:

The chairman of the meeting shall open the meetings and announce their end, control discussions, give permission to talk, determine the topic of discussion, end discussion and put issues for voting.

 

Article 20:

The meeting of the Commission shall not be valid unless attended by at least two thirds of its members including the chairman of the Commission or his representative. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 17, the Commission's resolutions shall be taken by the majority of its present members; in case of a tie, the side with which the chairman of the meeting votes shall prevail.

In emergency cases where the legal quorum is not available, the meetings of the Commission may be held by the presence of half of its members and may take resolutions by the consent of two thirds of the present members.

 

Article 21:

Minutes shall be prepared for each meeting to record the place of meeting, date, time of opening, name of chairman, names of members present, names of members absent, reasons of absence, if any, name of secretary general, summary of discussions, number of consenting and dissenting votes, result of voting, provisions of resolutions, what relates to postponement or suspension of the meeting, time at which the meeting ends and any other issues the chairman of the meeting finds necessary to be recorded. The minutes shall be signed by the chairman of the meeting, the members present and the secretary general.

 

Article 22:

Voting relating to the Commission's resolutions shall be by secret ballot in accordance with a form prepared for this purpose.

 

Article 23:

A Commission member shall peruse the agenda and enclosures in the place of meeting but shall not be entitled to take the documents of the Commission outside the place of meeting.

 

Article 24:

The King shall appoint a secretary general for the Commission who shall be responsible for finalizing the procedures of calling for the meetings of the Commission, supervise the drafting of their minutes and resolutions and release the information relating to its meetings in accordance with the decisions of the chairman of the Commission.

The secretary general may with the consent of the King seek the assistance of anyone he chooses and the King shall appoint a deputy for the secretary general to carry out the duties of the secretary general in case of absence.