CASE / 1992–2022
Saudi Arabia under the 1992 Basic Law
A bounded record of the 1992 Basic Law consolidation and the September 2022 prime-minister exception; later amendments require review.
DETAILS
What are the case boundaries and records?
Check the scope, related ideas, and institutional evidence behind the overview.
Scope, selection, freshness, and background links
Basic Law evidence, 1992–2022 1992–2022
The consulted 2005 Basic Law consolidation, Herb's 1999 analytical definition, and the September 2022 royal order; not a current consolidation.
Formal design
observation
Article 5(b) confines rule to the sons and descendants of the founder and provides for allegiance to the most suitable among them.
observation
Article 5(c) provides that the King names the Crown Prince and may relieve him by royal order.
observation
Articles 55 and 56 of the consulted Basic Law consolidation assign the King supervision of general state policy and state that the King shall be Prime Minister.
observation
Articles 1 and 7 identify the Qur'an and Sunnah as the state's constitution and the source of governmental authority.
Rules in use
observation
On 27 September 2022, a royal order appointed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as Prime Minister as an express exception to Article 56, while reserving the King's chairing of Cabinet sessions he attends.
Interactions
editorial interpretation
The Basic Law's religious grounding is evidence about stated legal authority, but classifying Saudi government as theocracy also requires a definition and evidence about which institutions interpret and exercise that authority.