Statute of the Alimony Fund

For the purposes of this Statute, the following words and phrases, wherever they appear in this Statute, shall have the meanings assigned to them, unless the context requires otherwise:

Statute: Statute of the Alimony Fund.

Regulations: The implementing regulations of the Statute.

Fund: Alimony Fund.

Board: The Board of the Fund.

Alimony: The money that a person is required to spend on those who are legally entitled to it.

Beneficiary: Person who is entitled to alimony in accordance with the provisions of the Statute.

In accordance with the provisions of the Statute, a fund called the Alimony Fund shall be established, reporting to the Minister of Justice, and shall have a legal personality and an independent budget, and its headquarters shall be in the Ministry of Justice.

The Fund aims to ensure the payment of alimony to the beneficiaries without delay, in accordance with the provisions in the Statute therein.

The Fund shall undertake the following tasks:

1- Payment of alimony to the person who has been awarded a judicial ruling on its entitlement, and it has not been implemented except for the excuse of insolvency, in accordance with the procedures specified by the regulations.

2- Payment of alimony to the person who has been awarded a judicial ruling and whose claim is still pending before the court, in accordance with the procedures specified by the regulations.

3- Paying temporary alimony to the beneficiary before issuing the alimony ruling, in accordance with procedures determined by the Council. Provided that the Fund shall recover them from the amounts due to the beneficiary under the alimony ruling, and if the alimony is rejected, he shall return what has been disbursed to him from the fund within two months from the date of ruling becomes final. The Fund may take the necessary legal action to recover what has been disbursed if that period has elapsed without being returned.

4- Demand any person in respect of whom the Fund has paid alimony to recover what has been disbursed, that the Fund takes the place of the beneficiary in claiming the enforcement of the judicial ruling.

1- The alimony shall be paid upon a request submitted by the beneficiary, according to a form prepared by the Fund for this purpose, provided that the documents and papers specified by the regulations are attached to the form.

2- The Fund shall examine the applications submitted to it, to verify that all the conditions are met in accordance with the provisions specified by the regulations in this regard.

The Fund shall suspend the payment of alimony to the beneficiary if the reason for his entitlement to it ceases to exist. Each beneficiary must inform the Fund of any change affecting his entitlement to alimony, within ten days from the date of the change.

In case of any change that affects the beneficiary’s entitlement to alimony and the Fund is not informed of it during the period stipulated under Article (6) of the Statute, conceals any of the data required from him, or provides incorrect data, the Fund shall suspend the payment of alimony and shall oblige the beneficiary to return what was unlawfully disbursed to him. This shall not prejudice the right of the Fund to take the necessary legal measures.

1- The Fund shall have a Board of Directors headed by the Minister of Justice and the membership of each of:

A- Representative from the Ministry of Justice.

B- Representative of the Ministry of Finance.

C- Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

D- Three members from the private sector who have an interest in the field of work of the Fund shall be nominated by the Chairman of the board and shall be appointed by a decision of the Council of Ministers.

2- The term of membership in the Board shall be (three) years, renewable once.

3- The rank of representatives of government bodies in the Board shall not be less than (fourteenth) rank or its equivalent.

4- The Chairman of the board shall determine the representatives of the government bodies in chairing the meetings in his absence.

The Board shall be responsible for achieving the objectives of the Fund and shall have, for example but not be limited to, the following competences:

1- Approving the Fund’s plans and work programs.

2- Defining the responsibilities and powers of the Director General of the Fund.

3- Determining the amounts of temporary alimony referred to in paragraph (3) of Article (4) of the Statute, and the period of paying this alimony.

4- Accepting donations, grants, gifts, wills and endowments.

5- Approving the draft annual budget of the Fund, its final account, the auditor’s report and the annual report, in preparation for submitting them in accordance with the followed legal procedures.

In order to achieve these competences, the Board may form permanent or temporary committees, whether from its members or others, entrusted with specific tasks. It may also seek the assistance of experts, consultants and others, as it deems appropriate, to perform some of the tasks within the scope of the Fund’s competence, and determines their fees and the duration of their work.

The Board may further delegate certain of its competences to the Director General of the Fund.

1- The Board shall meet at the invitation of its Chairman at least every three months, or whenever the need arises. The meeting shall be valid if attended by a majority of the members, provided that they include the Chairman or his representative.

2- Decisions of the Board shall be passed by a majority vote of the present members, and in the event of equal votes, the side with which the Chairman of the meeting votes shall prevail.

3- The deliberations and decisions of the Board shall be recorded in minutes signed by the Chairman of the meeting and the present members.

4- The Director General of the Fund shall attend the meetings of the Board without having the right to vote on decisions, and shall present the topics on the agenda, and supervise the preparation of the necessary decisions.

The Fund shall have a Director General of (15th) rank nominated by the Chairman of the Board who shall be the executive officer responsible for the administration of the Fund in accordance with the Statute, regulations and decisions of the Board. In particular, the Board shall undertake the following tasks:

1- To prepare the Fund’s draft plans and work programs, and submitting them to the Board for approval.

2- To supervise the work progress of the Fund through the approved plans and programs.

3- To pursue implementation of Board decisions.

4- To prepare the draft annual budget of the Fund and submit it to the Board.

5- To prepare the draft annual report on the Fund’s activity and submit it to the Board.

6- To issue the necessary decisions to implement the provisions of the regulations and the Statute, according to the powers entrusted to him.

7- To disburse from the Fund’s budget, and taking all financial procedures in accordance with the approved laws and regulations, and within the powers delegated by the Board.

8- To represent the Fund in its relations with third parties and before the judicial authorities, and may delegate others in this regard after the approval of the Board.

9- To perform any other competence assigned to him by the Board.

The General Manager may delegate any of his competences to any of the employees of the Fund.

The financial resources of the Fund consist of the following:

1- Funds contributed by the Country as an annual subsidy.

2- Donations, gifts, will and endowments that the Board decides to accept.

3- Any other resource approved by the Board without violating the Laws and instructions.

All funds of the Fund shall be deposited in special accounts with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and disbursed in accordance with the rules and procedures determined by the Board.

The financial year of the Fund shall be the financial year of the Country. As an exception, the first financial year of the Fund shall commence on the effective date of the Statute and shall expire at the end of the following financial year.

Without prejudice to the competence of the General Auditing Bureau, the Board shall appoint an external auditor (or more) from those licensed to work in the Kingdom, to audit the accounts, transactions, statements, annual budget and final account of the Fund. The Board determines its fees. The auditor’s report shall be submitted to the Board, and a copy shall be provided to the General Auditing Bureau.

The Board shall issue the regulations within ninety days from the date of issuance of the Statute.

This Statute shall come into force ninety days after the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.