Government

Government#

absolute monarchy

System

absolute monarchy

Capital

Riyadh

Head of state

King SALMAN bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (since 23 January 2015)

Head of government

Crown Prince and Prime Minister MUHAMMAD BIN SALMAN bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (since 27 September 2022)

Legislature

legislature name: Shura Council (Majlis Ash-Shura); legislative structure: unicameral; number of seats: 151 (all appointed); scope of elections: full renewal; term in office: 4 years; most recent election date: 9/2/2024; percentage of women in chamber: 19.9%; expected date of next election: August 2028

Judiciary

highest court(s): High Court (consists of the court chief; organized into circuits with 3-judge panels, except for the criminal circuit, which has a 5-judge panel for cases involving major punishments); judge selection and term of office: High Court chief and chiefs of the High Court Circuits appointed by royal decree on the recommendation of the Supreme Judiciary Council, a 10-member body of high-level judges and other judicial heads; new judges and assistant judges serve 1- and 2-year probations, respectively, before permanent assignment; subordinate courts: Court of Appeals; Specialized Criminal Court, first-degree courts composed of general, criminal, personal status, and commercial courts; Labor Court; a hierarchy of administrative courts

Constitution

history: 1 March 1992 – Basic Law of Government, issued by royal decree, serves as the constitutional framework and is based on the Qur’an and the life and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad; amendment process: proposed by the king directly or proposed to the king by the Consultative Assembly or by the Council of Ministers; passage by the king through royal decree

Independence

23 September 1932 (unification of the kingdom)

Administrative divisions

13 regions ( manatiq , singular - mintaqah ); Al Bahah, Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah (Northern Border), Al Jawf, Al Madinah al Munawwarah (Medina), Al Qasim, Ar Riyad (Riyadh), Ash Sharqiyah (Eastern), ‘Asir, Ha’il, Jazan, Makkah al Mukarramah (Mecca), Najran, Tabuk

Departments#

TODO. Ministries and authoritative sites, to be filled out.

Hierarchy#

How power is wired. The diagram below carries the generic template; refine the boxes and edges to match the current regime.

        flowchart TD
  HoS["Head of State"]
  HoG["Head of Government"]
  Leg["Legislature"]
  Jud["Judiciary"]
  Cab["Cabinet"]
  Foreign["Foreign Affairs"]
  Interior["Interior"]
  Defense["Defense"]
  Finance["Finance"]
  Justice["Justice"]

  HoS --> HoG
  HoG --> Cab
  Cab --> Foreign
  Cab --> Interior
  Cab --> Defense
  Cab --> Finance
  Cab --> Justice
  HoS -.- Leg
  HoS -.- Jud

Resources#

Public-facing portals the people use day to day. Operators monitor these for policy changes, official notices, and civil-registry data.

Resource

Site

Purpose

National portal

to be filled

One-stop government services for citizens.

Tax / revenue

to be filled

Income tax, VAT, customs.

Civil registry

to be filled

Births, deaths, marriages, national ID.

Immigration

to be filled

Visas, residency, naturalisation.

Health

to be filled

Public health, advisories, vaccination records.

Education

to be filled

Curricula, school directories, transcripts.

Statistics

to be filled

Census, economic indicators, opendata.

Police / emergency

to be filled

Reporting, missing persons, emergency contacts.
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