Appeal a Criminal Judgment in Saudi Arabia: 30-Day Deadline

Fahd was sentenced to eight months in prison in a breach of trust case. He received a copy of the judgment on a Sunday, then got busy arranging his papers and settling with the other party until more than a month had passed. When he wanted to object, it was too late.

The direct answer: the deadline for appealing a first-instance criminal judgment is thirty days. If the objection memo is not filed within that time, the right to appeal is lost (Article 194 of the Law of Criminal Procedure). After the Court of Appeal's judgment, there are another thirty days to ask the Supreme Court for cassation (naqd) on specific grounds (Article 199). A retrial (i'adat al-nazar) is an exceptional route for final judgments, in a closed list of cases (Article 204).

Who can appeal a criminal judgment?

The convicted person, the public prosecutor and the person claiming a private right may ask for an appeal or review of first-instance judgments, and the court must tell them of this right when it announces the judgment (Article 192). The court record states the deadline for objection and that the judgment becomes final if no objection is filed in time (Article 139 of the Implementing Regulations). The person claiming a private right may also object if he asked for a discretionary (ta'zir) punishment against the accused (Article 139(2) of the Implementing Regulations). So if you are the victim, separate in your memo what concerns your private right from what concerns the punishment.

When does the criminal appeal deadline start?

After announcing the judgment, the court sets a date, no later than ten days, for receiving a copy of the judgment deed (sakk), and records this in the court record with the parties' signatures. If a party does not come to receive it, the copy is placed in the case file on that date, and the deadline for objection starts from that filing (Article 193). So the count does not start from the day you remember to object, but from receipt or filing.

A prisoner or detainee receives the copy of the judgment where he is held, through a court officer, and the authority responsible for him must bring him to court to file or withdraw his objection within the period. If he withdraws his objection, this does not shorten the period or cancel his right as long as the period has not ended (Article 140 of the Implementing Regulations). He may file more than one memo within the period and before the case is sent to the Court of Appeal (Article 142 of the Implementing Regulations).

Judgments of death, stoning, amputation and qisas (retaliation) for life or injury are sent for review automatically even if no one objects (Articles 194 and 199), and they are final only when upheld by the Supreme Court (Article 10).

What happens after the objection memo is filed?

1. The memo is registered on the day it is filed and sent immediately to the panel that issued the judgment (Article 195).
2. The same panel reviews the grounds of objection. It either confirms its judgment and sends it with the file to the Court of Appeal, or amends it, and the amended judgment is notified to the parties (Article 196).
3. The Court of Appeal reviews the file and any new pleas or evidence the parties submit in support of their grounds, either on the papers or at a hearing. It then upholds the judgment, or cancels it in full or in part and rules on what it cancelled (Article 197).
4. If a hearing is set and an appellant who is not detained does not attend after being notified, and fifteen days pass without him asking to continue, his right to appeal is declared lost (Article 197).

A criminal judgment is carried out only when it becomes final (Article 212). But a detainee who is found not guilty, or whose sentence does not require prison, or who has already spent the length of the sentence in detention, is released at once even if the judgment is not yet final (Article 213).

How do you write a criminal appeal memo?

The memo must include the judgment, its number and date, the grounds of objection, your requests, your signature and the date of filing (Article 195). An objection without these is not accepted (Article 142 of the Implementing Regulations). After these formal details comes the real value: grounds set out in order, each linked to its place in the judgment and the document that supports it.

An accused person was convicted of breach of trust because he did not return money the judgment said was given to him as a deposit.

A weak memo says: “The judgment is unfair and I am innocent,” and attaches the contract again.

A strong memo quotes the judgment's statement that the money was a deposit, then the fourth clause of the contract that makes it a loan, then shows that the correct description makes the dispute civil, not criminal, and asks for the conviction to be cancelled.

Do not ignore the reasons the judgment relied on against you; answer them one by one. If you submit a new document, explain what it proves and why it was not submitted before. The public criminal case and requests related to it are excluded from the Judicial Costs Law (Article 2 of that law), so there is no fee for objecting in it.

Is cassation a second appeal?

No. An objection by cassation before the Supreme Court against judgments of the Courts of Appeal is accepted only on one of four grounds (Article 198): breach of Sharia or the laws; the judgment was issued by a court that was not properly formed; it was issued by a court or panel without jurisdiction; or an error in characterising or describing the facts. The Supreme Court decides on the basis of the file without going into the facts of the case (Article 202), and you cannot raise a ground before it that was not in your memo, except one related to public order (Article 203). So write all your grounds from the start.

When can a final criminal judgment be retried?

Any party may ask for a retrial of a final judgment imposing a penalty, even after it has been carried out or the penalty has ended through pardon, settlement or death (Article 149 of the Implementing Regulations), in five cases only (Article 204):

• A person was sentenced for killing someone who is later found alive.
• Two final judgments contradict each other on the same facts in a way that shows one of the convicted persons is not guilty.
• The judgment was based on papers later shown to be forged, or testimony later ruled to be false.
• The judgment was based on another judgment that was later cancelled.
• New evidence or facts appear that were not known at the time of trial and would lead to acquittal or a lighter penalty.

Accepting the request does not stop the sentence being carried out, except for physical punishments; for others the court may order a stop (Article 206). If the retrial ends in a not-guilty judgment, the judgment must include material and moral compensation if the convicted person asks for it (Article 207). If the request is rejected, it cannot be filed again on the same facts (Article 208).

This is general information based on the official Arabic texts of Saudi laws, which prevail over any translation. It is not legal advice for your specific case.

Practical solutions for both sides

If you are the convicted person:

• Write down at once the date you received the copy of the judgment or the date it was filed, and count thirty days from it.
• Read the full reasons of the judgment, not just the ruling, and decide what you object to: the conviction, the description of the crime, the penalty or the private right.
• Link each ground to its place in the judgment and its document. Do not rely on a general denial.
• Attend the appeal hearings if they are set. Being absent for fifteen days after notification loses your right.
• If the deadline has passed, check whether your situation is one of the five retrial cases.

If you are the victim or the person claiming a private right:

• Object within the same period if the judgment fell short on your private right or did not decide it.
• If you asked for a discretionary punishment, you may object to it as well (Article 139(2) of the Implementing Regulations).
• If the convicted person objects, submit your reply and documents to the Court of Appeal. Do not assume the judgment will be upheld automatically.
• Do not carry out a settlement based on a judgment that is not final without writing down what happens if it is cancelled.

Thirty days pass quickly, and the first memo usually decides what can be argued afterwards. Send us on WhatsApp a copy of the judgment and the date you received it, and we will look with you at the possible grounds of objection before the deadline ends.