Assault Charges in Saudi Arabia: Penalty, Report and Compensation

An argument over a parking space turned into a fight. You came out with a bruise on your face and a cut on your hand, and the other man says you started it. The clip a passer-by filmed begins after the first punch. What do you do now, and what could the penalty be?

In Saudi Arabia there is no fixed prison term for every fight between two people who have no family, guardianship or work relationship. The court imposes a ta'zir (discretionary) penalty according to the injury, the weapon and the circumstances. The injured person also has a separate private right: qisas (retaliation) or arsh (fixed compensation for the injury) under Sharia, and compensation for treatment and lost income. If the assault was committed by someone with guardianship or authority over the victim, or with a family or dependency relationship, the Protection from Abuse Law applies with set penalties.

What is the penalty for assault in Saudi Arabia?

The courts apply Sharia and the laws (Article 1 of the Law of Criminal Procedure), and no penalty is imposed until guilt is proved at a trial (Article 3). In an attack on the body, two rights come together: the public right, pursued by the Public Prosecution, for which the offender receives a discretionary penalty; and the injured person's private right to qisas where its conditions are met, as in the Quran (Surat Al-Ma'idah, verse 45), or to arsh and compensation.

The discretionary penalty depends on how serious the injury is, the weapon used, where the blow landed, who started it, and the offender's record. So figures you read online about days of treatment “deciding the penalty” are not a general rule. Each file is assessed on its own facts.

Days of treatment do not set the penalty, but they do affect detention. Attorney General's Decision No. (1) dated 1/1/1442H, as published in the local press, lists as a major crime requiring detention an intentional assault that causes loss of a limb or of a bodily function (or part of them), or an injury that takes more than 21 days to heal, unless the victim waives his private right. The list also includes hitting one of your parents, unless the private right is waived, and intentionally hitting a security officer while on duty. In these crimes the investigator must detain the accused if the evidence is sufficient (Article 113 of the Law of Criminal Procedure).

When does the Protection from Abuse Law apply?

The Protection from Abuse Law does not cover every fight. Abuse under Article 1 is physical or psychological mistreatment, or the threat of it, by one person towards another, going beyond the limits of the guardianship, authority or responsibility he has over him, or because of a family relationship, support, sponsorship, custodianship or living dependency. After Article 13 was amended by Royal Decree M/72 dated 6/8/1443H, the penalties are:

These penalties do not prevent a harsher penalty under Sharia or another law, and the court may order an alternative to prison in the basic case. Anyone who incites, agrees or helps receives the penalty for the crime (Article 13(4)). Anyone who learns of a case of abuse must report it immediately (Article 3).

How do you prove the assault: medical report and cameras

Get treatment first and ask for a medical report describing the injury, its date and the treatment period. The report proves the injury and how serious it is, but on its own it does not prove who hit you or who started it. If complications appear later, document the follow-up and what links it to the first injury. Do not base a claim for permanent disability on a short first report.

• The names of people who saw the start of the incident. Separate those who saw the blow from those who arrived afterwards.
• The locations of nearby cameras. Ask for the recordings to be kept quickly before they are deleted.
• The full clip from its original source, not a cut copy from WhatsApp groups.
• Any threatening messages or earlier dispute connected to the incident.
• Photos of the injury on the day and in the following days.

Write your account as you remember it, and say “I do not remember” where you are not sure. Adding details you heard from others as if you saw them weakens your whole account if a contradiction appears.

How do you claim compensation for an assault?

You may claim your private right before the court hearing the criminal case at any stage, even if your claim was not accepted during the investigation (Article 147 of the Law of Criminal Procedure). Your complaint is treated as a claim for your private right unless you expressly waive it (Article 29). What you claim usually includes:

• Compensation for the injury itself, set according to the compensation fixed by Sharia for harm to life or body: diya (blood money), arsh, or hukumat adl (compensation assessed by a fair expert) (Article 142 of the Civil Transactions Law).
• Treatment costs and lost income, if they are a natural result of the assault (Article 137).
• Moral harm from physical or psychological suffering caused by the harm to your body (Article 138).

If the full picture of the injury is not yet clear, the court may set an initial compensation and keep your right to ask for a review within a period it sets (Article 141). A compensation claim arising from a crime can still be heard as long as the criminal case can still be heard (Article 143).

An employee was injured in his hand and the doctor gave him 10 days of sick leave. His salary is SAR 9,000. He attaches the report, the treatment invoices, the sick leave, and proof that the days were deducted from his salary, if they were.

If he had an earlier injury to the same hand, it is better to mention it and separate its effect. Hiding it, and then having it appear in the medical file, damages his whole claim.

Self-defence and waiving your right

A person who causes harm while lawfully defending himself, his honour or his property is not liable for compensation, provided he did not go beyond what was necessary to stop the attack (Article 123 of the Civil Transactions Law). The court decides this according to who started and how the other responded.

If you are offered a settlement, write down its scope: the amount, the payment date, and what you are giving up. Your waiver ends your private claim, but it does not stop the Public Prosecution from continuing with the public right (Article 23 of the Law of Criminal Procedure). Do not sign a final release for an injury whose effects are not yet clear.

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 were assaulted:

• Get treatment and ask for the medical report on the same day, then report the assault without delay.
• Ask for the camera recordings to be kept and collect the witnesses' names before they leave.
• Set out what you claim with documents: the injury, treatment and lost income, instead of a guessed figure.
• Do not hit back after the attack is over, and do not post the clip with accusations on social media.
• Do not sign a waiver before you receive the agreed amount.

If you are accused of assault:

• You have the right to a lawyer during investigation and trial (Article 4 of the Law of Criminal Procedure).
• If you were defending yourself, collect proof of who started: witnesses, the full clip and your own injuries, if any.
• Challenge with documents whether the injury was caused by you and the size of the claim, instead of a general denial of everything.
• An early settlement that ends the private right may be taken into account, but it does not cancel the public right.
• Do not contact the injured person or the witnesses in a way that could be seen as pressure or a threat.

If you have a medical report or a clip and want to know what can be claimed, or how to respond to a complaint, send it on WhatsApp and we will read the file with you.