Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers

The Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers is a Saudi advisory authority concerned with reviewing existing laws and regulations, proposing amendments, and enacting new ones. It submits these proposals to the Council of Ministers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for approval.

The Bureau of Experts was established in 1953 as a department within the Council of Ministers. After twenty-one years, it became an independent entity with its own budget, reporting to the Council of Ministers, before changing its name to the Bureau of Experts in 1993.

The Bureau serves as the legal arm of the government in finalizing local and international agreements and studying regulations and updates in the work of government agencies. As practiced in supreme councils in foreign countries, such as the U.S. Senate, the Bureau of Experts enacts new legal legislation and submits it to the Council of Ministers for approval.

The chairman and members of the Bureau of Experts are appointed by a Royal Decree. The Bureau is composed of several specialized committees established as needed and multiple departments that convene to study the memoranda and reports prepared by the members of the Bureau regarding legislative projects, regulations, and the formulation of general rules. For any law to be adopted within a new or existing project or regulation, it must first be approved by the Bureau of Experts after an extensive study. Additionally, regulations and laws cannot be passed without going through this Bureau.

The Bureau of Experts has full authority concerning the drafting of governmental legislation and laws or recommending their cancellation, studying agreements that involve setting general rules, those that require the issuance of Royal Decrees, or those that concern more than one governmental entity.

The Bureau of Experts is entrusted with researching the transactions referred to it by the Council of Ministers, preparing draft laws, and drafting suitable formats for some Royal Orders, Royal Decrees, and Council of Ministers decisions. The Bureau collaborates with the government agencies in the study of issues referred to it by the Supreme Authority, the Council of Ministers, or the Supreme Councils.