The Basic System, which incorporates the arrangements for the Consultative Council and for Regional Government, established in written form both a description of the essential structure and organization of Government and, in effect, a bill of rights for the citizen.

The Basic System sets out the general principles on which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is founded. Article 1 clearly established the central tenets of the Kingdom:

Article 1: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Arab and Islamic Sovereign State; its religion is Islam and its constitution is the Holy Quran and the Prophet’s Sunnah. Its language is Arabic and its capital is Riyadh.

The form of Government is monarchical (Article 5). Rule in the Kingdom depends upon and must conform to the teachings of Islam (Article 7), and this rule provides justice, consultation and equality in accordance with the Islamic Shariah (Article 8).

The importance of the family within Saudi society is heavily emphasized in Article 9:

The family is the nucleus of Saudi society and its members are brought up in conformity with the Islamic creed and in obedience to Almighty God, the Prophet and the Kingdom’s rulers, showing respect for the system of Government, love for the homeland and pride in its history.

Article 9

And the State sees as part of its role the enhancement of stable family relations, the preservation of Islamic values within the family, and the fullest development of the potential of all family members.

The Basic System goes on to define the responsibilities of the State in some detail, giving special reference to the Kingdom’s duties as guardian of the Holy Places, and setting guidelines for the exploitation of the State’s wealth to ensure the economic and social development of the Kingdom.

Citizens’ rights (to security, to self-fulfillment through education and freedom of opportunity, and to the ownership of property) are all safeguarded. And a right to privacy is also guaranteed:

Nobody is allowed to enter the house of another without the permission of the owners; and nobody has the right to investigate another’s private affairs, except in accordance with the System.

Article 37

The Basic System sets out, with remarkable clarity, the basis on which the Kingdom is governed, and the rights and obligations of both the State and the citizen. As the processes of consultation are extended, it becomes necessary to formalize the principles underlying the traditions which have enabled the Kingdom to pass through periods of extraordinary change with an equally extraordinary degree of stability.

In promulgating the Basic System, forming the Majlis Al-Shura (Consultative Council) and restructuring the Kingdom’s Regional Government, King Fahd has demonstrated considerable political acumen and ability to effect change within a conservative society by organic evolution of existing institutions and traditions.