What is the Saudi Bar Association?
The Saudi Bar Association is the professional body for lawyers in Saudi Arabia, and it runs a public online directory where you can check a lawyer’s licence.
Published by RAED ALI ALJOHANI COMPANY FOR Lawyership and Legal Consultations · Last updated
General information about Saudi law — not advice on your situation.
At a glance
- In Arabic
- الهيئة السعودية للمحامين
- Said as
- al-hayʾa al-saʿūdiyya lil-muḥāmīn (al-HAY-a as-sa-oo-DEE-ya lil-mu-haa-MEEN). Short form in English: SBA.
- Official channel
- sba.gov.sa, and the Lawyers Index on its e-services site, Sharik
- Can you use it from abroad?
- Yes. The Lawyers Index is online and opens without a login. Its results are in Arabic.
If you are choosing a lawyer for a Saudi matter, tell us briefly what it is about and where you are now.
Why does the Saudi Bar Association matter if you are a foreigner?
It matters because its public directory lets you check a Saudi lawyer before you hire them. You can do this from any country.
The directory is called the Lawyers Index. For each lawyer, it shows the licence number, the licence status and the expiry date. The licence status tells you whether the licence is valid today.
Lawyers’ licences are issued by the Ministry of Justice. The association is the profession’s own body, and it keeps this public directory.
The association offers two other public services that foreigners may meet:
- Legal Firm Validation. This check shows whether a law firm is licensed. In Saudi terms, a law firm is a legal establishment: the licensed entity through which lawyers practise.
- Judicial aid. This is a list of lawyers who volunteer to help people who cannot pay. Our glossary entry on judicial aid links its official page.
Where will you meet the Saudi Bar Association?
You will meet it whenever you choose a lawyer for a Saudi matter, or check one you have already found. These pages use it most:
each route to a licence check, step by step.
How to check a Saudi lawyer’s licence from anywherewhere people find names, and what to check first.
Finding and checking a lawyer in Saudi Arabiaincluding the licence details to ask for.
Questions to ask before you hire a Saudi lawyerthe same checks, applied to the firm behind this website.
Company details
Can you use the Saudi Bar Association’s directory from outside Saudi Arabia?
Yes. The Lawyers Index is online and public, and it needs no Saudi login. You search it by the lawyer’s name or ID number.
The results appear in Arabic, even on the English page. A name written in English letters can be spelt more than one way in Arabic. So ask the lawyer how their name is written in Arabic before you search.
Then compare the record with what the lawyer told you. Check that the name and the licence number match, and that the licence is valid. Do this before you sign anything or pay any fee.
The Ministry of Justice also lists practising lawyers on Najiz, its online platform. Najiz may ask you to sign in with Nafath, the Saudi government’s login app, which needs an ID issued in Saudi Arabia. So from abroad, the Lawyers Index is usually the easier check.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Saudi Bar Association the same as the Ministry of Justice?
No. The Ministry of Justice issues lawyers’ licences, and the Saudi Bar Association is the profession’s own body. Both keep lists of lawyers. The association’s Lawyers Index is public, while the Ministry’s directory on Najiz may ask you to sign in. For a quick licence check from abroad, the Lawyers Index is usually the easier one.
Do I need a login to search the Lawyers Index?
No. The Saudi Bar Association’s Lawyers Index is public, and it opened without a login when we checked it on 21 October 2026. You can search it by a lawyer’s name or ID number. Each entry shows the licence number, its status and when it expires. The login on the same site is for other services, such as memberships.
Why are the Lawyers Index results in Arabic?
Because the directory shows its records in Arabic, even on its English page. So ask the lawyer how their name is written in Arabic, or search by their ID number instead. Many names in the index include the father’s and grandfather’s names, so try the first name and family name if a full search finds nothing.
Official sources
This page draws on 3 official sources. Each line shows who publishes it, its language and, where recorded, the date we last checked it.
- Saudi Bar Association · Saudi Bar Association (in Arabic) · checked
- Saudi Bar Association · Lawyers Index (in Arabic and English) · checked
- Saudi Bar Association · Legal Firm Validation (in Arabic and English) · checked
General information about Saudi law, not advice on your situation. Contacting us does not create a lawyer–client relationship until an engagement letter is signed.