The activities of the agency were previously regulated by Law of 2 May 2011 «On Functioning of the National Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority». The Law of 29 July 2024 «On Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority» adopted by the Royal Order No. M/25 (نظام هيئة الرقابة ومكافحة الفساد, hereinafter the Law) and entering into force on 7 November 2024 annulled the previous legal act.

Under the Law, the anti-corruption body is renamed as the Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (هيئة الرقابة ومكافحة الفساد, hereinafter, the Authority).

As in the past, the Authority remains an autonomous body enjoying financial and administrative independence controlled by the King.

The Authority is entrusted with the following functions:

• Investigate corruption offences of administrative and criminal nature and financial offences, and subsequently adopt the necessary measures as a follow-up to the investigations;
• Collect, store and process reports of whistleblowers and adopt protection measures for whistleblowers;
• Control the recovery of proceeds of corruption offences;
• Prepare draft legal acts regulating the promotion of the principles of integrity, enhanced transparency and the fight against corruption, as well as the general anti-corruption policy;
• Control the implementation of the National Integrity and Anti-Corruption Strategy ;
• Conduct assessment of corruption risks in public bodies and development of the measures to mitigate them together with the agencies under assessment;
• Encourage efforts of organizations of the public and private sectors and civil society organizations to adopt programmes aimed at promoting the principles of integrity, enhanced transparency and fight against corruption;
• Promote public awareness-raising about the fight against corruption;
• Analyze the reports of regional and international organizations and civil society organizations on anti-corruption and subsequent development of necessary measures;
• Conduct research on how to promote the principles of integrity, enhanced transparency and fight against corruption, as well as support the relevant activities of other bodies and/or organizations;
• Create information systems containing data on corruption offences;
• Control compliance with the anti-corruption obligations deriving from the international anti-corruption conventions which the country is a party to;
• Represent the country in international anti-corruption fora;
• Cooperate with international and regional anti-corruption organizations;
• Submit annual reports on the activities of the Authority to the attention of the King;
• Other functions entrusted with the Authority under legal acts.

In accordance with the Law, the head of the Authority (President) is equal in his functions to the Prosecutor General, and the employees of the agency - to the employees of the prosecution authorities. In order to prevent corruption, the President and employees of the Authority are obliged to file asset declarations.

Besides the general provisions on the activities of the Authority, the adopted Law contains provisions on prosecution for corruption crimes:

• In the presence of indicators of illicit enrichment related to a corruption crime the burden to prove the legal origin of assets acquired also by spouses, children and other relatives of the first degree of kinship is now reversed to public officials; the lack of necessary evidence will trigger criminal proceedings;
• The Law defines the fact of conviction of a public official for a corruption crime as a basis for his/her dismissal;
• The public official accused of a corruption crime is entitled to have a pre-trial resolution providing for the reparation of damage inflicted by the offence.