JEDDAH, 17 July — The Council of Ministers yesterday approved a press establishment law based on the Kingdom’s new information policy. The law, among other things, allows formation of an independent association by Saudi journalists.

The new law, containing 30 articles, emphasized objectivity as the hallmark of all publications in the country.

Under the new law, the information minister has the authority to issue licenses for press establishments with the approval of the prime minister. The application for a license should be submitted by not less than 30 Saudis.

The application should mention the establishment’s objectives, names and qualifications of founders, name of the establishment, its publications and the languages they will be printed.

The applications should specify the establishment’s capital and its headquarters. The information minister is authorized to issue permission to bring out new periodicals. The establishments should be headquartered in cities mentioned in the licenses, but they can bring out some of their publications from other cities.

The member of a press establishment should be a Saudi with at least a university degree and should not have memberships in other press organizations. The membership can be inherited by heirs who meet the conditions.

The establishment’s general assembly will appoint a board of directors and set out its policies. The board of directors should include no less than six members, the director general and the chief editor.

The Saudi Press Agency said the information minister would formulate executive rules of the law within a year. The establishments should allocate part of the profits for training and acquiring modern technology.

The board of directors has the right to take all steps aimed at achieving the goals for which the establishment has been set up. The board proposes regulations for the smooth running of the establishment. It is also empowered to propose plans for new publications.

“The board can nominate or dismiss a director general and chief editor with the consent of the ministry,” the agency said. The board should meet at least once in three months at the invitation of its chairman.

The establishment’s statutes will decide the term of the board. A member’s term in the board terminates with acceptance of his resignation or physical infirmity. A member can also be removed by the general assembly.

Articles 15 to 23 on administration and editing set out responsibilities of the director general who is responsible for financial and administrative affairs of the establishment. His powers and jurisdiction are determined by the establishment’s bylaw.

The director general should be a Saudi citizen, holder of a university degree with not less than five years of administrative or journalistic experience. The requirement of a degree can be relaxed if intellectual and administrative achievements are distinguished. “Each publication should have a chief editor who should be responsible for its contents,” the law said. “His responsibilities include direct supervision of editing and administrative matters in addition to steering the publication to achieve the establishment’s goals and objectives.”

The chief editor will represent the newspaper in media matters. He will lay down plans and programs for the development of the publication in addition to shouldering other responsibilities reposed on him by the statutes. He should be a Saudi with a university degree with sufficient acumen for the job and should work full-time.

The services of the director general and chief editor terminate in any of the following cases: acceptance of resignation, physical infirmity, or on the recommendation of two-thirds of the board of directors which should be ratified by the general assembly.

In the event of the chief editor’s post falling vacant, the board of directors will nominate one of the staff members of the establishment to discharge his duties. The board will take steps to appoint a new chief editor within three months.

The chief editor can appoint full-time editors whose tasks are to work for fulfillment of the objectives for which the establishment was founded and to represent the newspaper at conferences and in other respects. They should observe the regulations to protect the rights of a writer.

The services of editors end by acceptance of resignation, physical inability and on chief editor’s recommendation to be approved by the board of directors.

The press establishment can be dissolved if losses are estimated at 50 percent of the capital, if the general assembly does not approve of continuing its operations and the ministry agrees to it or if the general assembly decides to dissolve the organization by a two-thirds majority.