diff --git a/db/docs/merge_requests_approval_rules.yml b/db/docs/merge_requests_approval_rules.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fc3ebd5900c59b062f6f3b2cfe05297767c47bfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/docs/merge_requests_approval_rules.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+table_name: merge_requests_approval_rules
+classes:
+  - MergeRequests::ApprovalRule
+feature_categories:
+  - code_review_workflow
+description: Main table that stores information about approval rules v2.
+introduced_by_url: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/179839
+milestone: '17.9'
+gitlab_schema: gitlab_main_cell
+sharding_key:
+  group_id: namespaces
+  project_id: projects
diff --git a/db/migrate/20250123151650_create_merge_requests_approval_rules.rb b/db/migrate/20250123151650_create_merge_requests_approval_rules.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..700e18d4dedbd27af17244d2e1b31bdb20f44e1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20250123151650_create_merge_requests_approval_rules.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+class CreateMergeRequestsApprovalRules < Gitlab::Database::Migration[2.2]
+  milestone '17.9'
+
+  def change
+    create_table :merge_requests_approval_rules do |t| # -- Migration/EnsureFactoryForTable false positive
+      t.text :name, limit: 255, null: false
+      t.integer :approvals_required, null: false, default: 0
+      t.integer :rule_type, null: false, default: 0, limit: 2
+      t.integer :origin, null: false, default: 0, limit: 2
+      t.bigint :project_id, null: true
+      t.bigint :group_id, null: true
+      t.bigint :source_rule_id, null: true
+      t.index :project_id
+      t.index :group_id
+      t.index :source_rule_id
+      t.timestamps_with_timezone null: false
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/migrate/20250205094214_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_source_rule_fk.rb b/db/migrate/20250205094214_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_source_rule_fk.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..03a6a9ba8a790b1a0f0dd23a3d70348e45bc3ba3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20250205094214_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_source_rule_fk.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+class AddMergeRequestsApprovalRulesSourceRuleFk < Gitlab::Database::Migration[2.2]
+  milestone '17.9'
+  disable_ddl_transaction!
+
+  def up
+    add_concurrent_foreign_key :merge_requests_approval_rules, :merge_requests_approval_rules, column: :source_rule_id,
+      on_delete: :nullify
+  end
+
+  def down
+    with_lock_retries do
+      remove_foreign_key :merge_requests_approval_rules, column: :source_rule_id
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/migrate/20250205094243_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_project_fk.rb b/db/migrate/20250205094243_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_project_fk.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..40a1ee3859b19e5ac50cef90fe2543fa8ebeca7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20250205094243_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_project_fk.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+class AddMergeRequestsApprovalRulesProjectFk < Gitlab::Database::Migration[2.2]
+  milestone '17.9'
+  disable_ddl_transaction!
+
+  def up
+    add_concurrent_foreign_key :merge_requests_approval_rules, :projects, column: :project_id, on_delete: :cascade
+  end
+
+  def down
+    with_lock_retries do
+      remove_foreign_key :merge_requests_approval_rules, column: :project_id
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/migrate/20250205094302_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_group_fk.rb b/db/migrate/20250205094302_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_group_fk.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b558885fda687321841ebb37833c409168a8447f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20250205094302_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_group_fk.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+class AddMergeRequestsApprovalRulesGroupFk < Gitlab::Database::Migration[2.2]
+  milestone '17.9'
+  disable_ddl_transaction!
+
+  def up
+    add_concurrent_foreign_key :merge_requests_approval_rules, :namespaces, column: :group_id, on_delete: :cascade
+  end
+
+  def down
+    with_lock_retries do
+      remove_foreign_key :merge_requests_approval_rules, column: :group_id
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/migrate/20250205094331_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_multi_column_not_null_constraint.rb b/db/migrate/20250205094331_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_multi_column_not_null_constraint.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b34c7ea12a4260fe9fece5baf23be698002a956a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20250205094331_add_merge_requests_approval_rules_multi_column_not_null_constraint.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+class AddMergeRequestsApprovalRulesMultiColumnNotNullConstraint < Gitlab::Database::Migration[2.2]
+  milestone '17.9'
+  disable_ddl_transaction!
+
+  def up
+    add_multi_column_not_null_constraint(:merge_requests_approval_rules, :group_id, :project_id)
+  end
+
+  def down
+    remove_multi_column_not_null_constraint(:merge_requests_approval_rules, :group_id, :project_id)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema_migrations/20250123151650 b/db/schema_migrations/20250123151650
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6fbb499a26496d4b1f800227a9761a6fc305859c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/schema_migrations/20250123151650
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+d149047a5d5fa4fa8242fde7f0d266cebef8d56e0db282d745c6da6e0f9f1c1d
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/db/schema_migrations/20250205094214 b/db/schema_migrations/20250205094214
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d8a44e1c1b5c2e94b313c88748803e90b95ced9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/schema_migrations/20250205094214
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+b22251b9e81427177253b4121f677e6a690378b55cc2836e3da0019b71822629
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/db/schema_migrations/20250205094243 b/db/schema_migrations/20250205094243
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..45f04e8079f5f08ae379cd6147ae115aea39689c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/schema_migrations/20250205094243
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+6d8e72cc35740ab5214c24b9d2094bce9289edd5c999ef89d4c2aa9b4d949a07
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/db/schema_migrations/20250205094302 b/db/schema_migrations/20250205094302
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b54934da8ad24ee2d7e1dc122015e80f12c6b34c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/schema_migrations/20250205094302
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+89018d03700f67c3d24a34d03529697d7e75dcffad09c6234239a7c661746071
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/db/schema_migrations/20250205094331 b/db/schema_migrations/20250205094331
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c5eb507d3afba10ee8960e911afc33d200451ecf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/schema_migrations/20250205094331
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+660df89c5562b36729e4f93d57ad28b761a275105a806eb91258fb01f3b3703f
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/db/structure.sql b/db/structure.sql
index aa7db723ee4426082ee29a3cc2e3325900275f9d..5aa852900c5cd05a26b1b3813f7524f17d4267d9 100644
--- a/db/structure.sql
+++ b/db/structure.sql
@@ -15885,6 +15885,30 @@ CREATE TABLE merge_requests (
     CONSTRAINT check_970d272570 CHECK ((lock_version IS NOT NULL))
 );
 
+CREATE TABLE merge_requests_approval_rules (
+    id bigint NOT NULL,
+    name text NOT NULL,
+    approvals_required integer DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
+    rule_type smallint DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
+    origin smallint DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,
+    project_id bigint,
+    group_id bigint,
+    source_rule_id bigint,
+    created_at timestamp with time zone NOT NULL,
+    updated_at timestamp with time zone NOT NULL,
+    CONSTRAINT check_ba7b03c61a CHECK ((num_nonnulls(group_id, project_id) = 1)),
+    CONSTRAINT check_c7c36145b7 CHECK ((char_length(name) <= 255))
+);
+
+CREATE SEQUENCE merge_requests_approval_rules_id_seq
+    START WITH 1
+    INCREMENT BY 1
+    NO MINVALUE
+    NO MAXVALUE
+    CACHE 1;
+
+ALTER SEQUENCE merge_requests_approval_rules_id_seq OWNED BY merge_requests_approval_rules.id;
+
 CREATE TABLE merge_requests_closing_issues (
     id bigint NOT NULL,
     merge_request_id bigint NOT NULL,
@@ -25102,6 +25126,8 @@ ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_request_user_mentions ALTER COLUMN id SET DEFAULT nextval
 
 ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_requests ALTER COLUMN id SET DEFAULT nextval('merge_requests_id_seq'::regclass);
 
+ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_requests_approval_rules ALTER COLUMN id SET DEFAULT nextval('merge_requests_approval_rules_id_seq'::regclass);
+
 ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_requests_closing_issues ALTER COLUMN id SET DEFAULT nextval('merge_requests_closing_issues_id_seq'::regclass);
 
 ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_requests_compliance_violations ALTER COLUMN id SET DEFAULT nextval('merge_requests_compliance_violations_id_seq'::regclass);
@@ -27651,6 +27677,9 @@ ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_request_reviewers
 ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_request_user_mentions
     ADD CONSTRAINT merge_request_user_mentions_pkey PRIMARY KEY (id);
 
+ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_requests_approval_rules
+    ADD CONSTRAINT merge_requests_approval_rules_pkey PRIMARY KEY (id);
+
 ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_requests_closing_issues
     ADD CONSTRAINT merge_requests_closing_issues_pkey PRIMARY KEY (id);
 
@@ -32990,6 +33019,12 @@ CREATE INDEX index_merge_request_reviewers_on_user_id ON merge_request_reviewers
 
 CREATE UNIQUE INDEX index_merge_request_user_mentions_on_note_id ON merge_request_user_mentions USING btree (note_id) WHERE (note_id IS NOT NULL);
 
+CREATE INDEX index_merge_requests_approval_rules_on_group_id ON merge_requests_approval_rules USING btree (group_id);
+
+CREATE INDEX index_merge_requests_approval_rules_on_project_id ON merge_requests_approval_rules USING btree (project_id);
+
+CREATE INDEX index_merge_requests_approval_rules_on_source_rule_id ON merge_requests_approval_rules USING btree (source_rule_id);
+
 CREATE INDEX index_merge_requests_closing_issues_on_issue_id ON merge_requests_closing_issues USING btree (issue_id);
 
 CREATE INDEX index_merge_requests_closing_issues_on_merge_request_id ON merge_requests_closing_issues USING btree (merge_request_id);
@@ -37875,6 +37910,9 @@ ALTER TABLE ONLY cluster_agent_url_configurations
 ALTER TABLE ONLY incident_management_escalation_rules
     ADD CONSTRAINT fk_0314ee86eb FOREIGN KEY (user_id) REFERENCES users(id) ON DELETE CASCADE;
 
+ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_requests_approval_rules
+    ADD CONSTRAINT fk_03983bf729 FOREIGN KEY (group_id) REFERENCES namespaces(id) ON DELETE CASCADE;
+
 ALTER TABLE ONLY audit_events_instance_google_cloud_logging_configurations
     ADD CONSTRAINT fk_03a15ca4fa FOREIGN KEY (stream_destination_id) REFERENCES audit_events_instance_external_streaming_destinations(id) ON DELETE SET NULL;
 
@@ -38745,6 +38783,9 @@ ALTER TABLE ONLY scan_result_policies
 ALTER TABLE ONLY catalog_resource_versions
     ADD CONSTRAINT fk_7ad8849db4 FOREIGN KEY (project_id) REFERENCES projects(id) ON DELETE CASCADE;
 
+ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_requests_approval_rules
+    ADD CONSTRAINT fk_7af76dbd21 FOREIGN KEY (project_id) REFERENCES projects(id) ON DELETE CASCADE;
+
 ALTER TABLE ONLY issue_customer_relations_contacts
     ADD CONSTRAINT fk_7b92f835bb FOREIGN KEY (contact_id) REFERENCES customer_relations_contacts(id) ON DELETE CASCADE;
 
@@ -39690,6 +39731,9 @@ ALTER TABLE ONLY application_settings
 ALTER TABLE ONLY issuable_severities
     ADD CONSTRAINT fk_f9df19ecb6 FOREIGN KEY (namespace_id) REFERENCES namespaces(id) ON DELETE CASCADE;
 
+ALTER TABLE ONLY merge_requests_approval_rules
+    ADD CONSTRAINT fk_fa5b38e373 FOREIGN KEY (source_rule_id) REFERENCES merge_requests_approval_rules(id) ON DELETE SET NULL;
+
 ALTER TABLE ONLY clusters_managed_resources
     ADD CONSTRAINT fk_fad3c3b2e2 FOREIGN KEY (environment_id) REFERENCES environments(id) ON DELETE CASCADE;
 
diff --git a/ee/app/models/merge_requests/approval_rule.rb b/ee/app/models/merge_requests/approval_rule.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..46538828aea773d3fd9b8e9d0a87d563089eb6e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ee/app/models/merge_requests/approval_rule.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module MergeRequests
+  class ApprovalRule < ApplicationRecord
+    self.table_name = 'merge_requests_approval_rules'
+
+    validate :ensure_single_sharding_key
+
+    with_options validate: true do
+      enum :rule_type, { regular: 0, code_owner: 1, report_approver: 2, any_approver: 3 }, default: :regular
+      enum :origin, { group: 0, project: 1, merge_request: 2 }, prefix: :originates_from
+    end
+
+    private
+
+    def ensure_single_sharding_key
+      return errors.add(:base, "Must have either `group_id` or `project_id`") if no_sharding_key?
+
+      errors.add(:base, "Cannot have both `group_id` and `project_id`") if multiple_sharding_keys?
+    end
+
+    def sharding_keys
+      [group_id, project_id]
+    end
+
+    def no_sharding_key?
+      sharding_keys.all?(&:blank?)
+    end
+
+    def multiple_sharding_keys?
+      sharding_keys.all?(&:present?)
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/ee/spec/factories/merge_requests/approval_rules.rb b/ee/spec/factories/merge_requests/approval_rules.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a56d74503f402a283ff9c9d109b20fde33ba907f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ee/spec/factories/merge_requests/approval_rules.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+FactoryBot.define do
+  factory :merge_requests_approval_rule, class: 'MergeRequests::ApprovalRule' do
+    sequence(:name) { |n| "Approval Rule #{n}" }
+    approvals_required { 2 }
+    rule_type { 0 }
+    origin { 0 }
+
+    trait :with_source_rule do
+      association :source_rule, factory: :merge_requests_approval_rule
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/ee/spec/models/merge_requests/approval_rule_spec.rb b/ee/spec/models/merge_requests/approval_rule_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f038a559295d654fdb4c621919dbff59e73ac829
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ee/spec/models/merge_requests/approval_rule_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+RSpec.describe MergeRequests::ApprovalRule, type: :model, feature_category: :code_review_workflow do
+  let_it_be(:project) { create(:project) }
+  let_it_be(:group) { create(:group) }
+  let(:attributes) { {} }
+
+  subject(:rule) { build(:merge_requests_approval_rule, attributes) }
+
+  describe 'validations' do
+    describe 'sharding key validation' do
+      context 'with group_id' do
+        let(:attributes) { { group_id: group.id } }
+
+        it { is_expected.to be_valid }
+      end
+
+      context 'with project_id' do
+        let(:attributes) { { project_id: project.id } }
+
+        it { is_expected.to be_valid }
+      end
+
+      context 'without project_id or group_id' do
+        it { is_expected.not_to be_valid }
+
+        it 'has the correct error message' do
+          rule.valid?
+          expect(rule.errors[:base]).to contain_exactly("Must have either `group_id` or `project_id`")
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'with both project_id and group_id' do
+        let(:attributes) { { project_id: project.id, group_id: group.id } }
+
+        it { is_expected.not_to be_valid }
+
+        it 'has the correct error message' do
+          rule.valid?
+          expect(rule.errors[:base]).to contain_exactly("Cannot have both `group_id` and `project_id`")
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end