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The Albert Shanker Institute and Freedom House have also reported that "Saudi Arabia's practices diverge from the concept of the rule of law. Sharia or Islamic law , the primary source of law in modern Saudi Arabia, [3] was developed gradually by Muslim judges and scholars between the seventh and tenth centuries. By the 11th century, the Muslim world had developed four major Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence or fiqh , each with its own interpretations of Sharia: Hanbali , Maliki , Shafi and Hanafi. Similarly, different court systems existed.
After becoming familiar with the Hejaz court system in the following decades, the religious establishment allowed its introduction to the rest of the country between and The Shia community of the Eastern province have a separate legal tradition. The primary source of law in Saudi Arabia is the Islamic Sharia. Sharia is derived from the Qur'an and the traditions of Muhammad contained in the Sunnah ; [3] ijma , or scholarly consensus on the meaning of the Qur'an and the Sunnah developed after Muhammad's death; and Qiyas , or analogical reasoning applied to the principles of the Qur'an, Sunnah and ijma.
Muslim countries that retain or adopt Sharia usually determine which parts of the Sharia are enforceable and codify and thereby modernize them. Unlike other Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia regards uncodified Sharia in its entirety as the law of the land and does not interfere with it.
The lack of codification of Sharia leads to considerable variation in its interpretation and application.
Nevertheless, because the judge is empowered to disregard previous judgments either his own or of other judges and can apply his personal interpretation of Sharia to any particular case through ijtihad , divergent judgements arise even in apparently identical cases. Royal decrees nizam are the other main source of law but are referred to as regulations rather than laws to indicate that they are subordinate to the Sharia.
Additionally, traditional tribal law and custom remain significant. The Sharia court system constitutes the basic judiciary of Saudi Arabia [38] and its judges and lawyers form part of the ulema , [39] the country's religious leadership. The Sharia courts have general jurisdiction over most civil and criminal cases. There are also non-Sharia courts covering specialized areas of law, the most important of which is the Board of Grievances.
The judicial establishment, in the broadest sense, is composed of qadis , who give binding judgements in specific court cases, and muftis and other members of the ulema , who issue generalized but highly influential legal opinions fatwas. Qadis generally have degrees in Sharia law from an Islamic university recognized by the Saudi government with, in many cases, a post-graduate qualification from the Institute of Higher Judiciary in Riyadh.
The capabilities and reactionary nature of the judges have been criticized. The main complaint reportedly made by Saudis privately is that judges, who have wide discretion in interpreting the Sharia, have no knowledge, and are often contemptuous, of the modern world. Saudi judges come from a narrow recruitment pool.
The Saudi system of justice has been criticized for being slow, arcane, [57] lacking in some of the safeguards of justice and unable to deal with the modern world. The specialist first instance courts now comprise general, criminal, personal status, commercial and labor courts.
Significant progress has been made with the publication, on January 3, , of a sourcebook of legal principles and precedents. In , the Specialized Criminal Court was created. In , the King made a number of significant changes to the judiciary's personnel at the most senior level by bringing in a younger generation. The chief justice of the Supreme Court will also be a member. The police department of the Saudi Ministry of the Interior is divided into three forces: the regular police, secret police and the religious police. The Department of Public Safety is the official name of the regular police force and handles most day-to-day police activities.
The religious police, mutawa is the name used for individual religious police, the "Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice" is the name of the police organization enforce Islamic codes of behavior. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy , [75] and has no legally binding written constitution. Saudi Arabia uses the bench trial system.
Islam prohibits consumption of pork, and as the birthplace of the religion, Saudi Arabia adheres to this principle with gusto. Choose religion jewish muslim islam hindu buddhist taoist spiritual agnostic atheist catholic lds protestant new-age not religious sikh. My name is Mezo. State Department stated that in Saudi Arabia "freedom of religion is neither recognized nor protected under the law and is severely restricted in practice" and that "government policies continued to place severe restrictions on religious freedom". My name is Rh. Read More.
Its courts observe few formalities. Criminal law is governed by Sharia and comprises three categories: hudud fixed Quranic punishments for specific crimes , Qisas eye-for-an-eye retaliatory punishments , and Tazir , a general category. A conviction requires proof in one of three ways.
Sodomy is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, but gay life flourishes But if I have a date upstairs and my family is downstairs, they won't even come up.” Still, he opted to return; he loves his work in fashion, which pays. I want to meet a man, love of my life. Chat · See more. Locations. Mintaqat al Madinah · Al Mintaqah ash Sharqiyah.
The Saudi courts impose a number of severe physical punishments. Although repeated theft can be punishable by amputation of the right hand and aggravated theft by the cross-amputation of a hand and a foot, [91] only one instance of judicial amputation was reported between and Retaliatory punishments, or Qisas , are practised: for instance, an eye can be surgically removed at the insistence of a victim who lost his own eye. Laws relating to marriage, divorce, children and inheritance are not codified and fall within the general jurisdiction of the Sharia courts.
Polygamy is permitted for men but is limited to four wives at any one time. Men have a unilateral right to divorce their wives talaq without needing any legal justification. With regard to the law of inheritance, the Quran specifies that fixed portions of the deceased's estate must be left to the so-called "Quranic heirs". The residue is divided between agnatic heirs.
Business and commerce are governed by Sharia, [] commercial jurisdiction rests with the Board of Grievances composed of Sharia-trained judges, [] but "Special Tribunals" tasked with "finding ways to circumnavigate the more restrictive aspects of Shariah Law" have been established. For foreign investors, uncertainties around the content of commercial law, because of the Sharia aspect, constitutes a disincentive to invest in Saudi Arabia.
As of at least , the non-sharia "Special Tribunals" or "Special Committees" [] hear "most commercial law cases" ranging from "breach of contract suits to trade mark infringement and labour disputes. The Saudi government is also putting greater resources into combating unauthorized distribution of software, printed material, recordings and videos. However, illegally copied material is still widely available. Saudi law recognizes only corporate or partnership entities established under Sharia or the Saudi Company Law of Employers have a number of obligations, including at least 21 days paid holiday after a year's employment and will be 30 days after five years of continuous service.
Most land in Saudi Arabia is owned by the government and only cultivated land and urban property are subject to individual ownership. Saudi Arabia has three categories of land: developed land amir , undeveloped land mawat , and "protective zones" harim. Saudi law utilizes the Waqf , which is a form of land ownership whereby a Muslim can transfer property to a foundation for long-term religious or charitable purposes.
Saudi Arabia's vast oil reserves are owned by the Saudi government, in effect the Saudi royal family. The Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources is responsible for general strategy in the oil and gas sectors and for monitoring the state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco. Human rights issues and failings in the rule of law in Saudi Arabia have attracted strong criticism.
Between and , Saudi Arabia acceded to four UN human rights conventions and, in , the government approved the establishment of the National Society for Human Rights NSHR , staffed by government employees, to monitor their implementation. Because Sharia, as applied by Saudi courts, is uncodified and because judges are not bound by judicial precedent, the scope and content of the law is uncertain.
As in many countries, those with influence may receive favorable treatment before the law. According to a former managing editor at Arab News , the ruling House of Saud is so unwilling "to let one of their own face the consequences of his criminal activity" that on the rare occasions that they are arrested for a crime, the perpetrating prince is pardoned Prince Fahd bin Naif, who was 19, gunned down Mundir al-Qadi in or released, and further media mention of the incident forbidden by the Ministry of Culture and Information four princes that participated in the disruption of a Eid al-Fitr gathering on the corniche of Jeddah.
On the other hand, blue collar foreign workers have sometimes been unable to collect salaries due even when the Saudi Labor Office has ruled in their favor, since employers can stall payment until the worker' work permits have expired. The U. Every adult woman has to have a close male relative as her "guardian". Women formerly required permission to obtain a passport and travel.
This restriction was removed on July 26, The religious police mutawa impose restrictions on women when in public. Driving licenses started being issued to women in June , and the effective ban was lifted on the 24th of June In , Saudi Arabia registered its first female trainee lawyer, Arwa al-Hujaili. No political parties or national elections are permitted in Saudi Arabia [75] and according to The Economist 's Democracy Index , the Saudi government is the seventh most authoritarian regime from among the countries rated. Western-based organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned both the Saudi criminal justice system and its severe punishments.
Human Rights Watch, in their report on Saudi Arabian criminal justice system, noted that the criminal procedure code introduced in lacked some basic protections but, as mentioned above, had been ignored by judges in any case. Saudi Arabia has been condemned by various international organizations for its discriminatory legal system towards the guilty. In June , Saudi officials were accused of illegally transferring a Saudi student studying in the US, who was accused of killing a teenager in Oregon. The accused faced first-degree manslaughter - with a minimum sentence of 10 years - as well as hit-and-run, reckless endangerment and reckless driving charges in the US.
As per a report by BBC, Saudi authorities helped him obtain an illegal passport and fled him out of the States in a private plane.
In June , Saudi officials informed the US that the student was in the kingdom from the past one year. Saudi Arabia has made bail for its nationals on several previous occasions as well, including for a man accused of rape in Utah in , who also fled, and in for a Missouri resident, who was accused but later acquitted of murdering a person.

In , the U. State Department stated that in Saudi Arabia "freedom of religion is neither recognized nor protected under the law and is severely restricted in practice" and that "government policies continued to place severe restrictions on religious freedom". According to Human Rights Watch, the Shia minority face systematic discrimination from the Saudi government in education, the justice system and especially religious freedom. In March , the Saudi interior ministry issued a royal decree branding all atheists as terrorists, which defines terrorism as "calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based".
Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries in the world where homosexual acts are not only illegal but punishable by execution. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Saudi Arabia. King and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Mohammed bin Salman. Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Legal system.
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