Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman attends the 41st Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia on January 5, 2021.
Royal Council of Saudi Arabia | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Saudi Arabia has announced new judicial reforms that put the kingdom on a path to codified legislation – a major step, as the deeply conservative country has no codified legal system to accompany sharia, or Islamic law, that currently exists not.
“The personal status law, the civil transaction law, the criminal law for discretionary sanctions and the law of evidence represent a new wave of judicial reforms in the kingdom,” Saudi state news agency SPA quoted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as saying late Monday. evening.
The reforms, the crown prince said, “will help predict court rulings, increase the level of integrity and efficiency of judicial institutions, and will contribute to the increased reliability of procedures and governance mechanisms.” According to his statement, the new laws will be announced in the course of 2021.
The news is the latest in a series of dramatic economic and social reforms launched by the 35-year-old crown prince to modernize the kingdom. It fits into its Vision 2030 agenda, which aims to diversify the oil economy and attract foreign talent and investment to the kingdom, and comes as Saudi Arabia proposes it as a destination for international headquarters.
“This is an important step on the path to global best practices that give businesses the confidence to invest,” Tarura Fadlallah, CEO of Nomura Asset Management, told CNBC on Tuesday.
The fact that there was no codified legal system often led to inconsistencies in court rulings and lengthy, lengthy litigation. The announcement specifically mentioned women in Saudi Arabia, who had long had a lower status among men in terms of legal and economic rights, and who described the Crown Prince as being particularly disadvantaged by the lack of written laws on certain issues.
“Disagreement in court rulings has led to a lack of clarity in the rules governing the incidents and practices, and has hurt many, mostly women,” the SPA Bin Salman was quoted as saying.
Women’s rights in the kingdom – although improved in recent years in some areas such as governance, employment and freedom of movement – remain a major target of criticism by human rights groups and some foreign governments. Several Saudi women activists remain in jail, claiming to be tortured, the Saudi state denies.
Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the kingdom’s royal court, tweeted late Monday about the reforms, describing the news as “an important step in legal reform and one that recognizes the Saudi legal system as a way” has to achieve international standards and that the leadership appreciates the urgency and importance of such reform. ‘
“Emphasizing its impact on women is particularly interesting,” Shihabi added.
The Crown Prince described the current legal system as ‘painful for many individuals and families, especially women, allowing some to evade their responsibilities. “It will not happen again once these laws are promulgated under legal laws and procedures,” he said. The statement did not elaborate on the specific practices and penalties that would be changed.
His statement added that the forthcoming legal reforms “will address the lack of clarity in the rules governing … long-standing lawsuits that are not based on established legal provisions, and the absence of a clear legal framework for individuals and businesses.