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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Saudi Arabia
Index
The Saudi Arabian legal system in 1992 was based on the
sharia, or Islamic law. The sharia was applied throughout the
kingdom in strict accordance with the interpretation of the
Hanbali school of
Sunni (see Glossary)
Islam. Because pious
Muslims believed that the sharia was sacred law, they accepted as
judges, or qadis, only men who had spent a number of years
studying the accepted sources of the sharia: the Quran and the
authenticated traditions (hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad's
rulings and practices. Historically, the decisions of qadis were
subject to review by the ruler, whose primary role was to ensure
that the Islamic community lived in conformity with the sharia.
In effect, the judiciary was not an independent institution but
an extension of the political authority. This traditional
relationship between qadis and the king still prevailed in Saudi
Arabia.
The Ministry of Justice, established by King Faisal in 1970,
was responsible for administering the country's more than 300
sharia courts. The minister of justice, appointed by the king
from among the country's most senior ulama, was the de facto
chief justice. He was assisted by the Supreme Judicial Council, a
body of eleven members chosen from the leading ulama. The Supreme
Judicial Council supervised the work of the courts, reviewed all
legal decisions referred to it by the minister of justice,
expressed legal opinions on judicial questions, and approved all
sentences of death, amputation (of fingers and hands as
punishment for theft), and stoning (for adultery). Since 1983,
the minister of justice has also served as chief of the Supreme
Judicial Council, a position that further enhanced his status as
chief justice.
Sharia courts included courts of first instance and appeals
courts. Minor civil and criminal cases were adjudicated in the
summary courts of first instance. One kind of summary court dealt
exclusively with beduin affairs. A single qadi presided over all
summary court hearings. The general courts of first instance
handled all cases beyond the jurisdiction of the summary courts.
One judge usually presided over cases in the general courts, but
three qadis sat in judgment for serious crimes such as murder,
major theft, or sexual misconduct.
Decisions of the summary and general courts could be appealed
to the sharia appeals court. The appeals court, or court of
cassation, had three departments: penal suits, personal status
suits, and all other types of suits. The appeals had two seats,
one in Riyadh and one in Mecca. The chief justice and a panel of
several qadis presided over all cases. The king was at the
pinnacle of the judicial system, functioning as a final court of
appeal and as a source of pardon.
Saudi Arabia's judicial code stipulated that specialized
courts may be established by royal decree to deal with
infractions of government regulations not covered by the sharia.
Since the reign of Abd al Aziz, kings have created various
secular tribunals outside of the sharia court system to deal with
violations of administrative rules. The Grievances Board, for
example, operated under the authority of the Bureau of the
Presidency of the Council of Ministers. It reviewed complaints of
improper behavior brought against both government officials and
qadis. The Ministry of Interior was in charge of the special
police who enforced motor vehicle regulations. The Ministry of
Commerce supervised arbitration and appeals boards established to
settle commercial disputes, especially those involving foreign
businesses. Decrees pertaining to labor were enforced by special
committees within the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Data as of December 1992
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