Saudi legal system and outside world

A recent talk with a group of Western friends of different nationalities (United States, Canada, and Britain), with legal and business expertise, has revealed that the Saudi Ministry of Justice has some pressing business to do quickly and that is, to make the world aware of Saudi laws.
In all good faith, these Western professionals had a premise that Shariah (Islamic law) is totally different from the internationally recognized laws in most countries around the world. The majority of non-Muslims are unaware that Saudi Arabia adopts Islamic doctrines and ideologies and enforces it in all facets of life making it almost the only country in the world that implements it in this manner. Consequently, because of the lack of full knowledge of Islam by most non-Muslims, Saudi Islamic laws, including commerce, corporate and business laws are perceived to be different from those adopted by most countries of the world.
This erroneous perception would lead many non-Muslims, especially legal and business professionals to avoid studying Islamic laws — and these laws would eventually remain a mystery, making them hesitant to engage in investment and business joint ventures in Saudi Arabia.
The fact remains that Saudi Arabia enforces Shariah, in its legal and court systems and on all litigations. Paradoxically, these laws in their entirety are neither alien nor unknown to the rest of the world.
By examining all Saudi laws, one can see that Islamic laws applied in Saudi Arabia are parallel in principle, if not alike, to other laws in most countries of the world, even in Western nations. For example, constitutional law, commerce law, corporate law, labor law, energy law, investment law, government contracts law (administrative law), intellectual and copyrights law and real estate law. Moreover, this host of laws is compatible with Shariah.
The distinction between Saudi Islamic laws and Western laws specifically, lies in the punitive clauses in criminal law, which are based on Shariah, in addition to family law.
With respect to Saudi criminal law, the code of criminal procedures, criminal and civil court and litigation procedures and law of evidence share the basic principles with the rest of the world, especially those adopted by the US. These laws contain clauses that spell out the principles of guilt and conviction, interrogation and confession, frisk and seizure, search of personal properties, safeguards and guarantees of due process of law (rights of suspects, defendants and the legal counsel). However, the physical punishment, specifically in a murder case, which has an automatic linkage to the death penalty, differentiates the Saudi criminal law from other laws.
The main sources of Islamic laws (Shariah) are verses of the Qur’an and Sunnah (the traditions of Prophet Muhammad). The Qur’an has prescribed specific corporal punishments for committing specific crimes, such as murder, theft, robbery, and rape, which are internationally recognized crimes. Other crimes include apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery.
The execution of the corporal punishment for committing the second category of crimes in addition to theft is governed by a set of strict conditions that make carrying them out very rare. The punishment for homicide crimes if proven guilty cannot be dropped under any circumstances except if demanded by the victim’s relatives.
As for the family law, it is pertinent to marriage, divorce, parental custody of children and inheritance, which is enforced on Muslim families but never imposed on non-Muslims.
Moreover, the social contract between the state and the people is based on the implementation of the Islamic laws on litigations involving people’s personal affairs. So ignoring the corporal punishment, specifically death penalty for murder will be in violation of this social contract and the Islamic laws that people demand of its implementation.
This picture of the Saudi legal system is largely unknown. Noting that law is not a very gratifying subject to most people, the Ministry of Justice should present it to the outside world by doing the following:
• Make English translations of Saudi laws available on CDs with no extra charge for the public, government ministries and organizations; Saudi and foreign embassies, especially commerce law, corporate, investment, government contracts (administrative law) and labor law, which are the focus of non-Muslims.
• Make the CDs of criminal and commercial precedents available to the public in the same manner, so non-Muslims can study cases and the legal principles applied by the Saudi court system in various litigations.
• Work toward ensuring that information websites about Saudi Arabia explain the resemblance between Saudi laws and the rest of the world, with reference to the criminal corporal punishments and family law in particular.
• Explain the history, as well as the concepts and meanings of Hudud and Tazir in Shariah (Islamic law) in clear simple language.
• Clearly define that the social covenant between the state and people is based on the implementation of Shariah.
• Explicitly state the rights of suspects, defendants and the legal counsel by printing them in pamphlets in both Arabic and English.
By doing so, the entire world and the local population would eventually be knowledgeable about Islamic law, their rights and that of the states (law enforcement organizations). This knowledge would establish a mutual relationship based on respect and the rule of law.


Al_Zuhayyan@Yahoo.com