This is a major step for Saudi Arabia. While Sharia law will still be the law, its interpretation is to become more professionalized. Creating a supreme court will take away some of the power of the King and the small Higher Judicial Council and make judgments more transparent. Instituting family courts will serve to limit the often idiosyncratic judgments that come from individual judges applying their own, personal interpretations of the law. These steps to not yet codify the law—an important measure in assuring justice, in my opinion—but they do go a long way in restricting arbitrary judgments.
UPDATE: Arab News reports on the changes in this article:
Kingdom Overhauls Judiciary; Independence of Courts Stressed
Saudi to get supreme court, other tribunals
RIYADH (AFP) – Saudi Arabia will get a supreme court and specialised tribunals dealing with personal status, commercial law and labour, official media said Tuesday.
King Abdullah issued a decree approving a new body of laws regulating the judiciary and the Board of Grievances, which adjudicates disputes involving state institutions, SPA news agency reported.
The new laws replace regulations in force for more than 30 years in the case of the judiciary and about 25 years for the Board of Grievances.
Saudi Arabia, which rules on the basis of sharia, or Islamic law, is “taking a major qualitative step in developing its judicial and legal system” as it opens up its economy to the outside world, Mufleh al-Kahtani, dean of the civil law faculty at King Saud University in Riyadh, told AFP.
Abdullah allocated seven billion riyals (1.875 billion dollars) to introduce the changes, which aim to match the “development and modernisation” underway in Saudi Arabia, a royal court statement said.
The new rules, which emphasise the independence of judges, set up a supreme court whose main functions will be to oversee the implementation sharia and the laws issued by the king.
The supreme court will review rulings issued or upheld by appeal courts pertaining to murder, which is punishable by execution, and other serious offences.
Kahtani said it will take over the functions of the higher judicial council, hitherto the kingdom’s highest tribunal.
The council will continue to oversee the judiciary, focusing on administrative matters such as the choice of judges and the setting up of tribunals.
Under the new regulations, disputes related to divorce and other personal matters will be settled by personal status courts.
Commercial courts will look into disputes hitherto handled by special committees at the trade ministry, while labour courts will take over the functions of labour offices affiliated to the labour ministry.
The Board of Grievances will continue to handle administrative disputes involving government departments, but criminal offences involving these departments, like bribery, will go to other courts.
The overhaul of the judiciary was necessitated by changes in the world and “the need to open up to others, but also, and more importantly, by the social and economic needs of Saudi society,” Kahtani said.
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October:02:2007 - 17:00
The real question here is whether or not the bodies set up will be independent? A Supreme Court means nothing if it is stocked with members of the royal family or people who have very close ties to it and the ruling elite.
Much touted councils and other organisations set up the last few years have membership rosters that read like the “who is who” of Saudi society, often including numerous members of the royal family itself.
If these new bodies are set up in the same way then they are really meaningless.
October:02:2007 - 17:00
That’s all true. I’m not convinced–by experience of some US court systems–that elections are a better way to go, though. That might allow for easier removal of judges, but it also permits dangerous judges to wreak havoc during their tenures. Popularity, IMO, isn’t necessarily concordant with effecting justice.
October:02:2007 - 17:00
I guess that right now the key questions are whether a judge serves at the pleasure of the royal family or not, and under what circumstances power can be removed from the judiciary or the legal process bypassed.
October:02:2007 - 17:00
All true. As they say, ‘the devil is in the details.’
Still, by formalizing the judicial system, it makes further reforms more easily accomplished.
October:02:2007 - 17:00
I agree with you there John. I rather like the appointment process that is tied to a elected representitives. I also like that bar some extreme circumstances, that judges like those on the Supreme Court cannot be removed.
Once a judge knows they are in for life they are free to rule as they see fit, not at the whims of the electorate or those who appointed them.
My next question is since very little of what passes for law in Saudi is actually written government ordinance, versus religious law, from what code of regulations/laws are these judges going to make their rulings? If they are just going to continue down the same road with religious law and tribal law acting as the template, I dont see how this will change anything.
As religious ideas and rulings vary widely, I dont see how this will work.
October:02:2007 - 17:00
Your second question is exactly why the formation of these courts is a big deal, IMO. It forces the system to codify laws that have been, up ’til now, purely in the purview of individual judges.
The process of codification will be a mess for a while. But it will be an organic mess, grown from within the Saudi system and thus having a large amount of buy-in by the Saudi publics. Even if the King could simply say, “Here are the laws: Enforce them,” it would be counterproductive to do so.
October:02:2007 - 17:00
John,
Just a follow-up on your last comment. I think even without a written set of law. The concept of structuring the courts will introduce precedence in rulings from higher courts over time. This by itself is of high value.
The other advantage I see is that the specialized court structure at the lower level will allow the codification to move faster in certain areas of the law once that process begins.
I know that these new reforms will not solve all of the issues of the Saudi judicial system. However, it is a big step. I am really looking forward to see the details of how this will work over time.
October:02:2007 - 17:00
Let’s keep in mind that the “system” doesn’t codify new or existing laws: great scholars do, or at least able bureaucrats. Is the KSA really up to the challenge?
October:02:2007 - 17:00
I agree with Saudi in the US: form itself will produce change. Laws are not only the product of great law-makers, they are the emergent result of particular structures, the consequences of structure.
They will lead, as Saudi says, to precedents that will be built upon in their own sets of consequences.
October:02:2007 - 17:00
A kingdom with laws. I wonder if this is the first step towards a middle eastern democracy or disaster?
Join the global debate on democracy at http://www.whydemocracy.net.
October:02:2007 - 17:00
I’m willing to entertain the idea that this could be a disaster, but for the life of me I can’t see how.
Could you expand on that?
October:02:2007 - 17:00
John,
I think post number 10 was meant to spam and promote the site offered in the link not to add value to the discussion.
On another topic, the more I read and think about this new reform the more I like it. There are 2 thoughts I want to add. 1) The new Supreme Court will replace the ultra conservative Supreme Judicial Council (which will be relegated to administrative duties). This can be used to lessen the powers of conservatives in one quick action. 2) Like US presidents leaving a legacy beyond their presidency by appointing Supreme Court Justices, King Abdulah can extend his influence beyond his ruling period. Since, he has been the most reform minded king so far, that may be real good for the future.
It will be interesting to see the make up of the supreme court.
October:02:2007 - 17:00
Both your points, I think, are right on target.
One of the more remarkable things that King Abdullah has accomplished is to limit the powers of his successors, whether in the new succession laws or the new judicial system. Both do grant more power more broadly. He is reducing the power of the monarch deliberately.