LONDON (Reuters – Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the government will discuss a set of new draft laws designed to enhance the efficiency and integrity of the kingdom’s judicial system, state news agency (SPA) reported on Monday.
The new laws – the personal status law, the civil transactions law, the penal code of discretionary sanctions and the law of evidence – are currently being finalised and will then be submitted to the cabinet and relevant bodies as well as the advisory Shura Council, before they are finally approved.
“The new laws represent a new wave of reforms that will … increase the reliability of procedures and oversight mechanisms as cornerstones in achieving the principles of justice, clarifying the lines of accountability,” Prince Mohammed said in the statement.
The Prince, known in the West as MbS, has launched a series of social and economic reforms aimed at modernising the conservative kingdom, which has no codified system of law to go with the texts making up sharia, or Islamic law.
Having no written laws that govern certain incidents had for decades resulted in discrepancy in court rulings and prolonged litigation, hurting many Saudis, mostly women.
Riyadh has, for example, long endured international censure over the guardianship system that assigns each women a male relative – a father, brother, husband or son – whose approval was needed for various big decisions throughout a woman’s life. The law was reformed in August 2019.
“This was painful for many individuals and families, especially women, permitting some to evade their responsibilities. This will not take place again once these laws are promulgated pursuant to legislative laws and procedures,” MbS said.
The statement did not give details on the suggested reforms in these draft laws except that they will be announced successively in 2021.
(Reporting by Marwa Rashad; Editing by Paul Simao)
