Saudi Arabia has announced new judicial reforms, putting the kingdom on a path to codified law — a huge step in the deeply conservative country whose legal system is based on Islamic law.
.jpg)
“The Personal Status Law, the Civil Transactions Law, the Penal Code 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.
“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,” the crown prince said in a statement. He said the new laws will be announced over the course of 2021.
A Saudi official told Reuters that reforms are designed to meet the needs of the modern world while adhering to Sharia.
The announcement is the latest in a series of dramatic economic and social reforms launched by the 35-year-old crown prince aimed at modernizing the kingdom. It fits into his Vision 2030 agenda, which aims to diversify the economy away from oil and attract foreign talent and investment, and comes as Saudi Arabia pitches itself as a destination for international business headquarters.
“This is an important step on the path towards global best practices that give businesses the confidence to invest,” Tarek Fadlallah, Middle East CEO at Nomura Asset Management, told CNBC on Tuesday.