Saudi Arabia announces four major legal reforms

Saudi Arabia brings four major legal reforms this year as part of its measures to restructure Saudi judicial institutions and improve the legislative environment. The Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that the four new judicial reform laws are Personal Status Law, the Civil Transactions Law, the Penal Code for Discretionary Sentences and the Law of Evidence.

The move aims at improving the integrity and efficiency of judicial institutions to ensure the credibility of procedures and regulations. The new reforms will address the lack of clarity on legal litigation and provide a clear legal framework for individuals and businesses.

Inconsistent court rulings have led to a lack of clarity in the Kingdom's bylaws, which has offended many groups, including women.

The Crown Prince stated that the Kingdom had taken serious steps towards developing its legislative environment over the past few years. The new reforms sought to protect human rights, justice, transparency and achieve comprehensive and sustainable development. The Crown Prince also said that the new draft laws were in the process of being submitted to the Shura Council for review and consideration by the Cabinet.

Though a draft law, known as the 'Code of Judicial Decisions', was framed a few years ago, it was found insufficient to meet society's needs and expectations.

According to the statement published in the Saudi Press Agency, the four laws were framed in view of the country's commitment under international conventions and treaties and also in line with the current international judicial procedures and standards as per the Sharia principles.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that the country's judiciary's development is an ongoing process and that the reforms would be announced this year.