Saudi Arabia

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a monarchy ruled by the Al Saud family, which unified the country in 1932. The Saudi state is sometimes referred to by Westerners as “Wahhabi” due to its ideological basis which draws from the teachings of eighteenth century Muslim reformer Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab. The Saudi Basic Law declares that the Qur’an and the Sunna (a set of sayings outlining the Prophet Muhammad’s words and deeds) should serve as the country’s constitution. King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (a son of the first monarch, King Abdulaziz bin Abd al-Rahman al-Faysal Al Saud) acceded to the throne in August 2005.

History of the Constitution

• The Basic Law (English text, Arabic text) – a series of regulations issued by King Fahd in 1992 – serves as the Kingdom’s informal constitution, although it is not referred to as such. Instead, the Basic Law states that the Qur’an and the Sunna are the constitution of Saudi Arabia. Any further codification of the principles found in these texts would be the result of interpretation, and would thus be prone to errors. Hence, the Saudi government sets down “regulations” (singular: nizam), such as the Basic Law, to improve the functioning of the state, but maintains that any such regulations must be in line with the Qur’an and Sunna.


• The 1992 Basic Law was Saudi Arabia’s first codified constitutional document. Saudi kings had been promising such a document since before the kingdom’s official founding in 1932. In 1924, King Abdulaziz pledged to form a Consultative Council and to establish a constitution for the newly unified state. However, King Fahd’s 1992 document was the first to be drafted.


• Government-appointed clergy act as the nominal arbiters of constitutional matters, but the king retains absolute authority to determine the outcome of constitutional disputes. Revisions of the Basic Law are carried out by royal decree.


• In recent years, the Saudi regime has come under some pressure to enact constitutional reforms and to increase popular participation in government. The regime has reacted harshly to those who oppose the country’s political system, or whose actions incite opposition against the government. Its leaders insist that citizens are permitted to make suggestions to the government as long as they do so in private, so as not to embarrass the regime or create political unrest.


• Saudi reform activists Matrouk al-Faleh, Ali al-Dimeeni, and Abdullah al-Hamed were arrested in January 2004 for circulating a petition calling for the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. They each received prison sentences ranging from six to nine years on May 15, 2005, having been convicted of distributing political leaflets, sowing dissent, and using the media to incite opposition against the government. Upon assuming power in August 2005, King Abdullah issued a pardon for the three activists, as well as for their lawyer. Ten other activists arrested with them in March 2004 were later released after signing pledges not to circulate reform petitions or speak to the media.

State Institutions

The 1992 Basic Law (English text, Arabic text) vests executive power in the king, who must be a son or grandson of the founding king, Abdulaziz bin Abd al-Rahman al-Faysal Al Saud.

Executive Branch

The King

The king is the chief of state and:

• Rules by decree in accordance with Islamic law (Shari’a) and with the consensus of senior princes and religious officials.
• Performs legislative and executive functions.
• Acts as the ultimate source of judicial power. Through a royal order he can introduce new laws, amend existing laws, or reinterpret them.
• Is the commander in chief of the armed forces. Appoints officers and revokes their duties.
• Is known by the title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
• Approves and amends international treaties, agreements, and regulations by decree.
• Approves all decisions of the Council of Ministers.

There are no institutional checks on royal authority. The king is somewhat constrained by Islamic law, the importance of attaining consensus among royal family members, and the tradition of consultation – but in practice there is little accountability and he has wide-ranging discretion.

King Abdullah acceded to the throne in August 2005 following the death of his half-brother King Fahd, who occupied the throne between 1982 and 2005. As crown prince, Abdullah had acted as de facto regent since King Fahd’s stroke in 1995.

The Prime Minister

The prime minister:

• Is the head of the Council of Ministers.
• Can veto any decision of the Council of Ministers.
• Appoints and removes deputy prime ministers, ministers, and other members of the Council of Ministers by royal order.
• Has the right to dissolve and reorganize the Council of Ministers.

King Abdullah serves as both the king and the prime minister, carrying on a tradition started by King Faisal in the late 1960s. The 1992 Basic Law formalized this tradition by officially giving the position of prime minister to the king.

The Crown Prince

The Crown Prince:

• Assumes the monarchy upon the king’s death.
• May chair sessions of the Council of Ministers.

Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been crown prince since the death of King Fahd in 2005. He currently holds the positions of minister of defense and aviation, inspector general, and chairman of the Saudi Arabian Railways Organization. He has headed the Defense Ministry since 1963, and the modern Saudi Arabian Armed Forces were established under his leadership. Prince Sultan has held positions in the Saudi government since 1947, including governor of riyadh, minister of agriculture, and minister of communications.

The king is chosen through hereditary succession, although the king or crown prince can now be chosen on the basis of “suitability” rather than mere seniority. The 1992 Basic Law altered the procedure for choosing successors, declaring that the king could name and remove the crown prince. Furthermore, the crown prince would not automatically succeed on the death of the king, but serve as provisional ruler until he, or another descendant of Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud deemed more suitable, was enthroned.

Succession in the past has been decided by a small group of powerful royals. The new procedures aim to broaden the process and avoid leadership disputes. The Ba’yah Council includes the sons and grandsons of King Abdulaziz al-Saud, the kingdom’s founder. Its members must be older than 22 years of age, and any member may be dismissed by a two-thirds vote of the council. The new law states that upon accession to the throne, a king must either inform the council of his nomination for crown prince or ask the council to make a nomination. The committee can veto the king’s nomination, but must then vote for one of three alternate princes nominated by the king.

King Abdullah issued a royal decree on October 8, 2007 outlining regulations to implement the October 2006 Succession Law. The law aims to clarify succession procedures and thus ensure peaceful transitions of power. In accordance with the succession law, a Ba’yah (Allegiance) Council has been established to select crown princes and thus future kings. The new rules will not apply to King Abdullah’s successor, as the king has already chosen his brother, Prince Sultan al-Saud, for the role.

Both King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan are in their eighties. Other aspirants to the throne include Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz, the interior minister, and Prince Salman bin Abdel Aziz, the governor of Riyadh. Some have hoped that the new council will decide to choose from among the founder’s grandsons in the near future, rather than from his now-elderly sons.

Council of Ministers or Cabinet

The Council of Ministers :

• Is regulated by the Council of Ministers Statute (English text, Arabic text).
• Consists of the king, the crown prince, three royal advisers who hold official positions as ministers of state, five other ministers of state, and the heads of the 20 ministries. The commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, the governors of Medina, Mecca, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province, as well as the governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) and the head of the General Petroleum and Mineral Organization (Petromin) hold ministerial rank and are members of the council.
• Has responsibility for drafting and overseeing the implementation of the internal, external, financial, economic, education, and defense policies.
• Has authority in financial matters, approving the annual budget and the development plan.
• Can propose legislation. Can approve draft laws, concessions, and international agreements, which come into effect when they are ratified by the king. In practice, the king often passes and amends laws without first submitting them to the Council of Ministers.
• Imposes taxes and decides on the sale, lease and disposal of government property.

King Abdullah initiated a cabinet shuffle in February 2009. The king appointed Noura al-Fayez as deputy education minister in charge of women’s affairs. She now holds the most senior position given to a woman in the country. Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Muhammad, a son-in-law of the king and a former top intelligence official, was appointed as the new education minister. Sheikh Saleh al-Luhaydan, a religious scholar known for his ultra-conservative outlook, was replaced by a more moderate Saleh Bin-Humaid as the head of the Supreme Judicial Council. Sheikh Ibrahim Ghaith was also replaced as the head of the religious police by the more moderate Abdul Aziz Al Humain.

The deliberations of the Council of Ministers take place behind closed doors. Its decisions are made public, except for those that are considered to be secret by the council.

Members of the Council of Ministers serve for four years, and their terms may be extended or renewed by the king.

Reports of the council can be found here in English and Arabic.

Legislative Branch

The Consultative Council or Shura Council (Majlis ash-Shura):

The Consultative Council or Shura Council:

• Is governed by the Shura Council law (English text, Arabic text), decreed in 1992.
• Consists of 150 members selected by the king, who cannot include princes or acting ministers. Members serve four-year terms. When a new Consultative Council is formed, at least half of those appointed must be new members.
• Can be restructured and dissolved by the king.
• Has historically acted mainly in an advisory capacity, debating, rejecting, and amending government-proposed legislation.
• Was given the power to initiate legislation by a 2003 royal decree. The decree also amended the council’s charter so that in the event of disagreement with the government, it may rebut the government’s planned course of action. In such a case the king is the final arbiter.
• Adopts its decisions by an absolute majority. Legislation passed by the council is sent to the Council of Ministers for approval. If both councils approve the law, then it is sent to the king for approval and promulgation. In case of disagreement, the king is free to decide whether or not to accept the motion.
• Pronounces the general plan of economic and social development, laws, regulations, concessions, and international treaties and agreements.
• Can hold ministries accountable in relation to their spending, but has no role in shaping the budget.
• Is required to operate on a special budget approved by the king, following rules set forth by a royal order.

The council’s membership was expanded from 120 members to 150 members in April 2005. In July 2006, six women were given positions as consultants to the Shura Council, increasing its number to 156. However, the women do not have voting rights and are not considered full members of the council.

In October 2003, the Saudi press reported that the government would conduct elections for one-third of the members of the Consultative Council within three years. However, in 2004 now-Crown Prince Sultan declared that Shura Council elections would not occur in the foreseeable future.

Click here for a list of the Shura Council’s current members, and here for their biographies.

Judiciary

Saudi Arabia’s legal system is based primarily on the principles of Islamic law (Shari’a). Judges are told to consult the Qur’an and the Sunna when contemplating their verdicts. However, these religious texts are supplemented by regulations promulgated by the Saudi state. The king is responsible for the implementation of judicial rulings.

The Justice Ministry (official website in Arabic) oversees the Saudi judiciary, and is responsible for disciplining judges. It also publishes a quarterly journal in English and Arabic discussing legal and juristic issues.

The judiciary is subject to the influence of the royal family. Provincial governors (most of whom are members of the royal family) have the authority to exercise leniency and reduce sentences.

Judiciary Councils

• Under a new 2007 Law of the Judiciary (English text, Arabic text), the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC)(Arabic website here) no longer serves as the highest court in the country. Its new role is mainly administrative. It has the power to establish, abolish, and merge courts, specify a court’s jurisdiction, and create circuits within courts. It also issues regulations relating to the powers and functioning of judges, and it issues regulations relating to the method of selecting judges. The SJC also names the chiefs and deputies of the First Degree and Appellate Courts. Click here to view the new 2007 regulations governing the SJC in Arabic.


• The SJC consists of a president and ten members chosen from among the leading ulema (religious scholars) of the country. These include the Chief of the High Court, four members of the rank of appellate court chief, the deputy minister of justice, the chief of the bureau of investigation and prosecution, and three appellate judges. Its members are appointed by the King and serve four-year renewable terms.


• The Conflicts of Jurisdiction Committee resolves jurisdictional disputes involving a Shari’a Court and another tribunal or committee. It is composed of two members of the Supreme Judicial Council and one member of the tribunal or committee in question.


• The Council of Senior Islamic Scholars (also known as the Council of Senior Ulema) is an autonomous body composed of 20 senior religious jurists, including the minister of justice. It establishes the legal principles to guide lower-court judges in deciding cases, and acts as an advisory body to the king and to the cabinet. This council was restructured in 2009 during a broader cabinet reshuffle. The terms of some of its members were extended, and several new appointments were made. Click here for a detailed account of the changes.

Courts

The Saudi court system has been altered by a new 2007 Law of the Judiciary (English text, Arabic text), which has not yet been fully enacted. Courts are currently operating under the 1975 Law of the Judiciary (English and Arabic texts of the law side-by-side). They function according to the Law of Procedure before Shari'a courts and the Law of Criminal Procedure.

The Saudi court system is divided into two types of courts: Shari’a courts (al-Mahakim al-Shari’a) and an independent administrative court known as the Board of Grievances (Diwan Al-Mazalem). Shari’a courts fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, which was established in 1970.

Lower Courts

All cases in Saudi Arabia are heard by Shari’a Courts, except those assigned to the Board of Grievances or specialized tribunals.

The 2007 Law of the Judiciary restructured the court system to some extent. Under the new system, First Degree courts will have jurisdiction over civil, personal status, family law, and most criminal cases, and will consist of general courts, criminal courts, commercial courts, labor courts, and personal status courts.

General courts will handle cases in local counties and districts, and will have specialized circuits based on the needs of a given locality.

Criminal courts will be divided into four circuits: those for Qisas (retaliatory punishment) cases, Hudud cases (prescribed punishment), Ta'zir (discretionary punishment) cases, and juvenile cases. Criminal cases will be heard by three-judge panels. What were known as summary courts in the old system will be transformed into criminal courts under the new law.

Divorce and other family and personal matters will be heard by personal status courts. The Courts of Guarantee and Marriages located in Riyadh and Makkah will be transformed into personal status courts.

Cases handled in the general courts can be contested in the appeals courts.

The Board of Grievances has jurisdiction over cases in which the government or civil servants are a party, cases involving foreign arbitration, and cases involving accusations of unethical business practices. This independent judiciary system mimics the Shari’a system in its three-tiered structure. It contains First Instance (lower court) circuits, Appeals circuits, and a Board of Appeals (the highest court).

Courts of Appeal

Like the Courts of First Instance, appeals courts contain several specialized circuits: labor circuits, commercial circuits, criminal circuits, personal status circuits, and civil circuits. All except the criminal circuits are presided over by a three-judge panel. Cases assigned to the criminal circuit are heard by a five-judge panel, as the punishments they hand down are often more serious, and can include corporal punishment and execution.

Courts of Appeal may overturn rulings doled out by lower court judges. For most matters, the appeals court represents the final level of appeal.

The High Court (Supreme Court)

According to the 2007 reforms, a new High Court will replace the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) as the highest court of appeal in the Saudi judicial system. It will be divided into specialized circuits like the lower courts. A three-judge panel will preside over all cases except for criminal cases, which will be heard by a five-judge panel.

The High Court will be located in Riyadh and its judges will be chosen by the king based on the recommendations of the SJC.

Decisions of the High Court are final and are not subject to appeal.

Other Courts

• The Board of Grievances is a separate court system within the Saudi judiciary. The board hears cases in which the government is a party, cases involving foreign arbitration, and cases involving accusations of unethical business practices. The board also reviews complaints of improper behavior brought against both government officials and qadis (judges in Islamic court).


• The president of the board is appointed by the king. This independent judiciary system mimics the Shari’a system in its three-tiered structure. It contains First Instance (lower court) circuits, Appeals circuits, and a Board of Appeals (the highest court). It is regulated by the 2007 Law of the Board of Grievances (English text, Arabic text).


• The board’s equivalent of the SJC is known as the Administrative Judicial Council (AJC). This court is composed of the president of the board, the chief of the High Administrative Court, the senior vice president of the board, and four judges of the rank of chief of the Appellate Court, all of whom are appointed by the king. The AJC handles administrative issues relating to the Board of Grievances. It encompasses several committees, including a Jurisdictional Conflict Committee, a Judicial Disciplinary Committee, and a Department for Judicial Inspection.


• In addition to the Shari’a courts, the Saudi legal system includes judicial and quasi-judicial institutions with specialized jurisdictions. For example, specialized tribunals deal with cases that require the judge to have expertise in commercial or labor law. Some of these bodies are: the Supreme Commission on Labor Disputes, the Commission on the Impeachment of Ministers, the Committee on Commercial Paper, and the Committee on Commercial Disputes. Appeals from these courts are heard by the Board if Grievances, which is independent of the Ministry of Justice.


• In late 2008, the Saudi government announced the creation of special State Security courts to try suspected terrorists. According to the Ministry of Justice and the Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, these courts are needed to try those accused of carrying out a series of attacks in the kingdom in 2003. The new courts will only hear security and terrorism-related cases, and will be established in Riyadh, Jiddah, and Dammam. Cases will be heard by a three-judge panel, and will then be reviewed by a five-judge panel. According to the government, defendants will be provided with legal counsel, and will be able to file appeals with the Board of Grievances. It is unclear whether these courts will be a temporary or a permanent addition to the Kingdom’s justice system. Click here for more information.

Recent Judiciary Reforms

• In April 2005 King Fahd issued a royal decree endorsing the overhaul and restructuring of the Saudi judicial system, and his successor, King Abdullah, undertook the project in 2007. Once the law is enacted, the judicial powers of the Supreme Judicial Council will be transferred to a new Supreme Court. This restructuring aims to create a more efficient judiciary, and to increase the independence of the judiciary. The new law also establishes specialized labor and commercial courts, appeals of which will be heard by the Board of Grievances and not by the Supreme Court.


• In July 2010, King Abdullah announced the start of a codification process for Shari’a law governing criminal, civil, and family courts. The decision is part of the ongoing process of reforms announced by King Fahd in 2005, and detailed in the 2007 Law of the Judiciary (English text, Arabic text). The announcement is significant, as many religious scholars oppose the codification of Shari’a law by fallible humans who might interpret it incorrectly. According to these scholars, judges should ideally come to a decision after reading relevant portions of the Muslim holy texts. However, in practice, judges already use precedent to some extent and consult other legal texts to reach their decisions.

Military

Saudi Arabia’s defense forces consist of the Armed Forces and the National Guard. The Armed Forces consist of the Land Forces, the Air Force, the Air Defense Forces, and the Navy. These branches operate under the Ministry of Defense (official website in English and Arabic), which is currently headed by Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud.

The National Guard is responsible for domestic security, including the protection of the royal family and the prevention of coups. It is entirely separate from the Armed Forces so as to be useful to the regime in the event of a military coup. When King Abdullah was crown prince, he headed the National Guard.

Political Environment

Political Parties

Political parties are banned in Saudi Arabia, and opposition groups operate in secret or are based outside of the country.

Election Results

At present, Saudi Municipal Councils are the only governmental bodies partially elected by popular vote in the kingdom.

Results for the first Municipal Council elections held in February-April, 2005:

In 2003, King Fahd approved the creation of consultative councils at the municipal level, promising that half of the council members would be elected (the other half are appointed by the king). The first elections were held in 2005, and were governed by the Municipal Election Regulations. Women and members of the military were excluded from voting and running in the elections, and the voting age was fixed at 21. Elections took place in three stages: on February 10 for the Riyadh province, on March 3 for the four southern provinces and the Eastern Province, and on April 21 for the rest of the country.

Of the 9,330 candidates, 608 were chosen for membership in 178 municipal councils. Due to the exclusion of women and general voter cynicism, only 793,432 citizens registered to vote in the elections of an estimated 23,631,201 Saudi nationals.

Because candidates ran as individuals and not as members of parties, election results are difficult to interpret. It appears that Shi’i candidates won most of the seats in the Eastern Province. In general, voter turnout in Shi’i-dominated regions was higher (as a percentage of registered voters) than in Sunni areas.

In the capital of Riyadh, Islamist candidates with clerical support beat out tribal and business candidates for seats. A similar trend was seen in other cities, including in the business-oriented seaport of Jiddah. The Islamist candidates mobilized voters by distributing lists of candidates to thousands of cell phones using SMS technology. Click here for more information.

A detailed analysis of the elections and their implications can be found here.

Municipal councils in Saudi Arabia have a narrow mandate, which deals principally with the provision of services. Central areas of public policy, such as the allocation of public land (a matter important to curb corruption and abuse of office) remain in the hands of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. Duties of municipalities include planning of cities and villages (including roads and facilities), managing services to provide public health and cleanliness, and cultivating and improving rural areas. Despite the limited role of the local councils, most Saudis viewed the elections as a positive step toward allowing citizens some participation in their government.

Recent Electoral Updates

In 2009, the government announced a two-year postponement of municipal elections, citing the need to reform its municipal council laws before holding the next elections. The postponement was a disappointment for women, who had anticipated gaining the vote in the 2009 elections. Click here for more in Arabic information.

Civil Society and Nongovernmental Actors

The main private sector umbrella organization is the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (official website in English, Arabic), an influential organization that helps mediate between Saudi companies and the state.

Most of Saudi Arabia’s civil society actors are state-sponsored, and thus local NGOs are rare. The government monitors the internal workings of civil society organizations operating in the kingdom. The Ministry of Social Affairs must approve all organizations, and each must include at least 20 Saudi citizens. Technically, civil society organizations may only be charities or Muslim missionary organizations. Advocacy groups are prohibited. All organizations are governed by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 74. In 2008, a draft CSO law was passed by the Consultative Council, but has yet to be approved by the Saudi Council of Ministers. Some argue that the draft law would place further restrictions on civil society organizations in the kingdom, rather than loosening restrictions on them. Click here for more information.

A number of international NGOs have been allowed to operate in Saudi Arabia, but are prohibited from opening branches in the kingdom. These include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA).

In 2003 the Saudi government established the National Human Rights Society (NSHR), a semi-governmental organization dealing with human rights in the kingdom. Two years later, the fully governmental Human Rights Commission (HRC) was founded. Other human rights groups such as the Human Rights First Society (HRFS) operate in the country without official licensing. According to HRFS, “[a]s fledgling state sponsored organizations in a country with an abysmal record with regards to human rights, the National Human Rights Society and the [Human Rights] Commission have yet to meet the true test of implementing, supporting and guaranteeing basic human rights for all citizens regardless of gender or religion. HRFS continues to serve a very important function working as a non-governmental organization (NGO) to monitor reported human rights abuses and advocate for the victims. It is critical to its ongoing work that the Saudi government recognize HFRS as a NGO operating in Saudi Arabia.”

Saudi Arabia has a loose network of political reformers. In recent years, a core group has initiated petitions and sought to attract the signatures of like minded people. The petition-writers for the most part favor gradual political transformation within the framework of the monarchy and the state's Islamic character. This preference is partly due to self-censorship, as those who have openly opposed the current system of government have been exiled in the past.

In January 2003, Crown Prince Abdullah issued a call for “self-reform and the promotion of political participation” across the Middle East. Later that month, 104 Saudi Arabian citizens sent a charter entitled “A Vision for the Present and the Future of the Homeland” to Crown Prince Abdullah. The charter urged comprehensive reforms, including guarantees of freedom of expression, association, and assembly, and requested release or fair trials for political prisoners. A second petition followed in September 2003, entitled “In Defense of the Nation,” which criticized the slow pace of reform and the absence of popular participation in decision-making. Signed by 306 academics, writers, and businesspeople, including 50 women, it advocated popular election of the Consultative Council. Islamist reformers who had signed the "Vision" refused to join the second petition because its tone was viewed as too liberal and anti-Islamic.

Saudi reform activists Matrouk al-Faleh, Ali al-Dimeeni, and Abdullah al-Hamed received prison sentences ranging from six to nine years on May 15, 2005. They were convicted on charges of sowing dissent, distributing political leaflets, using the media to incite opposition against the government, and causing political unrest, after they circulated a petition in January 2004 calling for the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. Ten other activists who were arrested along with them in March 2004 were later released after signing pledges not to circulate reform petitions or speak to the media. Upon assuming power in August 2005, King Abdullah issued a pardon for the three activists mentioned above, for their lawyer, and for another activist.

Another petition was sent to the king in 2009, and called for political reforms and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. It included several new demands, including term limits on government appointees and an elected parliament that would have the power to choose the crown prince. Most of the petition’s 77 signatories referred to themselves as human rights activists, and the petition includes calls for fair and public trials. The government has not responded to this petition, nor has it imprisoned the document’s signatories.

Two prominent political opposition movements have been exiled from the kingdom, and now operate from London: the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR) and the Movement for Islamic Reform in Saudi Arabia (MIRA). The CDLR was established in 1993 by a group of Islamist academics and clerics to push for the range of human rights that they asserted are recognized by Islam, including political participation. It was quickly disbanded by the government and in 1994 its two founders, Mohamed al-Massari and Saad al-Faqih, relocated to Britain and started a campaign calling for the ousting of the Saudi royal family. The two founders split in 1996 after a falling out. MIRA, headed by Saad al Faqih, is the more active of the two organizations and has been added to the UNSC 1267 list of terrorist individuals and organizations. In December 2004 the United States declared that it had frozen MIRA’s assets and submitted its members’ names to the United Nations. MIRA’s stated aim is regime change, whereby the royal family is replaced by an elected leadership and where there exists an independent judiciary and a new constitution with the stamp of Islamic law.

Civil and Political Rights

Personal Liberties

• The Basic law (English text, Arabic text) does not include explicit guarantees of personal rights, such as freedom of belief, expression, assembly, or political participation.


• Article 2 of the Law of Criminal Procedure prohibits torture and prevents judges from accepting confessions that were obtained under duress. The state-run Human Rights Commission (HRC) insisted that torture did not occur in Saudi prisons. However, in 2009 there continued to be numerous reports of physical abuse and torture during interrogation and detention.


• Arbitrary arrest is practiced, particularly in the case of suspected political and religious opponents of the government. It is facilitated by the wide detainment powers enjoyed by numerous bodies acting without judicial authority. These bodies include al-Shurta (the public security police), al-Mabahith al Amma (general investigations) and religious police known as al-Mutawaeen or Hai’at al-amr bilmaruf wan nahi an al-munkar (the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice). The first two are accountable to the minister of the interior. The third, locally known as the Hai’a, is mandated to ensure strict adherence to established codes of conduct, is in theory a semi-autonomous agency. In practice, it works closely with the police and local governors. It is required to hand suspects over to the police after questioning.


• Detainees have the right to a lawyer during investigation and trial, but the authorities often do not supply one until they have finished interrogating the suspect. Lawyers are provided at state expense. Warrants are required unless the police can provide probable cause to search a private residence. Police may detain a suspect for up to 72 hours without charge. Once a suspect is charged, a trial must be initiated within six months.


• The rights of the accused are often ignored by authorities, who are rarely held accountable for their treatment of detainees. In the case of suspected terrorism, authorities rarely uphold the Law of Criminal Procedure. In 2007, 3,016 suspects were reportedly being held for “security offenses”, and many were being held incommunicado with no charge.


• Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are restricted in Saudi Arabia. Public employees are prohibited from participating in the preparation of any speech, petition, or document that opposes the state’s policies. They are also forbidden from discussing such oppositional ideas with local and foreign media. The government has the power to shut down blogs that are alleged to incite distrust of the regime, and has been known to arrest university professors who criticize the state.


• Most print and broadcast media are state-owned, and the state also has influence over private media outlets. The Ministry of Culture and Information must approve all editorial appointments and may fire editors at whim. The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) monitors email and chat rooms and blocks websites deemed immoral, radically religious, pornographic or sexual, or offensive to the government – which includes human rights groups reporting on abuses in the kingdom. Bloggers and journalists have been arrested for publishing oppositional material. Most media outlets in the kingdom practice self-censorship so as to avoid repercussions from the government.


• The Basic Law does not provide for freedom of assembly or association. All associations must be registered with the Ministry of the Interior and must comply with its regulations. Many associations are prevented from registering. Public demonstrations are prohibited without the permission of the government, which usually denies these requests and arrests any protestors. Workers may not strike and are not permitted to form unions, although public-sector workers may form labor committees that the Ministry of Labor closely monitors. The law does not provide for collective bargaining.


• Saudi Arabia maintains a guardianship system. A woman may not travel abroad or be issued a passport without the permission of her guardian. Women are prohibited from driving in the kingdom, but also may not drive or be alone with unrelated males who are not their employees. On March 13, 2009, non-citizen Khamisa Mohammad Sawadi was sentenced to 40 lashes, a four-month prison term, and subsequent deportation for having unrelated males in her house. She was 75 years old.


• Saudi Arabia is estimated to have 1.5 million foreign domestic workers. All foreigners in the kingdom are required to have Saudi sponsors. These sponsors may be individuals or businesses, and often confiscate the passports of their employees on arrival. Sponsors process their employees’ residence and exit permits. Employees may be prohibited from leaving the country by their sponsors, and may not change their workplace without their sponsor’s permission. The sponsorship system has been under review in recent years, as it has been cited in connection with labor and human rights abuses. Saudi Arabia does not have a national minimum wage.


• Foreign residents of Saudi Arabia must carry their residency permits with them at all times, and may be asked to produce them by authorities. All male citizens over the age of 15 must carry National Identification Cards (NIC), which are required to carry out any transaction with a government agency or public institution. Women are not required to hold these cards.


• Women face discrimination in the kingdom. Women are required to wear an abaya (a loose-fitting black dress that covers the entire body) whenever they are in public, and may be detained if they do not do so. In general, Muslim women and non-Muslims from Asia and Africa are expected to dress more modestly than their Western counterparts, and are often asked by the religious police to cover their hair or faces. Women are included in the public education system, although schools are often segregated by gender. Although women make up around 58 percent of university students, they are underrepresented in the workforce. Most employed women work in the education or healthcare systems, and some have complained of salary discrimination.


• Shari’a law dictates that the testimony of one man equals that of two women. Furthermore, men may initiate divorce without giving cause, while women must provide a legally specified reason to divorce their husbands. Citizenship may only pass down from the father, such that the children of a Saudi woman and a non-Saudi man are considered non-citizens. Therefore, these children do not receive the free education and health care afforded to citizens. In custody disputes, a woman’s male guardian is permitted to seize the passports of his wife and children or put them on a “black list” so that they may not leave the country. In terms of inheritance, women receive half the amount afforded to their male counterparts.


• Rape is a criminal offense under Shari’a law, but most rape victims who come forward are punished along with their attackers. They are considered at fault for mixing with unrelated males, and are sometimes given lashes and jail sentences after coming forward. If they are married, rape victims can be tried for adultery. Most rape victims do not report the crime because of fear or societal and legal reprisal.


• Human rights advocates are often discriminated against in the kingdom, particularly when they are seen to embarrass the state by talking to local or foreign media about human rights abuses in the country. One human rights lawyer, Abdurrahman al-Lahem, has been prevented from traveling abroad since 2004 as a result of his statements to the press about his defense of a woman who was sentenced to lashes for being in the company of unrelated males when she was gang-raped in 2006 (although the king eventually pardoned her). Al-Lahem was prevented from leaving the country in 2008 to receive two human rights awards for his work.


• Freedom of religion is severely restricted in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Department of State's 2009 International Religious Freedom Report deems Saudi Arabia a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). Saudi law protects the right to worship in private, but non-Muslims may not worship publicly. The building of churches and other non-Muslim religious buildings is not permitted. The only church in the kingdom exists on the ARAMCO compound in the Eastern Province, although some non-Muslims conduct private religious services at their houses.


• Blasphemy is considered a criminal offense in the kingdom and carries a prison sentence. Muslims who convert to other religion are considered apostates and are technically subject to execution, although there have been no cases of this in the recent past.


• In 2009, King Abdullah launched an Inter-Faith Dialogue Initiative (IDI), bringing religious leaders together in the kingdom to encourage dialogue and to promote tolerance. However, non-Muslims and non-Sunni Muslims face discrimination in the kingdom in terms of employment and educational opportunities. Shi’i Muslims (estimates indicate they make up between 8 percent to 20 percent of the population) encounter discrimination in all areas of public-sector employment and are subject to abuse by government security services. State schools use Sunni religious books in class, and Shi’i children are often taught by Sunni teachers who discourage and even ridicule their beliefs. Click here for a 2008 Human Rights Watch report on discrimination against Ismaili Shi’i in the Najran Province of Saudi Arabia.


• Nevertheless, the government allows Shi’i in the Eastern Province to be tried by Shi’i courts in family law and personal status cases. According to the U.S. Department of State's 2009 International Religious Freedom Report, there are only seven Shi’i judges in Saudi Arabia, all of whom reside in the Eastern Province cities of Qatif and al-Ahsa.


• The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, locally known as the religious police, the Mu’tawwa, or the Hai’a, have been criticized extensively for harassment and abuse of power. The commission is charged with maintaining morally acceptable conduct in the country, and arresting those who violate moral rules. In 2006 the government declared that the commission could no longer detain or interrogate suspects or violate the sanctity of private homes. However, this ruling was overturned by Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud the following year, as he claimed that such a protection interfered with maintaining security in the country. However, Prince Nayef did encourage the commission to hand over any suspects to the police for detention. The commission is not allowed to administer any kind of punishment, and may only detain people and hand them over to the police.


• Like several Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia has a population of stateless Arabs, some of whom have been residents of the country for decades but have not been given citizenship. Known as the bidoon or bidun (short for the Arabic “bidoon jinsiya” or “without nationality”), these 70,000 to 100,000 residents are Arabs who either lack or have failed to produce documentation of their nationality. The bidoon have reported discrimination in areas such as education, medical care, employment, and mobility, as they cannot produce papers that would subsidize state services or gain them better employment. In recent years, the Ministry of Education has begun admitting bidoon children to schools, and granting bidoon five-year residency permits so as to bring them to the level of sponsored foreign workers.


• Click here for a 2009 Human Rights Watch report on personal liberties in Saudi Arabia.

Legislation Regulating the Exercise of Rights

Political Party Laws

Political parties are illegal and are not tolerated by the state.

Electoral Law

• The electoral law for municipal elections (English text, Arabic text) was formulated in 1977 but had not been put to use until municipal elections were held between February and April 2005.


• According to the law, only citizens 21 and over may vote and run in municipal elections. Military and police officers may not participate. The language of the law is gender-neutral but women were not allowed to participate in the 2005 elections. Authorities cited logistical problems related to the lack of photo identification cards for women and the difficulty of staffing separate voting centers for men and women as the reason for this decision.


• The law provides for a General Committee, which presides over local election committees and supervises voter and candidate registration. Lists of candidates are compiled by these committees and distributed to voters. Candidates may only run in one constituency. Voters cast ballots for candidates in their municipal council zone.


• The Ministry of the Interior has the right to monitor and even halt voting at any stage of the process.


• It is forbidden to use mosques or other public venues to campaign.

Law on Associations

• The Basic Law (English text, Arabic text) does not provide for freedom of association.


• Public demonstrations pertaining to political issues are prohibited.


• Trade unions, syndicates, collective bargaining, and strikes are prohibited, with limited provisions for companies with over 100 workers (see section on Labor Laws). The government does license professional associations such as the Saudi Chemists Association and the Saudi Pharmacists Society.


• Government permission is required to form professional groups and associations, which must be non-political.

Media Laws

• The 2003 Law of Printing and Publication (English text, Arabic text) guarantees freedom of expression within the framework of Islamic and national objectives and values. All criticism of the royal family and the religious authorities is forbidden.


• Article 39 of the Basic Law states that: “Mass media, publication facilities and other means of expression shall function in a manner that is courteous and fair and shall abide by State laws. They shall play their part in educating the masses and boosting national unity. All that may give rise to mischief and discord, or may compromise the security of the State and its public image, or may offend against man's dignity and rights shall be banned.”


• Most print and broadcast media are state-owned, and the government has influence over private media outlets. The Ministry of Culture and Information (MCI) must approve of all editorial appointments and may fire such figures at whim. The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) monitors email and chat rooms and blocks websites deemed immoral, radically religious, pornographic or sexual, or offensive to the government – which includes human rights groups reporting on abuses in the kingdom. The foreign press is systematically censored, with articles and pictures blacked out.


• A special Committee to Protect Journalists report released on May 9, 2006 found that independent reporting on internal politics was nearly absent from the Saudi press. According to the report, the country's conservative religious establishment acts as a powerful lobbying force against enterprising coverage of social, cultural, and religious matters. Government officials dismiss editors, suspend or blacklist dissident writers, order news blackouts on controversial topics, and admonish independent columnists over their writings to deter criticism or to appease religious constituencies.


• The Ministry of Culture and Information regulates radio and television broadcasts. All Saudi newspapers and periodicals are created by royal decree, as there are no licensing procedures. Newspapers are privately owned but receive state subsidies. Their publishers and editors are appointed or at least approved by the government. The government owns the Saudi Press Agency (which has English and Arabic versions), which is controlled by the information ministry and expresses government views.


• The king announced the creation of an independent journalists’ organization in early 2003. The Saudi Journalists Association attracted some criticism because its founding documents were promulgated by the government, and the information ministry must approve all candidates for the board.


• According to the annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index by Reporters without Borders, Saudi Arabia ranks 163 of 175 countries. The index runs from 1 (most press freedom) to 175 (least press freedom).

Personal Status Law

• In October 2000, the Saudi government signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), with reservations for provisions that conflict with Islamic law. As a result, despite the signing of the Convention, women still face legal discrimination in the kingdom.


• Legal matters pertaining to personal status are usually the purview of Islamic courts that use Shari’a law as the basis for decisions. Most Saudi judges tend toward the leanings of legal theorist Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (780-855 A.D.) and his Hanbali cchool of law.


• Under Saudi personal status law, an unmarried woman is the ward of her father, a married woman is the ward of her husband, and a widowed woman is the ward of her sons. Women cannot obtain a passport or an exit visa or be admitted to a hospital without the permission of their guardians.


• Women are segregated from men in public; prohibited from driving; unable to travel without a male relative; and required to wear the abaya outside the home. One man’s testimony is equal to that of two women in court.


• A man may receive a divorce upon request, while a woman must win a legal decision to separate. Citizenship may only pass down from the father, such that the children of a Saudi woman and a non-Saudi man are considered non-citizens. Therefore, they do not receive the free education and health care afforded to citizens. In custody disputes, a woman’s male guardian is permitted to seize the passports of his wife and children (even adult daughters) or put them on a “black list” so that they may not leave the country. In terms of inheritance, women receive half the amount afforded to their male counterparts.


• Rape is a criminal offense under Shari’a law, but most rape victims who come forward are punished along with their attackers. They are considered at fault for mixing with unrelated males, and are sometimes given lashes and jail sentences by the courts. If they are married, rape victims can be tried for adultery.


• On April 12, 2005, the government approved a new regulation that allows women to receive National Identification Cards (NIC) without the permission of their male guardians. A woman with an NIC can now verify the identity of another woman in order for that woman to get her ID card. A new law is expected to give women the right to travel abroad without a male guardian’s approval.


• In recent years, women have gained some economic rights, such as the right to establish companies and charitable institutions. In 2008, Prince Khalid Alfaisal, the governor of Mecca, amended Article 160 of the Labor Law to allow men and women to interact in a business environment. The Ministry of Labor also revised labor laws in 2008 in order to give women the choice to work. Also in 2008, the Ministry of Trade reversed a ban on women staying in hotels alone.

Labor Law

• In September 2005 a new Labor Law (English text, Arabic text) replaced the Labor and Workmen Law of 1969.


• The law gives employees the right to a 24-hour rest period once a week, usually on Fridays. The new law increases the number of employee vacation days per year from 14 days to 21 days, and prohibits employers from withholding wages for any reason (Article 61). Furthermore, Article 40 of the law stipulates that employers must pay for the renewal of a foreign employee’s work permit.


• Under the new law, employers are required to grant Saudi women a six-week maternity leave. Employers must also provide child care at their place of employment if they provide jobs to 50 or more female workers.


• The new law requires that Saudi companies retain a 75 percent Saudi workforce. This stipulation is part of an ongoing effort to encourage "Saudization" of the workforce. Additionally, companies must allocate at least 4 percent of positions to persons with disabilities (up from 2 percent under the previous law).


• The law does not address the right of workers to form and join independent unions. However, in April 2002 a new law was issued that permits Saudi workers to establish labor committees in companies with 100 or more employees. The committee members are chosen by the workers and approved by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The committee may make recommendations to company management to improve work conditions, increase productivity, improve health and safety, and recommend training programs. The Ministry of Labor may send a representative to attend committee meetings. The ministry may dissolve a labor committee if it violates regulations or threatens public security. Foreign workers may not serve on the committee; however, regulations provide that the committee should represent their views.


• The law excludes domestic workers, who thus cannot bring suits against employers in Labor Courts. Thus, while the new law penalizes some forms of forced labor, domestic workers – who are the most affected – may not benefit from these stipulations. Instead, they may contact their embassies, the National Human Rights Society (NSHR), or the Ministry of Labor’s Civil Rights centers for help. Embassies sometimes temporarily house domestic workers who flee the homes of their employers.


• In July 2009, the Shura Council approved a set of regulations to protect domestic workers in the kingdom. The law requires that employers allow domestic workers at least nine hours of rest each day. However, human rights organizations have asserted that the new regulations have not gone far enough, and still allow for the abuse of domestic workers. For example, the regulations stipulate that workers must obey their employers and may be prohibited from leaving their place of work if they do not have a legitimate reason. Many of these employees live in their place of work, and are thus effectively imprisoned in their own homes.


• Many domestic workers complain of overwork and withheld wages. Some are physically and sexually abused by their employers. The governments of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and other Asian and South Asian countries receive thousands of complaints each year about the poor treatment of their citizens in Saudi Arabia. Click here for a 2008 Human Rights Watch Report on the plight of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.

Judiciary Laws

• The 2007 Law of the Judiciary declares the judiciary independent. Judges are to be subject only to the dictates of Shari’a (Islamic law) and legislation decreed by the king.


• The Statute on Imprisonment and Detention that went into effect on May 28, 1978 bans torture.


• The Statute of Principles of Arrest, Temporary Confinement and Preventive Detention was issued on 11 November 1983. This statute is the main law regulating this area of the criminal justice system, and it includes the most detailed legislation regarding the rules of arrest and detention. Under this law, arbitrary arrest is prohibited. Authorities may not detain suspects for longer than three days before charging them.


• The Law of Procedure before Shari’a courts was announced in September 2001. It grants defendants the right to legal representation, and outlines the process by which pleas, evidence, and experts are heard by the court.


• The Code of Law Practice of January 2002 outlines the requirements necessary to become an attorney and defines the duties and rights of lawyers, including the right of attorney-client privilege.


• The Criminal Procedure Law of May 2002 protects a defendant’s rights with regard to interrogation, investigation, and incarceration. It also outlines a series of regulations that justice and law enforcement authorities must follow during all stages of the judicial process, from arrest and interrogation to trial and execution of verdicts. The Law of Criminal Procedure prohibits torture, protects the rights of suspects to obtain legal counsel, and limits arbitrary detention to five days.


• Criminal laws are vague and open to wide interpretation by judges. For example, charges of “sabotage” and “corruption on earth” are not clearly defined even though they carry the death penalty.

Recent Government Initiatives Affecting Rights

• Female lawyers have recently been granted the right to argue cases in open court. This ruling applies only to family court proceedings, but is significant because all judges in the kingdom are male. Prior to this ruling, female lawyers have been required to work behind the scenes so as to prevent mixing of the sexes (ikhtilat).


• In August 2010, the Saudi government threatened to block the use of email, messaging, and web browsing on BlackBerry phones. The government cited fears that BlackBerry could be used for criminal or terrorist activities, since encrypted information passes through international and not domestic servers and thus cannot be accessed by the Saudi authorities. After talks with BlackBerry’s Canadian firm Research in Motion (RIM), the Saudi government has reversed its decision to ban the phones. Although the details of the deal are unclear, many suspect that RIM will allow Saudi authorities to access BlackBerry data despite its statements on the importance of protecting user privacy.


• In December 2009, the head of the Religious Police, Sheikh Ahmed al Ghamdi, announced in a surprising statement that the prohibition on mixing between unrelated men and women is not founded in Islamic texts. As the head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (also known as the Religious Police, the Hai’a, and the Mutawwa), he runs an institution that routinely condemns the practice of ikhtilat (mixing between men and women) by arresting those who spend time with unrelated members of the opposite sex. Al Ghamdi’s change of opinion seems to have been influenced by the reformist sentiment of the current king. Since his decision to establish a co-educational King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST), the king has been quietly encouraging religious figures to tone down their prohibition of ikhtilat. Prior to al Ghamdi’s statement, King Abdullah had removed a prominent religious figure, Sheikh Saad bin Nasser al Shithri after he publicly opposed gender mixing on Al Majd Islamic satellite channel in October and lashed out at KAUST.


• A 2007 Law to Fight Cyber Crime imposes prison terms of up to 10 years and a 4.7 million riyal ($1.3 million) fine for anyone who creates or disseminates terrorist websites – that is, sites that facilitate communication between terrorist leaders or promote the radical views of a terrorist organization.


• Saudi Arabia’s Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice will no longer be allowed to interrogate those it arrests for behavior deemed un-Islamic, according to an interior ministry decree published on May 25, 2006. According to the decree, “the role of the commission will end after it arrests the culprit or culprits and hands them over to police, who will then decide whether to refer them to the public prosecutor.” Before this regulation, commission members (mutawa’in) enjoyed unchallenged powers to arrest, detain, and interrogate those suspected of “moral infractions.” On June 10, 2007, the commission announced the creation of a “department of rules and regulations” to ensure that the activities of commission members comply with the law. Eighteen commission members (mutawa‘in) were detained and questioned on June 3.

Ratification of International Conventions

• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR): Not Ratified.
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR): Not Ratified.
• The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) on September 23, 1997.
• The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on September 23, 1997 with reservations for provisions that conflict with Islamic law.
• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on September 7, 2000 with reservations for provisions that conflict with Islamic law. Click here for further reservations.
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) signed on January 26, 1996 with reservations for provisions that conflict with Islamic law.