Judicial System

Judicial System in Saudi Arabia
have more than three discretions/ opinions, and the doctrine
thus would widen the scope of discretion to the judge.
In the fifties of the last Hijri century (corresponding to the
1930s), there was a desire of the decision makers to mitigate
the size of the differences between judges and narrowing the
gap between their judgments, so scholars from Najd were
invited to meet their counterparts from Hejaz’s in Mina. After
talks and discussions that lasted for three days, they decided to
create a reference based on the Hanbali School along the lines
of the ‘Journal of Courts Rulings’ laid down by the scholars
on the tradition of Abu Hanifa during the era of the Turkish
state, and Sheikh Ahmed Al Qari, chief of the major court of
Mecca Court, was entrusted to prepare that journal, and then
to be presented to the scholars for approval. It seemed that
the working on the journal stopped because of the death of
Sheikh Ahmed in 1359H (corresponding to 1940), then the
task was assigned to the Supreme Court, and courts are still
take Hanbali School as main reference which gives judges the
discretion to consult and apply other jurisprudential doctrines
whenever such is deemed appropriate (1) .
Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the beginning
of the judiciary in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in terms of
organization and procedure was modest as the cases with
other states, however, the substantive rules, being based on
the principles of Sharia, remain the same as they are valid
(1) On the judiciary in Najd following the prevailing of the Hanabali School, see
the memories of Hamad Al Jasser 1/ 518.
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