Judicial System

Judicial System in Saudi Arabia
been provided for in the supreme constitutional document
in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia known as the Basic Law of
Governance.
Article one of the Basic Law of Governance provides
that, ‘The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a fully sovereign Arab
Islamic State. Its religion shall be Islam and its constitution
shall be the Book of God and the Sunnah (Traditions) of
His Messenger, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him
(PBUH). Its language shall be Arabic and its capital shall be
the city of Riyadh’.
And article seven of the Basic Law of Governance
provides that, ‘Governance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
derives its authority from the Book of God Most High and
the Sunnah of his Messenger, both of which govern this Law
and all the laws of the State.’
Both articles determine an essential quality of the
characteristics of laws (Nizam) represented in the Kingdom’s
adherence to the supremacy of the (Book and Sunnah) and
prevalence of all the state’s laws (Nizam) including the Basic
Governance Law. Article one of the Basic Governance Law
has provided for three matters as follows:
First: it describes the state as Islamic and this means in
the Islamic constitutional jurisprudence: the Kingdom must
adhere to Islamic laws (Nizam).
Second: the provision that the religion of the state is Islam
meaning in Islamic terminology: Islam must govern the state
and the government must adhere to that in all instances –
including changeable and unchangeable Islamic rules that
81