The Saudi government closely monitors media and restricts it under official state law. Changes have been made to lessen these restrictions; however, some government-led efforts to control information have also drawn international attention. In 2014,
Reporters Without Borders described the government as, "relentless in its censorship of the Saudi media and the Internet," and in 2018, it ranked Saudi Arabia 169th out of 180 countries for freedom of the press. (Full article...)
... that Saudi Arabian poet Hamad al-Hajji lost three members of his family during his childhood and later suffered from
schizophrenia until he died at the age of 49 after a lung disease?
... that the 2021 film West Side Story was banned in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain, likely due to the
transgender character Anybodys?
This is a
Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
The legal system of Saudi Arabia is based on
Sharia,
Islamic law derived from the
Quran and the
Sunnah (the traditions) of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad. The sources of Sharia also include
Islamic scholarly consensus developed after Muhammad's death. Its interpretation by judges in
Saudi Arabia is influenced by the medieval texts of the literalist
Hanbali school of
Fiqh. Uniquely in the Muslim world, Sharia has been adopted by Saudi Arabia in an
uncodified form. This, and the lack of judicial
precedent, has resulted in considerable uncertainty in the scope and content of the country's laws. The government therefore announced its intention to codify Sharia in 2010, and, in 2018, a sourcebook of legal principles and precedents was published by the Saudi government. Sharia has also been supplemented by regulations issued by
royal decree covering modern issues such as
intellectual property and
corporate law. Nevertheless, Sharia remains the primary source of law, especially in areas such as
criminal,
family,
commercial and
contract law, and the Qur'an and the Sunnah are declared to be the country's constitution. In the areas of
land and
energy law the extensive proprietorial rights of the Saudi state (in effect, the
Saudi royal family) constitute a significant feature.
The current Saudi court system was created by
King Abdul Aziz, who
founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, and was introduced to the country in stages between 1927 and 1960. It comprises general and summary Sharia courts, with some administrative tribunals to deal with disputes on specific modern regulations. Trials in Saudi Arabia are
bench trials. Courts in Saudi Arabia observe few formalities and the country's first
criminal procedure code, issued in 2001, has been largely ignored.
King Abdullah, in 2007, introduced a number of significant judicial reforms, although they are yet to be fully implemented. (Full article...)
Image 1Nasseef House is a historical structure in
Al-Balad,
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. As of 2009 it is a museum and cultural center which has special exhibits and lectures given by historians.
Image 2A view of Jabal Sawda, a peak located in Saudi Arabia, with an elevation of around 3,000 metres (9,843 ft).[1]
Image 3Sunset view from Farasan Island, the largest island of the
Farasan Islands, in the
Red Sea. It is located some 50 km offshore from
Jizan, the far southwestern part of Saudi Arabia.
Image 18The Rashidun Caliphate reached its greatest extent under Caliph
Uthman,
c. 654 (from History of Saudi Arabia)
Image 19Saudi males dressed and prepared for
ardah, the national dance. It also includes swords, poetry, and singing. (from Culture of Saudi Arabia)
Image 20Dammam No. 7, the oil well where commercial volumes of oil were first discovered in Saudi Arabia on March 4, 1938. (from History of Saudi Arabia)
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![Image 2A view of Jabal Sawda, a peak located in Saudi Arabia, with an elevation of around 3,000 metres (9,843 ft).[1]](/info/en/?search=File:Al_Sawda_peak.jpg)
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