The legal system of Saudi Arabia
The clearest surviving example of Sharia applied as the general law of a state rather than confined to personal status. Judges decide according to fiqh, predominantly the Hanbali school, and for most of the kingdom's history there was no penal code, no codified law of contract and no binding precedent — outcomes turned on the judge's own reading of the sources. That is changing deliberately: a Personal Status Law was enacted in 2022, a Civil Transactions Law codifying contract and tort in 2023, and an Evidence Law in 2022, with a penal code announced as part of the same programme. Royal decrees and regulations (nizam) govern commerce, labour, companies and taxation alongside the uncodified core.
Legal tradition
Saudi Arabia belongs to the islamic law tradition. The clearest surviving example of Sharia applied as the general law of a state rather than confined to personal status. Judges decide according to fiqh, predominantly the Hanbali school, and for most of the kingdom's history there was no penal code, no codified law of contract and no binding precedent — outcomes turned on the judge's own reading of the sources. That is changing deliberately: a Personal Status Law was enacted in 2022, a Civil Transactions Law codifying contract and tort in 2023, and an Evidence Law in 2022, with a penal code announced as part of the same programme. Royal decrees and regulations (nizam) govern commerce, labour, companies and taxation alongside the uncodified core.
How power is divided
Unitary. Thirteen provinces headed by governors drawn from the royal family and appointed by the King, each with an appointed provincial council. No legislative competence exists below the national level.
Where law comes from
- The Qur'an and the Sunna
- Declared by the Basic Law to be the constitution of the state.
- Fiqh, predominantly Hanbali
- Applied directly by judges; the Hanbali school is followed but not formally mandated.
- Royal decrees and orders
- The instrument for all statutory regulation, subordinate to the Sharia.
- Codifications since 2022
- Personal Status Law, Evidence Law and the Civil Transactions Law 2023 codifying contract and tort.
- Ministerial and agency regulations
- Detailed rules under enabling decrees, notably for companies, labour and capital markets.
The legal profession
Advocates are licensed under the Code of Law Practice and must be Saudi nationals to appear in court, though licensed foreign firms may advise and now associate more freely following the 2024 opening. Judges are appointed from graduates of Sharia faculties by the Supreme Judicial Council and the King. Notarisation is a judicial function performed by notaries within the Ministry of Justice, and most commercial documentation must be executed in Arabic to be enforceable onshore.
Law by topic in Saudi Arabia
- Criminal LawUncodified hudud and qisas alongside codified regulatory offencesThere is no general penal code. Serious offences are handled through the sharia categories of hudud, qisas and ta'zir, while specific statutes codify offences such as cybercrime, trafficking and narcotics.
- Family LawPersonal Status Law 2022 — the first codification of Saudi family lawFamily law was applied directly from fiqh until the Personal Status Law of 2022 codified marriage, divorce, custody and maintenance for the first time.
- Employment & LabourLabour Law plus the kafala sponsorship system and Saudisation quotasThe Labour Law governs contracts, hours and termination, but for the large migrant workforce the sponsorship framework and the Nitaqat/Saudisation quota system shape employment as much as the Labour Law does.
- Property & LandSharia-based ownership with restricted foreign acquisitionReal property is registered and protected, but foreign ownership is restricted and acquisition in Mecca and Medina is subject to particular limits.
- Civil ProcedureSharia courts of general jurisdiction, with a new codified civil lawThe general courts apply sharia and, since 2023, the first codified Civil Transactions Law in the kingdom's history. Before that, judges decided contract and tort directly from fiqh, with no code to cite.
- Immigration & NationalitySponsorship-based residence with a new premium residency trackResidence has historically required an employer sponsor. The Premium Residency scheme introduced in 2019 created the first route to residence in the kingdom without one.
- Constitutional LawA Basic Law that names the Qur'an and the Sunna as the constitutionSaudi Arabia has no written constitution in the conventional sense. The 1992 Basic Law of Governance is explicit that the Qur'an and the Prophet's Sunna are the constitution, and the Basic Law itself is subordinate to them.
- Business & CorporateCompanies Law 2022 and a commercial court systemThe Companies Law of 2022 modernised corporate forms and introduced the simplified joint stock company. Commercial disputes go to dedicated commercial courts, and arbitration is well established.
- Tax LawNo personal income tax, with zakat, corporate tax and VATThere is no personal income tax. Saudi and GCC-owned businesses pay zakat, foreign-owned businesses pay corporate income tax, and VAT is charged at fifteen per cent.
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