Rights
A Basic Law that names the Qur'an and the Sunna as the constitution
Saudi 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.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Unitary absolute monarchy. There is no elected national legislature and no judicial review of royal orders.
Governing law
- Basic Law of Governance 1992 (Royal Order A/90) — Article 1 names the Qur'an and Sunna as the constitution
- Law of the Council of Ministers 1993
- Shura Council Law 1992 — an appointed consultative chamber, not a legislature
In practice
The Basic Law is best read as an organisational statute rather than a constitution in the Western sense: it describes how the state is arranged, but it does not create rights enforceable against the sovereign, and Article 1's designation of the Qur'an and Sunna as the constitution means legislation is framed as regulation (nizam) subordinate to the sharia rather than as primary law. Royal decrees and royal orders are the operative instruments of lawmaking. The Shura Council may propose and review regulations but cannot enact them over the King's objection. Vision 2030 has driven a rapid and genuine codification programme, but it is a programme of the executive, and its instruments can be amended the same way they were made.