Saudi penal code expected to be finalised next year

• Debate about death penalty
• Reforms to bring clarity on law
• Follows new commercial code

A new Saudi penal code is taking longer than expected to complete as interested parties debate points relating to the death penalty and Islamic punishments. 

The proposed new legislation comes after the government introduced a new commercial code for businesses, revised family law and introduced a new law of evidence.

These are seen to complement the kingdom’s economic reform programme and form part of efforts to rebrand itself as open to foreign investors and tourists. 

The government is pushing foreign companies to open offices inside the country in a drive for $100 billion in annual foreign investment and tourism as 10 percent of GDP by 2030. 

The new codes break with Islamic tradition by requiring judges to follow written rules and precedent, giving investors a degree of certainty about judicial processes and the chance for arbitration in English. 

But observers say use of the death penalty has risen since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is leading the Vision 2030 reform programme, told US media in 2022 that he wanted flogging to end and executions restricted. 

“I have heard of delays but I’m not sure until when,” says Abdullah Alaoudh, a rights lawyer based in the United States. 

“[The crown prince] said on television that we’ll stop capital punishment except in special cases but then they started carrying out many,” said a Saudi law researcher, who declined to be named.   

Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court ordered flogging to be replaced by prison and fines in 2020, but judges have continued issuing flogging verdicts for drug crimes. 

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However, in a major reform since King Salman took over in 2015, Saudi Arabia has ended the practice of public beheadings, instead carrying them out inside prisons.

The country is one of about 55 around the world which apply the death penalty, including the United States. 

Earlier this year, there were reports of splits in a government committee that is preparing the revised criminal code, over the punishments in Islamic law known as the hudud. These include death for apostasy, adultery and murder resulting from robbery, amputations for theft and flogging for alcohol consumption.

An unofficial draft instead specifies financial penalties, life imprisonment – which was previously unknown in Saudi law – and other punishments, such as dismissal from public office, deportation of foreigners, closure of websites, house arrest and community service.  

“While some reforms may not go as far as some expect, they still represent a positive shift toward a more transparent and investor-friendly environment” said Scott Cairns, managing director of Dubai and Riyadh-based Creation Business Consultants.

A Gulf-based Western lawyer who has clients working in Saudi Arabia said the new code is unlikely to be passed before April but that it should be seen as an improvement when it eventually becomes public. 

“I’d be surprised if there’s any movement in the months before Ramadan,” the lawyer said, referring to the fasting month that ends around March 29 next year. 

“It would be the final piece in the jigsaw in terms of legal reform and that’s why it’s important and positive for the investment environment.”