Saudi Arabia

• Islamic law (Sharia), drawn from the Quran and the Sunnah
• The Basic Law of Governance of 1992
• Regulations and royal decrees, which cover areas such as commerce and labour
• Judicial decisions, interpreting Sharia and regulations

• The Supreme Court, created by a law of 2007
• Courts of appeal and first-instance Sharia courts (general, criminal, family, commercial and labour)
• The Board of Grievances, which hears disputes with the government and some commercial cases

A law or Sharia degree and a licence from the Ministry of Justice to practise.

• Many areas were historically decided by judges applying Islamic jurisprudence directly, with fewer written codes.
• There has been a recent push to write the law into codes, so check current developments.
• A separate set of courts handles disputes with the government.
• Judges and legal scholars trained in Sharia hold central roles.

Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Saudi Arabia as: Muslim. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman.

• Ministry of Justice of Saudi Arabia

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.