Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz said that the Personal Status Law, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on Monday, was derived from the provisions and objectives of the Islamic Shariah and took into account the latest legal trends and modern international judicial practices.
He added that the law would contribute to improving the condition of family and children, and rein in the discretionary power of the judge to eliminate discrepancy in judicial rulings.
The Crown Prince noted that the introduction of a personal status system reflected the leadership’s commitment to development and reform and constituted a major qualitative leap in efforts to preserve and protect human rights, family stability, women’s empowerment and the promotion of rights.
He emphasized that the system addressed in a comprehensive manner all problems facing families and women, and carefully organized personal status issues. The law will enter into force 90 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.
The new personal status system reflected Saudi Arabia’s endeavor to modernize its organizational and legislative structure, in line with Vision 2030, and the development of procedures related to raising the efficiency of systems, improving the quality of life, enhancing integrity, upgrading services and protecting human rights.
The new reforms included setting the marriage age at 18 years, confirming a woman’s right to alimony, proving her right to annul the marriage contract by unilateral will as the case may be.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Saudi lawyer Muthanna al-Qusair said that the personal status system highlighted the importance of the family in the structure of Saudi society.
“The system clarifies, through more than 250 articles, all the provisions related to engagement, marriage, spouses’ rights, the effects of the marriage contract, alimony, separation between spouses, divorce, and dissolution of the marriage contract, as well as custody, provisions of guardianship, inheritance, and other,” al-Qusair said.
“It will have an impact on addressing family disputes quickly and effectively, by setting a very clear system of rights and duties, which leads to the achievement of prompt justice,” he added.
The personal status system aims to control the discretionary power of the judiciary, reduce differences in rulings, expedite the settlement of family disputes, and oversee relations between family members and protect their rights, especially the rights of children and women.
Dr. Walid Al-Samaani, Minister of Justice and Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, valued the issuance of the Personal Status Law, which he said was based on the objectives of Islamic Sharia, and relied on the best judicial practices and modern studies, in order to keep pace with changes and respond to challenges.
He stressed that the personal status system will contribute to the speedy completion of family-related cases, enhance the predictability and stability of judicial rulings and reduce their discrepancy.
