Saudi Arabia
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- absolute monarchy
- CONSTITUTION
- Sharia applies; a fundamental law establishing the rights and responsibilities of the government was introduced in 1992
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on Sharia law but some secular norms have been introduced
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- Advisory Council, appointed by the king for 4 years
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Council of Justice
RELIGIONS
100% Muslims
From the country
NOVEMBER 15, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: SAUDI MAN EXECUTED FOR BURNING WIFE TO DEATH
Saudi authorities on 11 November 2021 executed a citizen after he was convicted of brutally beating and burning his wife to death.
NOVEMBER 14, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI COURT OVERTURNS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MAN CONVICTED AS MINOR; RETRIAL TO FOLLOW
A Saudi court overturned a conviction on a death penalty charge for a young man following what rights groups called a "grossly unfair trial" for crimes committed when he was a minor, his family said on 10 November 2021.
NOVEMBER 3, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: MAN EXECUTED FOR ATTEMPT TO KILL SECURITY FORCES
Saudi Arabia on 1st November 2021 executed a man convicted of trying to shoot dead security forces and weapons charges, with alleged links to figures accused of terrorist activities, state media reported.
OCTOBER 28, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: ALI AL-NIMR RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER NEARLY A DECADE
A young Saudi man was released from prison on 27 October 2021 after spending nearly a decade behind bars in a case that drew international scrutiny because until recently he’d been facing a possible death sentence for protest-related crimes committed as a
SEPTEMBER 26, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: ISIS MEMBER EXECUTED IN JAZAN
The Saudi Interior Ministry announced on 29 July 2021 that it had carried out the death penalty against a member of the ISIS terror group in Jazan city.
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: EGYPTIAN EXECUTED FOR KILLING WOMAN, BURNING HER BODY
An Egyptian man was executed on 15 September 2021 in Saudi Arabia for killing a woman and burning her body in Medina.
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: SAUDI MAN EXECUTED OVER TERRORISM CHARGES
A Saudi man was executed in Dammam on 6 September 2021 on charges of terrorism and weapons smuggling, the interior ministry said.
JULY 6, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYUS INSTITUTE REPORTS FORMER SAUDI COMMANDER IN YEMEN SENTENCED TO DEATH
Saudi Arabia's former commander in charge of the coalition war in Yemen has been sentenced to death following a military trial, according to a 27 June 2021 report by the Washington DC-based Institute for Gulf Affairs.
JUNE 17, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: YOUNG MAN ACCUSED OF PARTICIPATING IN REBELLION EXECUTED
Saudi Arabia on 15 June 2021 executed a young man who was convicted on charges stemming from his alleged participation in an anti-government rebellion by minority Shiites.
JUNE 8, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYUNITED KINGDOM: FOREIGN SECRETARY URGED TO INTERVENE IN SAUDI ARABIA DEATH PENALTY CASES
The relatives of two men awaiting execution in Saudi Arabia on 7 June 2021 asked British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to press for their release while he visits the kingdom.
MAY 31, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: FATHER PARDONS SON’S KILLER MINUTES BEFORE EXECUTION
A convicted killer was “pardoned” by the Saudi father of his victim on 24 May 2021 morning, minutes before he was due to be executed.
MAY 26, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR ‘DAMMAM KIDNAPPER’
Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court on 24 May 2021 upheld the verdict issued by a criminal court in Dammam in September 2020, awarding the death penalty to a Saudi woman known in the media as the “Dammam kidnapper,” and jail terms for three other defendants, loc