section_path: Government and politics/Legal system
section_name: Legal system
paragraph_text: Legal system
  
  The primary source of law is the Islamic Sharia derived from the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah (the traditions of the Prophet). Saudi Arabia is unique among modern Muslim states in that Sharia is not codified and there is no system of judicial precedent, allowing judges to use independent legal reasoning to make a decision. Thus, divergent judgments arise even in apparently identical cases, making predictability of legal interpretation difficult. Saudi judges tend to follow the principles of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence (fiqh) found in pre-modern texts and noted for its literalist interpretation of the Qur'an and hadith. However, in 2021, Saudi Arabia announced judicial reforms which will lead to an entirely codified law that eliminates discrepancies.
  
  Royal decrees are the other main source of law but are referred to as regulations rather than laws because they are subordinate to the Sharia. Royal decrees supplement Sharia in areas such as labour, commercial and corporate law. Additionally, traditional tribal law and custom remain significant. Extra-Sharia government tribunals usually handle disputes relating to specific royal decrees. Final appeal from both Sharia courts and government tribunals is to the king, and all courts and tribunals follow Sharia rules of evidence and procedure.
  
  Retaliatory punishments, or Qisas, are practised: for instance, an eye can be surgically removed at the insistence of a victim who lost his own eye. Families of someone unlawfully killed can choose between demanding the death penalty or granting clemency in return for a payment of diyya (blood money), by the perpetrator.