Law and Society in Saudi Arabia
International Conference, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient
Berlin, 9-10 October 2024
About the Conference
Legislation, jurisprudence, and legal mobilization have undergone epochal alterations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Historically, Saudi law has been identified predominantly with uncodified Islamic law, although legal realities on the ground have been much more complex but often little understood. With the publication of court judgments and the introduction of specialized courts, King ‘Abdallah initiated a process of legal transformation which has gained momentum since King Salman ascended the throne in 2015. One of the most recent developments is the codification of Islamic law, which many regard as a pivotal moment in the evolution of law in Saudi Arabia. How does this intersect with, impact on, and influence earlier understandings of law and legality? In this conference, we would like to take stock and reflect on the radical changes that law and society have undergone in recent years and in historic perspective.
The two-day conference addresses the role of the law in Saudi society both in the past and the present. We adopt a broad understanding of law, one encompassing both Islamic normativity as well as state-issued codes. This includes the law as it is conceptualized and applied by state institutions and legal professionals (religious scholars, lawyers, judges). It also encompasses the various ways in which people interact with the law and legal institutions in their everyday lives and how they express themselves through legal language. We believe that a better understanding of these practices can provide us with important insights into past and ongoing processes of social and political transformation in the kingdom.
With this “law and society” approach, we seek to bridge the gap between the study of social, political, and historical phenomena on the one hand, and research on the Saudi legal system on the other hand. In other words, we seek to discuss law in its social context from various perspectives: How is law socially and historically constructed in Saudi Arabia? How does law impact Saudi culture and politics? How are inequalities reinforced through differential access to and familiarity with procedures and institutions?
The conference will focus on the following topics:
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Law in history: law and state-building; constitutional movement; historical case studies,
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Law and equality: courts, litigation, and access to justice; legal mobilization; human rights,
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Law and Islam: morality, public decency, and Islamic law; waqf; finance and banking; fatwas and legal language,
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Law and gender: divorce and custody; women’s rights and mobilization; domestic violence, sexual harassment,
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Law and governance: constitution/the Basic Law of Governance; citizenship/nationality; laws affecting associations and civil society; law-making and state institutions,
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Law in action: legal language and its use in society; navigating the law: lawyers and legal procedures, digital technology and the law; the experience of courts; the effects of globalization on the law.
Registration for the conference is closed.
Except for the keynote, the conference will be exclusively in person.
The keynote (details below) will be streamed on Zoom. Please register here.
Programme
09:30 – 10:00: Arrival and Registration
10:00 – 10:30: Introduction
Ulrike Freitag, Dominik Krell and Nora Derbal
10:30 – 12:30: Law and the State (Chair: Ulrike Freitag)
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Cole Bunzel, Stanford University – The Recasting of Wahhabism and Sharia in MBS’s Saudi Arabia
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Bruno Schmidt-Feuerheerd, University of Cambridge – The Legal Frameworks to Regulate Online Speech and Social Media
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Hazim H. Alnemari, Islamic University of Madinah – The Jurisprudence and Significance of Saudi Monarchical Decrees
12:30 – 14:00: Lunch Break
14:00 – 16:00: Law and Legal Interpretation (Chair: Magdalena Moorthy-Kloos)
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Sümeyra Yakar, Igdir University – The Role of Judges and Jurisprudential Procedure in Saudi Legal System
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Emine Enise Yakar, Erdogan University – The Role of Fatwas in the Legal Procedure in Saudi Arabia
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Dominik Krell, University of Oxford – The Limits and Continuities of Legal Reasoning in Saudi Courts
16:00 – 16:30: Coffee Break
16:30 – 18:00: Law and Reform (Chair: Besnik Sinani)
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Marko Jovanović, Institute of Social Sciences Belgrade – Public Perceptions of Legal Reforms in Saudi Arabia: A Longitudinal Study on Changing Attitudes and Trust
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Sultan Alamer, Harvard University – Debating “Constitutional Monarchy” in Saudi Arabia
18:30: Dinner at Saanjh (only for speakers)
The Conference is kindly
supported by:
Keynote
Lawyering on Saudi Television During Ramadan Prime Time
Naomi Sakr & Gianluca Parolin
(University of Westminster/Aga Khan University)
Zentrum Moderner Orient, 10 October 2024, 5:30 pm
You do not need to register to attend in person.
If you want to follow on zoom, please register here.
The talk explores both the broader horizon of the imaginary of law that lies beneath the comedy as well as the extent to which change in Saudi law is reflected on screen in the content of a Ramadan series produced by the SBA and aired on Saudi 1.
Advertised as a “hilarious” comedy that “tackles everyday life” in a “fun and quirky way”, the TV series Broadcat offers insights into acceptable imaginaries of law in Saudi Arabia several years into the Vision 2030 programme and a year after the introduction of the Personal Status Code of 2022.
What imaginary of law were Saudi viewers offered by the State TV on their Ramadan nights? And how does this actual imaginary of law relate to the legal reforms referred to in Vision 2030?
Additional Event: Reforms in Saudi Arabia
October 8, Deutsches Orient-Institut, Berlin
We will be having an additional event as part of the conference on October 8, from 6 to 8 pm, at Deutsches Orient-Institut in Berlin. The event is titled "Reformen in Saudi-Arabien: Modernisierung des saudischen Staates" and will be in German.
Organisers
© Marc Beckmann