Saudi Arabia’s criminal punishment is rather unique when compared to Western societies, in particular the United States. Sharia law is the law of the land quite common in most Islamic countries; However, Saudi Arabia has a ‘modernized’ version of the Sharia which is applied by court systems during judicial proceedings. Moreover, the original or uncodified Sharia law is regard as the superior script of law and the modernized version is subordinate. The Sharia laws mostly advocate for corporal or capital punishment, as written out in the Quran and Sunna. This paper will seek to compare and contrast the Saudi Arabia and United States criminal punishments, looking at forms of punishment, alternatives to punishment, juvenile punishment and, in particular,
…show more content…
Sharia allows for death penalty for some hudud crimes such as drug trafficking, apostasy and so on. Crimes such as murder or manslaughter can have a retributive form of justice (qisas), where the victimized party can carry out revenge against the offender- an eye for an eye – or ask for monetary compensation. Unlike Saudi Arabia, the United States does not have a national standard or policy for capital punishment, rather this is left for state governments to decide, with advice from the Supreme Court on special cases. In Saudi Arabia, all murder convictions must be appealed, which is not mandatory but a right of the offender in the United States. Furthermore, capital crimes executions are performed publicly by decapitation attempting to use this as a model of deterrence. The United States uses the lethal injection in most states as the primary mode of execution. Saudi Arabia allows the execution of child offenders which has never been condoned by the United …show more content…
The purpose of such a model is the symbolic humiliation prescribed in the Quran for a number of offences. It is mandatory for some offences such as drinking wine or drunken behavior and sodomy. Corporal punishment includes flogging, stoning and amputation (Dammer & Albanese, 2004). Flogging sentences range from a dozen to thousands of lashes which can be served periodically at intervals ranging from two weeks to one month. Judges have discretion on this issue as it is given in Sharia and can act within the bounds of these laws. Amputations are performed by a state sanctioned individual. All corporal punishments are public. The United States has no provision for corporal punishment in its written constitution, and is only allowed in some states for children. However, this avenue of punishment is being rarely used. Juveniles can also be subject to corporal punishment in Saudi Arabia. The juvenile justice system is based on the Juvenile Justice Act 1975, the Juvenile Justice Regulation 1969, the Law of Criminal Procedure 2001 and the Basic Law of Governance 1992. The minimum age for criminal responsibility is 12 years of age. This is different from the United States where age of criminal responsibility is pre-determined by state laws. The Juvenile Justice Regulation 1969 advised for non-isolation methods of rehabilitation, encouraging
Sharia allows for death penalty for some hudud crimes such as drug trafficking, apostasy and so on. Crimes such as murder or manslaughter can have a retributive form of justice (qisas), where the victimized party can carry out revenge against the offender- an eye for an eye – or ask for monetary compensation. Unlike Saudi Arabia, the United States does not have a national standard or policy for capital punishment, rather this is left for state governments to decide, with advice from the Supreme Court on special cases. In Saudi Arabia, all murder convictions must be appealed, which is not mandatory but a right of the offender in the United States. Furthermore, capital crimes executions are performed publicly by decapitation attempting to use this as a model of deterrence. The United States uses the lethal injection in most states as the primary mode of execution. Saudi Arabia allows the execution of child offenders which has never been condoned by the United …show more content…
The purpose of such a model is the symbolic humiliation prescribed in the Quran for a number of offences. It is mandatory for some offences such as drinking wine or drunken behavior and sodomy. Corporal punishment includes flogging, stoning and amputation (Dammer & Albanese, 2004). Flogging sentences range from a dozen to thousands of lashes which can be served periodically at intervals ranging from two weeks to one month. Judges have discretion on this issue as it is given in Sharia and can act within the bounds of these laws. Amputations are performed by a state sanctioned individual. All corporal punishments are public. The United States has no provision for corporal punishment in its written constitution, and is only allowed in some states for children. However, this avenue of punishment is being rarely used. Juveniles can also be subject to corporal punishment in Saudi Arabia. The juvenile justice system is based on the Juvenile Justice Act 1975, the Juvenile Justice Regulation 1969, the Law of Criminal Procedure 2001 and the Basic Law of Governance 1992. The minimum age for criminal responsibility is 12 years of age. This is different from the United States where age of criminal responsibility is pre-determined by state laws. The Juvenile Justice Regulation 1969 advised for non-isolation methods of rehabilitation, encouraging