For instance, Saudi Arabia’s Juvenile Justice Act of 1975 still permits the imposition of corporal punishment for children in conflict with the law or religious prescriptions. The provisions of this act authorize the punishment of people below the age of 18 by stoning, amputation and flogging.
Full Answer
What is the legal age of a juvenile in Saudi Arabia?
Under international law, the special procedures for juvenile justice set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child apply to all persons under age 18 at the time of the alleged offense, regardless of the individual's age at the time of trial or sentencing. However, as Saudi Arabia neither provides that those under 18 at the time ...
What is the Children's Rights Division doing in Saudi Arabia?
The Children's Rights Division gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the many individuals in Saudi Arabia who were instrumental in our efforts to investigate human rights violations against children.
How are women and girls treated during detention in Saudi Arabia?
Women and girls also face discriminatory treatment during detention (see below). Foreign girls under investigation, facing trial, or whom a judge has ordered detained, are held in adult detention centers, unlike foreign boys in the same situations, and detention centers for Saudi nationals routinely mix girls with adults.
What is Saudi Arabia's policy on torture of children?
Saudi Arabian law specifies that interrogations and trials of children and of women under age 30 should take place inside social observation homes and girls' and young women's welfare institutions.
Does Saudi Arabia have a juvenile justice system?
Capital Punishment, corporal punishment and life in prison all are fair ground for juvenile offenders. Saudi Arabia sets no clear age when children can be treated as adults in criminal cases. As a result, judges often treat as adults persons who were under age 18 at the time of an alleged crime.
What is a minor in Saudi Arabia?
The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as "every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier."[10] Saudi Arabian juvenile justice regulations use the term fatayat to refer to girls and young women under age 30.
What is the age of criminal responsibility in Saudi Arabia?
12 yearsIn January 2006 the government of Saudi Arabia informed the Committee on the Rights of the Child that it had raised the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 years.
What is the most common form of juvenile correction?
The most common form of juvenile correction is probation.
What is childhood like in Saudi Arabia?
It would be very common for a child to see men working and women in the home, much more than we would see here. Women are still expected to be homemakers and there is often debate about this. Saudi Arabia has kindergarten (nursery school) but it is private meaning parents have to pay, so not many children attend.
Is Saudi Arabia safe for children?
Safety in Saudi Arabia The US State Department advises due to threats from terrorist groups or missile attacks from Yemen, avoid Saudi/Yemen border and Qatif in the Eastern province, Hofuf and its suburbs in the al Hasa Governate.
Can a 13 year old go to jail?
Some states allow children to be prosecuted as adults at 10, 12, or 13 years old. Children as young as eight have been prosecuted as adults. Each year, judges transfer dozens of children under 14 to adult court. Prosecutors charge other young kids directly in adult court.
What is the youngest age for juvenile detention?
Ten (10) is the minimal age for secure detention of a juvenile unless it is a capital offense. Must be at least thirteen (13) years of age in order to be declared as a JSO. The age of 18 triggers adult court jurisdiction.
What is juvenile justice and welfare system?
(m) “Juvenile Justice and Welfare System” refers to a system dealing with children at risk and children in conflict with the law, which provides child-appropriate proceedings, including programs and services for prevention, diversion, rehabilitation, re-integration and aftercare to ensure their normal growth and ...
How are juvenile treated in the justice system?
While similar to that of the adult criminal justice system in many ways—processes include arrest, detainment, petitions, hearings, adjudications, dispositions, placement, probation, and reentry—the juvenile justice process operates according to the premise that youth are fundamentally different from adults, both in ...
What methods of corrections are used for juvenile offenders?
Based on a national survey, nearly all facilities reported that every juvenile participated in at least one type of treatment program, including behavior management, family therapy, education, life skills, mental health, reentry services, substance abuse, or vocational options.
Why are juveniles treated differently than adults in the criminal justice system?
Juveniles don't have all of the same constitutional rights in juvenile proceedings as adults do. For example, juveniles' adjudication hearings are heard by judges because youthful offenders don't have the right to a trial by jury of their peers. They also don't have the right to bail or to a public trial.
How many people are awaiting execution in Saudi Arabia?
Right now in Saudi Arabia, at least 4 people are awaiting execution by beheading or crucifixion for offences committed when they were children. Saudi Arabia must comply with adequate standards of juvenile justice.
Is Saudi Arabia a member of the Convention on the Rights of the Child?
Although the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a State Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the country’s reservation to this legal instrument represents a major obstacle to adequately addressing various aspects of children’s needs and interests.#N#Saudi Arabia’s reservation establishes Islamic law’s precedence over this international treaty.
Is Saudi Arabia a juvenile state?
Saudi Arabia’s juvenile justice system is – for the most part – governed by Sharia law , which is followed in the absence of a written penal code.#N#This non-compre hensive legal framework gives broad discretion to law enforcement officers to determine whether a child is mature enough to be tried as an adult, as well as the offences for which juveniles can be arrested and detained.
Is interrogation still allowed in Saudi Arabia?
According to the latest reports of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, applying interrogation techniques that amount to torture also is still permitted in Saudi Arabia and they are frequently used by the authorities to coerce accused juveniles into signing confessions.
How Does Saudi Arabia Punish Criminals?
Saudi Arabia has a number of criminal laws that impose punishments such as beheadings, stonings, amputations, and lashings. Saudi Arabia also has a secret police, the Mabahith, and a religious police, the Mutawa, which are part of its regular police force.
Does Saudi Arabia Still Have Capital Punishment?
There are a number of serious crimes that can result in the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, including drug trafficking and “sorcery”. As the Islamic State is known for its shocking brutality, beheadings are the most common method of executing death sentences.
What Is The Youngest Age To Be Executed?
A ten-year-old Native American named James Arcene was sentenced to death in the United States for his role in a robbery and murder committed when he was a teenager. The execution took place on June 18, 1885, but he was 23 years old at the time.
How Is Flogging Done In Saudi Arabia?
A wooden cane was used for whipping, and the swift blows went up and down the backside of the sentenced person as punishment. Historically, they were often carried out in public, adding a social stigma to the physical pain they caused. According to Mr. Schultz, it is meant to humiliate the person.
What Countries Still Execute Juveniles?
China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and the United States are among the countries that have executed juvenile offenders since 1990.
When Was The Last Public Execution In Saudi Arabia?
A mass execution took place in Saudi Arabia on 23 April 2019, in which 37 imprisoned civilians were executed, 21 of whom were convicted based on confessions obtained under torture and coercion. The executions took place in six provinces.
Can Juveniles Be Executed?
A crime committed by a person under the age of fifteen is not subject to execution by the United States Supreme Court. A total of 226 juvenile death sentences have been handed down since 1973. A total of 22 juvenile offenders have been executed, and 82 remain on death row.
How many people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2019?
The Saudi authorities put 184 people to death last year, the highest number recorded using Amnesty International’s research logs citing Ministry ...
Is the death penalty abolished in Saudi Arabia?
Following Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it plans to end the use of the death penalty against people below the age of 18 at the time of the crime in cases not involving the counter-terror law, Amnesty International has called on the country to totally abolish the death penalty.
What is the criminal justice system in Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia's criminal justice system lacks any codified penal law and grants prosecutors and judges broad discretion in charging and sentencing individuals for ill-defined offenses. This promotes arbitrary outcomes that contravene international standards of due process, and whose impact is magnified because Saudi Arabia retains the death penalty and other forms of physical punishment as criminal sanctions, including flogging and amputation. For children who come into conflict with the law, Saudi Arabia has juvenile courts and detention facilities, but no comprehensive legislation or framework to address how these children should be treated. This means they suffer under a system that ultimately fails to uphold the rights of all children to protection from abuse and ill-treatment and to due process, and discriminates against girls and foreign children. Children are especially at a disadvantage in a criminal justice system that takes little account of their special needs.
What is the law of Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabian law specifies that all criminal punishments must be in accordance with Sharia or statutory law, and that courts shall apply Sharia precepts, as derived from the Quran and the Sunna (the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad), as well as statutory laws that do not conflict with the Quran and the Sunna. [12] The Saudi government does not publish an official interpretation of Sharia, a written penal code, or aninterpretative text carrying the force of law of the precise definitions of acts that constitute criminal offenses. Statutory laws, known as regulations to distinguish them from Sharia , are issued by the prime minister, who currently is also the king.
How long can a person be detained in Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia's Law on Criminal Procedure allows Ministry of Interior Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecutions officials to detain suspects under investigation for up to six months without judicial review (see above). Delays can continue even after the decision is made to refer the case to a judge. Saudi Arabian law specifies that interrogations and trials of children and of women under age 30 should take place inside social observation homes and girls' and young women's welfare institutions.
How many children were detained in 2004?
According to the government, in 2004 it detained 12,963 children under age 18 in "facilities for persons below eighteen in conflict the law [sic]" and "in adult facilities," [62] including 9,158 Saudi males, 1,625 Saudi females, and 2,180 non-Saudi males.
What is the age limit for a child in Saudi Arabia?
The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as "every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier."[10] . Saudi Arabian juvenile justice regulations use the term fatayat to refer to girls and young women under age 30.
How many religious police officers were there in 2005?
In 2005 the CPVPV's 5,000 religious police officers, together with 5,000 volunteers, carried out more than 400,000 arrests. [38] .
What age can a child be sentenced to death?
Children and the Criminal Law. Ensure that no one is sentenced to death or executed for offenses committed while under age 18. Immediately commute existing death sentences issued against persons under age 18 at the time of the crime to sentences in conformity with international juvenile justice standards.
Iranian Legislation and Practice
Iran retains the death penalty for a large number of offenses, among them cursing the Prophet, certain drug offenses, murder, and certain hadd crimes, including adultery, incest, rape, fornication, drinking alcohol, “sodomy,” same-sex sexual conduct between men without penetration, lesbianism, “being at enmity with God” ( mohareb ), and “corruption on earth” ( mofsed fil arz ).
Saudi Arabian Legislation and Practice
The Saudi government does not publish an official interpretation of Sharia, a written penal code, or aninterpretative text carrying the force of law of the precise definitions of acts that constitute criminal offenses.
What is the purpose of punishment?
An effort by one party to persuade an opponent NOT to take an action by convincing the opponent that the costs of the action exceed the benefits. (unable to perform a certain action, Use of punishment as threat to deter people from offending.) Punish the defendant to the point that they will not want to repeat the behavior, because they wouldn't want to repeat the punishment.
Why should we abolish the death penalty?
Reasons to abolish the death penalty: International pressure, does not prove to be an effective deterrence, the technology of DNA has now proven that innocent people are being convicted of serious crimes.
A State Party to The Convention on The Rights of The Child
Medieval Laws Are Defining Who Counts as A Child
- Saudi Arabia’s juvenile justice system is – for the most part – governed by Sharia law, which is followed in the absence of a written penal code. This non-comprehensive legal framework gives broad discretion to law enforcement officers to determine whether a child is mature enough to be tried as an adult, as well as the offences for which juveniles...
Conflict with The Law Is Met with Physical Pain
- From among all its specific positions on the different provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the country’s least acceptable standpoints are those related to the respect of children’s right to life and the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment. Article 37 of Convention obliges State Parties to take all available measures in order to ensure that no child will suffer fro…
Torture Is Still Permitted in Saudi Arabia
- According to the latest reports of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, applying interrogation techniques that amount to torture also is still permitted in Saudi Arabia and they are frequently used by the authorities to coerce accused juveniles into signing confessions. Perhaps the best indicators of the current position of children in conflict with the law are the facts that corporal p…
Indicators of Alarming Trends
- Currently, at least 4 people are awaiting execution by beheading or crucifixion for offences committed when they were under 18 years of age. From 1992 to 2013 at least 8 minors were executed in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, there are indications that such activities are intensifying. Given that there are at least 4 juveniles who could be executed at any moment and that it has be…