Introduction

(revised version) As one of the twenty largest economies in the world with a GDP per capita that rivals that of Western European countries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia must deal with many of the same issues facing much of the world's developed countries and is called upon to adapt its legal system accordingly. However, unlike other such economies, Saudi Arabia is a country in which the Shari'a, or Islamic religious law, remains the primary source and inspiration of laws. As the birthplace of Islam and a country in which the Islamic tradition has held a position of prime importance, ...