Saudi Arabia’s judiciary, historically subject to the Royal Court, has lost what limited independence it once maintained since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has consolidated unprecedented control over the courts. While MBS claims judges are to blame for the lack of human rights progress in Saudi Arabia, in reality, since 2017 he has methodically transformed the judicial system into a direct instrument of his control by transferring prosecutorial powers to the Royal Court, eliminating potential rivals for judicial influence, and installing loyalists throughout the courts.
A new fact sheet from the Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC)’s Abdullah Alaoudh, “Captured Courts: Mohammed bin Salman’s Judicial Takeover in Saudi Arabia,” reveals how claims of judicial independence are fiction—every major judicial decision bears the fingerprints of royal authority, creating an unprecedented concentration of legal power under the Crown Prince’s direct control.
This fact sheet is also available as a PDF.
