Development of legal education in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Islamic Sharia forms the basis of laws in the KSA and was first formulated in 1932. The Islamic provisions are considered as supreme over the codified laws and direct the state’s regulations. A close review of the Saudi legal system makes it apparent that it follows both the written and the unwritten laws. Because the Shari’ah is considered as the state’s supreme law and cannot be overridden by the codified laws. This study has taken into account the given principle and make recommendations as for how the curriculum can redesign to improve the capabilities of prospective professionals regarding integrating the different law components with the fundamentals of Sharia law. The study examines degree plans in the KSA universities; most of these offer mandatory Islamic law courses. The adequacy of these courses, however, remains questionable as for whether these apply to the comprehensive provisions of Islamic law or not. Results suggest that courses must be offered that allow the students to not only develop stronger foundations in general but also enable them better integrate the non-codified rules of law with the Islamic law