Saudi Arabia to improve its legislative and business environment

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In the latest series of Saudi Arabia's bold economic and social reforms, HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has announced to develop the legislative environment to pave the way for an even more competitive economy aimed at modernizing the Kingdom. 

These law reforms represent the Kingdom's intention to entrench the principles of justice, transparency, protect human rights and achieve comprehensive and sustainable development in different sectors. 

Ahmed Al-Muhaimid, lawyer and legal advisor, explained that the new specialized legislative reforms, such as, the Civil Transactions Law, Personal Status Law, Penal Code for Discretionary Sanctions, and the Law of Evidence, confirm that the country is a civil state that implements preventive justice and legal protection. 

"The new legislative reforms limit the emergence of disputes and conflicts before they appear by giving rights to those who deserve it in the first place without the need to file lawsuits," Al-Muhaimid said. 

Al-Muhaimid pointed out that the legislative reforms increase reliability in protection, rights, enforcement of judgments and legal documents, through enforcement courts and in accordance with the enforcement law, and improving pre- and subsequent monitoring of judicial procedures. 

"This contributes to reducing litigation procedures, saving time and effort, and positively reflecting on attracting investments to the Kingdom's economy. Especially as the legislative environment in Saudi Arabia supports foreign investment through specialized laws, most notably the foreign investment law and the relevant commercial regulations," he said.

Defining, evaluating, and executing reforms, are essential steps the Kingdom is undertaking to introduce a competitiveness mindset that exceeds regional and global economies. 

In developing the Kingdom's legislation environment, Saudi Arabia has applied the public consultation methodology through electronic tools and platforms that align with Vision 2030's legislative reforms to improve the business environment, encourage public policymaking, and enhance the Kingdom's competitiveness.

The public consultation concept evolved, since 2018, to a more structured approach leading to the launch of the Public Consultation Platform, "Istitlaa," a tool that aims to receive the public and government entities' views and feedback on laws and regulations drafts before they are approved. 

The New Enforcement Law Draft, recently launched by the Ministry of Justice, was one of the most controversial legislative drafts viewed and discussed on the platform.

The New Enforcement Law Draft seeks to achieve specific goals, such as raising judicial implementation and contract enforcement efficiency, promoting preventive justice and controlling implementation contracts. The draft will also foster digital transformation to improve the Kingdom's competitiveness and business environment.

Based on the platform's statistics, the number of feedback received for the New Enforcement Law Draft reached 729. 

While the Platform, "Istitlaa," in general, has received 168 draft laws developed by 35 government entities, 150 are completed, and 18 are still under consultation.

SOURCE The National Competitiveness Center