POLS 357 Paper Guidelines-Get Assignment Help on Court System in Saudi Arabia
Background
Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam. Muslim law here has never conceded to its role as the dominant source of law, and it is still the core of the legal system. Muslim law is one of the main legal systems of our time, the main feature of which is a close connection with religious consciousness, moral and everyday prescriptions of Islam. The judiciary system of Saudi Arabia is strongly influenced by religious beliefs and traditions, especially by the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The same thing refers to the system of courts. This article attempts to provide readers with the general review of the judiciary system in whole and of the practice of the Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia in particular.
Each student will write an approximately 15-page paper on a court of their choosing. The court
may be an apex court (i.e. constitutional court, supreme court, high court, etc.) or, if the
student so chooses, a lower court. I encourage you to select a high court rather than a lower
court, however, as it will be much easier to find information and sources on high courts. Note
that this means studying a single court, not an entire judiciary (It is fine if you submitted a
country’s judiciary rather than a single court as a topic, but be sure to narrow the paper to a
single court). Unless given a specific exception, the court must be located outside the U.S.
This paper is intended to be a combination of a descriptive and persuasive assignment. As such,
the expectation is that students will provide details on a number of features of their court, as
well as discussion on the court’s position in the political system and role in society. While
certainly not the only way to organize the paper, one reasonable way to structure the paper is
to dedicate the first half or so describing the key facts about your court and the second half to
discussing the court’s political and social impact. Below are some specific aspects of a court to
include in the paper as relevant:
• A court’s history
o When was it created? What were the conditions under which it was created?
• Institutional features
o What documents provide for the court? A constitution? Legislative act? And
what articles/laws are those?
o What is the stated purpose of the court, if there is one?
o What do the provisions, if there are any, provide? (i.e. how does the
constitution/law design the court?)
o What are the selection and removal processes? (Note that in some cases, there
is a formal process and an informal process that is actually used)
o What are the qualifications for becoming a judge?
o Tenure/terms of judges?
o Budgetary/salary situation of the court?
o Any other unique features of the court/judges?
• Organization and Decision Making
o How is the court organized (e.g. does it work in plenary or chambers, any
splitting up of jurisdiction/issue areas, etc.)
o What, if any, role does the president/chief justice or other offices on the court
play?
o How are decisions reached? Majority vote or something else? Are there
dissents? Any info on who decides who writes the opinions?
o How do cases get to the court? (i.e. abstract review, concrete review, etc.)
o Does the court have any docket control? If so, how is this exercised? If not, how
has the court attempted to deal with its caseload?
o If accessible, how many cases does the court get of different types of cases?
o Any other unique aspects of decision making?
• The court and its political environment
o How has the court developed since its creation? Has it been a major player in the
political system? Or has this ebbed and flowed?
o Have there been major structural changes to the court?
o How independent is the court? (Note: this is a good place to refer not only to the
concepts we discussed in class, but also the V-Dem data on high court or lower
court independence).
o Has the court been involved in highly-politicized actions? Come into conflict with
the other branches of government?
o What, if any, are some landmark cases of the court? Are there policy areas that
the court has been especially active in (or inactive in)? (Think, for example, the
rights revolution literature we’ve read).
The paper will be graded both on the quality of the writing and the content. PROOFREAD YOUR
PAPERS. I will be looking at the depth and quality of your research, as well as your ability to
connect concepts from class (i.e. judicial independence) to your chosen topic. Given the length
expected for the paper, you should have a minimum of 12 sources, 6 of which should be
scholarly sources (academic journals, books, law reviews, etc.). Note that the remaining sources
must be reputable (i.e. no Wikipedia; BBC, Politico, major newspapers are ok). My suggestion is
to start with your court’s official website if it has one, and then proceed from there. Google
scholar is potentially useful source for finding scholarly work on your court. If at any point you
are unsure about the appropriateness of a source, do not hesitate to ask. There is no mandated
citation style – you are free to use APA, MLA, Chicago, or whatever format you prefer. All I ask
is that you are consistent and provide the necessary details of your source. You should,
however, use in-text citations or footnotes throughout the paper and properly cite information.
Again, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
During the course of the semester, there are two component assignments. First, you are
required to submit a topic to me by February 14th. Second, you are required to submit 5 sources
to me by March 7th. These can be any 5 sources on your topic. The grade for the final paper is
broken down as follows (due dates in parentheses):
Topic Submission (2/14): 5%
Preliminary Sources (3/7): 5%
Final Bibliography (5/2): 10%
Final Draft of Paper (5/2): 80%
