Cairo: Saudi Arabia is set to ban the handcuffing of suspects upon arrest unless they are deemed dangerous, according to new amendments to its justice system.
Approval has been made by supreme agencies of amendments to the executive regulations of the procedural law, prohibiting the handcuffing of the accused upon apprehension unless he/she is deemed posing a danger to oneself or to others, or attempted to escape, Saudi newspaper Al Madinah reported.
The amendment comes after the Ministry of Justice looked into the discretionary powers of police in handcuffing suspects, and limited the measure to necessary, specific cases, it added.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has sought to reform its justice system as part of dramatic changes in the country led by King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
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In April 2020, the Saudi Human Rights Commission announced that a royal order had been issued abolishing the death penalty for minors. The order applies to convicts who were under 18 at the time of committing crimes, in a major step seen boosting human rights in the kingdom.
Public prosecution was also directed to amend indictment bills against underage defendants to make the maximum penalty for them 10 years in prison, Saudi media reported at the time.
In the same vein, the kingdom’s Supreme Court has issued a decree revoking the flogging punishment in ta’zir cases (discretionary punishment) and directed courts to limit penalties in such cases to jailing or fines, or both of them or any alternative punishment.
In Islamic code, ta’zir refers to punishment issued at the discretion of the judge in offences for which there is no specific punishment in Islam’s holy text the Quran or hadiths (traditions) of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) — both are the main sources of the Islamic Sharia law.
