حق المتهم في المساعدة القانونية في نظافة العدالة الجنائية السعودي

Abstract EN

This study seeks to identify the importance, scope and content of the right to legal aid under international human rights law, determine the extent to which the Saudi criminal procedural system complies with the requirements of the right to legal aid under international human right law, and suggest a mechanism by which the Saudi legislature can provide criminal legal aid by drawing from the experience of comparative jurisdictions.

This study has shown that although the Saudi Code of Criminal Procedure 2013 recognized for the first time in the Saudi legal history the right of any person accused of committing a major crime and lacks the financial means to hire a lawyer to request the court to assign legal assistance to him at the state expense, which is a commendable step in the right direction, the law does not comply with international human rights standards in three respects.

The indigent accused has the right only to request free legal assistance, but the court is not obliged to provide him with one, and this limited “right” is even restricted to the trial stage and to those who are accused of committing a major crime.

Hence, this study recommends that the Saudi Code of Criminal Procedure is amended to guarantee any person accused of committing a crime punishable by imprisonment if he lacks the financial means to hire a lawyer the right to legal aid during the investigation and trial stages, and suggest a mechanism by which criminal legal aid can be effectively delivered in practice in Saudi Arabia.