Craig, ElizabethGhouri, AhmadAlharbi, Masoud M Abdulaziz2024-09-122024-09-122024-08https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14154/73065This thesis makes the case for the introduction of pre-trial disclosure, specifically standard disclosure, which requires disclosing information in advance of a trial, in civil litigation in Saudi Arabia, considering the experiences under English civil procedure rules. The Saudi legal system is based on Shari’ah (Islamic law), and currently has no specific provisions on pre-trial disclosure. This creates a gap because pre-trial disclosure can be a useful addition to civil procedure in Saudi Arabia to ensure efficiency in dispute resolution. This thesis argues that introduction of pre-trial disclosure, and specifically standard disclosure, in the Saudi civil procedure would be a positive development to help resolve disputes in an efficient manner as such disclosure has produced similar results in England and Wales. It further argues that adaptation of pre-trial disclosure is possible in Islamic law and, therefore, also in Saudi Arabia; and that English law provides a good comparator for such adaptation and possible transplant. The thesis first conducts doctrinal investigations of the foundations of pre-trial disclosure in Saudi Arabia and England and Wales by looking at the underlying legal bases of both legal systems, i.e., Islamic law for Saudi Arabia and common law for England and Wales. The thesis then analyses the system of pre-trial disclosure in England and Wales with a view to its possible transplant to Saudi civil procedure. The analysis in this thesis is based on doctrinal and comparative research methods, focussing on the wider legal contexts of plurality, flexibility, and adaptability of legal systems. Based on the findings concerning the plurality of legal systems in Islamic law, which means that there is a degree of flexibility in Islamic law to adapt to new rules, and the similarities and differences between the civil procedures in Saudi Arabia and England and Wales, this thesis concludes that pre-trial disclosure procedures in England and Wales are compatible with and adaptable in Saudi civil procedure. Indeed, the existing legal plurality within the Saudi legal system, which is supplemented by the flexibility of Islamic law in adapting to new developments, provides opportunities for the introduction of pre-trial disclosure, and specifically standard disclosure, in Saudi Arabia. As the pre-trial disclosure procedures in England and Wales are compatible with Islamic law and the Saudi legal system, they can be easily transplanted into the Saudi civil procedure to bring added efficiency to civil dispute resolution in Saudi Arabia.425enEngland and WalesSaudi ArabiaComparative Legal ResearchLegal TransplantCivil LitigationPre-Trial DisclosureThesis