Civilian Law and Law Education Culture
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CIVIL LAW AND THE LEGAL EDUCATION CULTURE IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA: ALTERNATIVE ASPECTS By Awad Ali Alanzi Submitted to the graduate degree program in Law and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) August 8, 2018 i Abstract This dissertation is principally devoted to addressing significant aspects of the Saudi Arabian legal education system by comparison with countries who have established strong reputations in the field of legal education. It identifies and examines various international law schools’ current instructional methodologies to better determine negative issues and difficulties encountered and how they were addressed. It is the hope that the results will produce viable information of use to the further development and improvement of Saudi Arabian law schools. While the dissertation is not intended to be an empirical study of either Saudi or international law school curricula, it does attempt to expose existing, and potential problems within the Kingdom’s various law school programs. The goal is to present and perhaps assist in the implementation of substantial updates to modern law school education that will provide the nation with well trained, critical thinking, skilled legal experts dedicated to the law, the land, and the people they serve. Above all else, this paper is an attempt to present comprehensive proposals designed to challenge the disparity between expectation and reality in the education of Saudi Arabian legal professionals—; with an ultimate goal of producing lawyers equipped with extensive training in the vast and complicated system of Saudi Laws. Furthermore, it is envisaged that it will assist in confronting critical issues of modernizing legal curriculum and syllabi while making legal programs more inclusive with the incorporation of international legal education models. ii Dedication To The memory of my parents (SHAHA and ALI) may Allah's mercy be upon them; My Brothers and Sisters; To My wife (ALANOUD) My Children TURKI, FAISAL, MOHAMMED, ADEEM, NASSER and MALAK iii Acknowledgments ﺑﺴﻢ ﷲ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﯿﻢ In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, and Most Merciful All praise and thanks be to Allah who gave me the strength, and capability to write this dissertation, and peace and blessings be upon His messenger, Mohammed, who said: "Whoever is not thankful to people then he cannot be thankful to Allah, either". My deepest gratitude and sincere thanks to my S.J.D. Advisor and the Chairperson of the Dissertation’s Committee, Professor Michael H. Hoeflich, John H. & John M. Kane Distinguished Professor of Law, Director, M.S. in Homeland Security: Law and Policy Program. I deem myself so fortunate when he accepted my S.J.D. Proposal and it is a great chance to do my S.J.D. Program under his supervision and learning from his expertise a lot. Professor Hoeflich gave me an independence to search deeply in my dissertation topic, and at the same time, he always has guided me to help me recover whenever my steps faltered. My vocabulary is inadequate to express my gratitude to him concerning his guidance, constructive contribution, generosity, inspiration, and emotional support. Professor Hoeflich thank you many, I will always be grateful. I would like to express my deeply indebted to my dissertation committee members Dean Stephen W. Mazza, Dean Stephen Michael Sheppard, Dean Lumen N. Mulligan for accepting to serve as its committee members. I would like to take the opportunity to express my gratitude and thanks to my family who is always supporting and acknowledging of me; words cannot express how grateful I am to my brothers and sisters; their prayers and the willingness for me to succeed was what sustained me this far. Also, I would like to thank my lovely wife for supporting me and for everything that she has done for our family. To my beloved kids, I would like to express my thanks for them being such great kids and always cheering me up. Also, I like to thank KU law school faculty members, my colleagues in S.J. D program at KU law school, and my friends in the U.S., and to anyone who supported me during this journey of my life. Thank you all. iv Abbreviations A.D. The year of Christ's birth. A.H. The Islamic lunar calendar. ABA American Bar Association. AERES Agency for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education. Aka Also known as. BDC Banking Disputes Committee. BLG Basic Law of Governance. CAS Credential Assembly Service. CE Common Era or Current Era. CRSD Committee for the Resolution of Securities Disputes. CSBD Committee for the Settlement of Banking Disputes. ESL English as a Second Language. GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services. GPA Grade Point Average. GRE Graduate Record Examination. IELTS International English Language Testing System. IMAMU Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University. IPA Institute of Public Administration. IU Islamic University in Madinah. J.D. Juris Doctor degree. KAU King Abdulaziz University. KFU King Faisal University. KSU King Saud University. LCA Law of Commercial Agency LCM Law of the Council of Ministers. LL.B. Bachelor of Laws. LSAC Law School Admissions Council. LSAT Law School Admissions Test. NCAAA National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment. PBUH Peace Be Upon Him. QIYAS Saudi Arabian National Centre for Assessment in Higher Education. SAMA Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. SBA Saudi Bar Association SBA. STEP Standardized Test for English Proficiency. UCC Uniform Commercial Code. UQU Umm Al-Qura University. WTO World Trade Organization. v Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................................... i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER I .................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 § 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 § 1.2 Importance of the Dissertation ........................................................................................... 4 § 1.3 Statement of the Problems ................................................................................................. 6 Problem I ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Problem II.................................................................................................................................... 8 Problem III ................................................................................................................................ 10 § 1.4 Confronting the Problems ................................................................................................ 11 Approach 1 ................................................................................................................................ 11 Approach 2 ................................................................................................................................ 12 Approach 3 ................................................................................................................................ 13 § 1.5 Dissertation Objectives .................................................................................................... 15 Objective 1 ................................................................................................................................ 15 Objective 2 ................................................................................................................................ 15 Objective 3 ................................................................................................................................ 16 Objective 4 ................................................................................................................................ 17 Objective 5 ................................................................................................................................ 18 § 1.6 Dissertation Questions ..................................................................................................... 18 § 1.7 Dissertation Methodology ................................................................................................ 20 § 1.8 Dissertation Structure ....................................................................................................... 21 Structure of Chapter I ...............................................................................................................