Justice Minister Muhammad Al-Eisa

JEDDAH: Options other than prison time are to be considered when judges pass sentences on minor crimes, Justice Minister Muhammad Al-Eisa said on Saturday while opening a forum on modern trends in alternative punishments in Riyadh.

“The modern trend in criminal law is to choose imprisonment only as a last resort,” Al-Eisa said, adding that major crimes particularly involving national security and corruption would normally carry a prison term.

The three-day forum has been organized by the Ministry of Justice as part of the King Abdullah Project to Develop the Judiciary in the Kingdom.

The minister also dispelled the fear of some people that alternatives to prison punishment would amount to a deviation from Shariah.

“The Shariah laws are the basic laws. They are not alternatives or imitations of any other law,” the minister said. He also attributed such misunderstandings to a lack of understanding of the Shariah.

Shariah punishments, particularly for crimes that can be punished using alternative sanctions, are supported by evidence from Islamic teachings, he said.

“The misunderstanding would disappear when one realizes that alternative punishments are not applied except in cases where judges hand discretionary sentences to culprits,” he said.

READ MORE ON ARABNEWS
http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article518697.ece