RIYADH – King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has pardoned all prisoners involved in cases falling under the public rights section and those who are proved to be insolvent and cannot pay their debts, Interior Minister Prince Muhammad Bin Naif announced Friday. Prisoners who are involved in major crimes or who conned people out of money are not included in the pardon. Prince Muhammad urged all prisoners covered by the pardon to learn their lesson and not become involved in similar cases again. He also said the pardon was issued to mitigate the suffering of prisoners' families. He hoped that this gesture will motivate those prisoners to serve their religion and country. In the Saudi Shariah law there are two types of legal actions: A public rights action and a private rights action. Public rights are pursued by the State for violation of the public law through the public prosecutor in court. The private rights action, similar to an American civil action, enables an individual to seek redressal in court. Many cases naturally may involve both rights, and the same trial can deal with both. An example is the motor vehicle accident. Not only would there be the private right to recover losses resulting from damage to property and injury to the person, but also the government would seek under the public right to punish the one who caused the accident in violation of the Motor Vehicle Regulations. – SPA
