Increasing the Penalty for Crimes against Children in the Saudi System: Analytical Study 10.35781/1637-000-110-001

Abstract

The study focuses on the issue of aggravating penalties for crimes committed against children under Saudi law. It tackles the concept of increasing the penalty, the general and specific circumstances that lead to aggravation, the definition of a child, and identifying the legislative developments in Saudi Arabia aimed at providing stronger criminal protection for children through applying harsher penalties. The study demonstrates that aggravating circumstances affect the severity of the crime, which in turn violates a protected interest. The legislator recognized that the original penalty was insufficient and therefore decided to increase it. The rationale behind this is that child victims are physically weak and unable to resist perpetrators easily. When a crime occurs under these circumstances, it indicates a higher level of criminal danger, which justifies the need for stronger deterrence through increased penalties. The research also highlights that the Saudi legislator has intensified penalties for crimes against children in various legal frameworks, including the Child Protection Law, the Anti-Harassment Law, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Law, the Anti-Trafficking Law, and the Anti-Drug and Psychotropic Substances Law. One key observation was the use of different terms for "child" across these laws. While the term "child" is used in the Child Protection Law and other laws, the term "minor" is used in the Anti-Drug and Psychotropic Substances Law as a synonym for "child." The study recommends that the Saudi legislator should standardize the term "child" across all relevant laws. Additionally, it proposes that the penalty for publicizing a ruling should be a mandatory supplementary penalty in cases where the primary penalty is aggravated, especially in crimes against children. This is because the same circumstances that lead to the aggravation of the original penalty should also apply to the supplementary penalty. Finally, the study suggests that the legislator should unify the legal text concerning aggravated penalties when a crime is committed against a child with a disability. It recommends that the increasing of penalty be addressed either in the currently effective Child Protection Law or the Law on the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to avoid inconsistencies in legal rulings.