In an attempt to push his country toward modern codified law, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday launched sweeping judicial reforms, announcing four new proposed laws aimed at enhancing the integrity and transparency of the kingdom’s courts. According to the crown prince, widely regarded as the nation’s de-facto ruler, the new draft bills – the personal status law, the civil transactions law, the penal code of discretionary sanctions and the law of evidence – “represent a new wave of reforms that will … increase the reliability of procedures and oversight mechanisms as cornerstones in achieving the principles of justice, clarifying the lines of accountability.” While inching closer to a clear, coherent and uniform law system, the powerful Gulf country still will adhere to Sharia principles, officials insisted. Though Riyadh claims the move has been in the works for months, it is believed the accession of a new White House administration, which has specifically stressed Saudi human rights violations as a focal point of its foreign policy, accelerated the reform’s announcement.