{"id":1004,"date":"2026-07-08T05:23:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T02:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/?p=1004"},"modified":"2026-07-08T08:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T05:28:45","slug":"the-legality-of-a-judges-personal-knowledge-in-judicial-rulings-a-comparative-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/the-legality-of-a-judges-personal-knowledge-in-judicial-rulings-a-comparative-study\/","title":{"rendered":"The Legality of a Judge\u2019s Personal Knowledge in Judicial Rulings: A Comparative Study"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

<\/p>\n

Aala Abdullah Bafaraj<\/b><\/p>\n

DOI: <\/b>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.65271\/EWOS6490<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The evidentiary stage constitutes the essence of litigation and a pivotal factor in shaping a judge\u2019s conviction. This necessitates strict adherence to the principle of judicial impartiality, requiring the judge to remain a neutral third party whose verdict is confined to the evidence presented by the litigants. Given that a judge, as a human being, may acquire knowledge outside the courtroom or through other proceedings, this study addresses the question: to what extent is it permissible for a judge to rule based on personal knowledge? This is explored through a doctrinal, comparative analysis of Islamic Jurisprudence, the Saudi legal system, and contemporary international legal trends.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Adopting a comparative methodology, the study reached several key findings: there is a consensus among Sharia jurists on the permissibility of a judge ruling based on personal knowledge regarding the credibility of witnesses (\u02bbAd\u0101lat al-Shuh\u016bd), while opinions diverge on other matters. Within the Saudi legal system, the general rule is the inadmissibility of personal knowledge as evidence, with exceptions made for the judge\u2019s knowledge of witness credibility and information derived directly from the evidence of the case at hand. The study further reveals that most comparative laws (such as Emirati, Egyptian, and American law) prohibit such reliance, whereas French law permits it under specific conditions that allow for adversarial debate. Consequently, the researcher proposes legal provisions that define cases where personal knowledge may be admitted, while outlining the grounds for its prohibition and its impact on the burden of proof.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The study recommends that the Saudi legislator mandate judges with prior personal knowledge of a case to recuse themselves and transfer the matter to another jurisdiction. It also calls for clarifying the legislative stance on \u201cpublic knowledge\u201d, as well as rulings that contradict a judge\u2019s own certain knowledge. Finally, the study suggests further research into the impact of modern technological tools on a judge\u2019s personal knowledge and its subsequent effect on judicial evidence.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Keywords:\u00a0<\/strong>Judge\u2019s Personal Knowledge, Judicial Impartiality, Witness Integrity, Saudi Law of Evidence, Comparative Law.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Article<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aala Abdullah Bafaraj DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.65271\/EWOS6490 Abstract: The evidentiary stage constitutes the essence of litigation and a pivotal factor in shaping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-publications"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1013,"href":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004\/revisions\/1013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riyadhlawreview.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}