Walid al-Samaani

His Excellency Walid Bin Mohammed al-Samaani (born in 1978) is the Minister of Justice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since the first ministerial formation during the reign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in 2015. He is a member of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, and the Acting President of the Supreme Judicial Council.

Walid al-Samaani was born in Riyadh City and received his undergraduate and postgraduate education at al-Imam Mohammed Bin Saud Islamic University. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Sharia in 1999 with excellent grades, a master's degree in the Laws Division of the Department of Sharia Policy at the High Judicial Institute affiliated with the university in 2003, and a Ph.D. in Comparative Law with first-class honors from the same institute in 2012.

He began his judicial career at the Board of Grievances in  2001, serving as a judge in administrative, disciplinary, criminal, and commercial works at the board. He also headed several judicial departments, served as a member of the Technical Affairs Office, was elected to the Training and Development Committee of the Board of Grievances, and was part of the team overseeing the electronic archiving of judicial rulings. Additionally, he served as the Secretary of the Audit Authority responsible for establishing judicial principles.

He was part of the team tasked with classifying administrative judicial rulings and principles in 2006 and the team responsible for categorizing and publishing judicial rulings in 2007. He was appointed Minister of Justice on January 29, 2015.

He was assigned as a legal advisor at the Office of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (when he was Crown Prince) in 2013. Additionally, he was appointed Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, Chairman of the Executive Office for the Council of the Arab Justice Ministers, Chairman of the Saudi Bar Association, a member of the National Transformation Program Committee, Chairman of the Board of Directors of al-Nafaqah Fund, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Support and Liquidation Center.

Walid Al-Samaani represented the Board of Grievances in the committee formed by the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers, which was responsible for reviewing and amending laws from  2007 to  2013. He was also part of the committee tasked with studying recommendations from the third Arab Forum on the "Technical Principles for Drafting Laws," the committee formed to study the draft unified law of the judiciary of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the committee formed to discuss the draft judicial memorandum of understanding between the Kingdom and France, the committee formed to discuss the amendment of the Electricity Law on legal safeguards for the introduction of penalties in the law, and the committee formed to re-study the draft Law of Terrorism Crimes and Financing.

Walid al-Samaani participated in preparing the joint development agreement signed between the Board of Grievances and Imam Mohammed Bin Saud Islamic University. He also contributed to preparing and studying the regulations related to the employment affairs of judges at the Board of Grievances and the Supreme Judicial Council.

Furthermore, he was involved in shaping the academic curricula for the High Judicial Institute at Imam Mohammed Bin Saud Islamic University, studying the academic standards for Sharia programs in Saudi universities, assessing the suitability of establishing a State Affairs Authority in the Kingdom, examining the cooperation aspects between the Board of Grievances and the Ministry of Justice in the Arab Republic of Egypt, and developing scientific frameworks for various training programs and workshops, including the Judicial Rulings Drafting Program, the Judges' Assistants Preparation Program, and the Foundational Diploma for Judges at the Board of Grievances.