Since its establishment in 1945, the League of Arab States has endeavoured to foster robust cooperation among Arab countries in the legal and judicial domains. This effort began with the formulation and conclusion of foundational legal treaties and agreements and has evolved to include the development of model Arab laws intended to serve as guiding references for national legislation.
Among the earliest instruments concluded under the auspices of the League were the 1952 Agreement on Judicial Declarations and Letters Rogatory, as well as the Agreements on the Enforcement of Judgments and the Extradition of Criminals.
Several of the most notable agreements adopted within the framework of the League of Arab States include:
- The Riyadh Arab Agreement for Judicial Cooperation, adopted by the Council of Arab Ministers of Justice in 1983;
- The Arab Convention on Combating Terrorism, issued during the joint session of the Councils of Arab Ministers of Justice and Interior in 1998.
In 2010, a joint session of the two Councils approved a series of significant legal instruments, most notably:
- The Arab Convention on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism;
- The Arab Convention on Combating Information Technology Crimes;
- The Arab Convention on Combating Corruption;
- The Arab Convention on the Transfer of Inmates of Penal and Correctional Institutions within the Context of the Enforcement of Criminal Judgments;
- And the Arab Convention on Combating Transnational Organized Crime.
In 2019, the Councils of Arab Ministers of Justice and Interior convened once again to adopt a new set of legal instruments, including:
- The Arab Protocol to Prevent and Combat Maritime Piracy and Armed Robbery, a supplementary annex to the Arab Convention on Combating Transnational Organised Crime;
- The Arab Protocol to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, also a supplementary annex to the aforementioned Convention;
- The Arab Convention on Regulating the Transfer and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues and Preventing and Combating Trafficking Therein;
- And the Arab Convention on Preventing and Combating Human Cloning.
Moreover, the Council of Arab Ministers of Justice consistently undertakes the development of model Arab laws to keep pace with evolving developments in various domains, including:
- Casablanca System for Unified Arab Judicial Organisation (1986)
- Kuwait Document for Unified Arab Personal Status Law (1988)
- Unified Arab Real Estate Registration Law (1994)
- Model Juvenile Law (1996)
- Unified Arab Civil Code (1996)
- Unified Arab Penal Code (1996)
- Unified Arab Model Law for the Organisation of Prisons (2000)
- Unified Arab Model Law for the Care of Minors (2002)
- Algeria's Arab Model Code of Criminal Procedure (2003)
- Algeria's Arab Model Code of Civil Procedure (2003)
- UAE Model Law on Combating Information Technology Crimes and the Like (2003)
- Arab Model Law on Judicial Authority and Judicial Inspection and Explanatory Memorandum (2004)
- Arab Model Document on Social Security (2005)
- Arab Model Law on Crimes Within the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (2005)
- Arab Model Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons (2005)
- Arab Model Law on International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters (2006)
- Arab Unified Commercial Code (2006)
- Arab Model Law on Judicial Assistance (2008)
- Arab Model Law on Regulating the Profession of Judicial Clerks (2008)
- Arab Model Law on Evidence Using Modern Technologies (2008)
- Arab Model Law on Administrative Judiciary (2008)
- Arab Model Law on Regulating Human Organ Transplantation and Preventing and Combating Trafficking (2009)
- Arab Model Law on the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproductive Purposes (2009)
- Arab Model Law on Electronic Commercial Transactions (2009)
- Arab Model Law on Mediation and Reconciliation (2019)
- Arab Model Law on Combating Corruption (2012)
- Arab Model Law on Expertise Before the Judiciary (2012)
- Updated Arab Model Law on Combating Human Trafficking (2012)
- Unified Model Arab Law on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (2012)
- Arab Model Law on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, Part One: Protection of Copyright and Related Rights (2012)
- Arab Model Law on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, Part Two: Protection of Industrial Property Rights, and Part Three: Border Measures for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (2018)
- Code of Ethics for Science and Technology in the Arab Region (2019)
- Arab Model Law on Notaries Public (2012)
- Arab Model Law on Labour (2012)
- Arab Model Law on Preventing Contempt of Religions (2013)
- Arab Model Law on Judicial Inspection (2013)
- Arab Model Law on Combating Money Laundering (2013)
- Arab Model Law on Assistance and Protection of Victims of Terrorist Acts (2018)
- Arab Model Law on Protecting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2018)
- Arab Model Law on Investment (2018)
- Bylaws of the Arab Legal and Judicial Cooperation Network in the Field of Combating Terrorism and Organised Crime (2019)
- Updated Arab Model Law on Combating Terrorism (2019)
- Arab Model Law on Establishing Specialised Maritime Judicial Circuits in Arab Seaport Cities (2020)
