The four related works discussed in this chapter confirm that culture and religion are the two main factors which affect cognitive development. Culture is universal in the sense that every society has its culture, but culture is not always the same across all societies. The argument presented here is that different cultures have different impacts on the way its members regard science and its application in their daily lives. Religion and culture can affect an individual’s mindset, way of thinking and attitude toward all that is new to society.
Slay’s (2000; 2008) works focus on the issues of culture and science in education. She extends her review to issues such as culture, military systems and security. Maghaireh’s (2014) work examines Jordan's needs for law reform in comparison with Australia and the United States, given that they are already well advanced in their experiences of (and in their legal responses to) cybercrimes. Leidner (2006) reviewed 51 articles which examine cross-cultural studies of Information Technology and established six themes, adoption, diffusion, use, outcomes, management and strategy. These common themes show how different types of firm-wide and cultural values have an impact on information systems development, , Lin’s (2008) studies directly compare the application of Australian and Taiwanese cultures on computer forensics. concluding that in both countries where Australian common law and Taiwanese laws are designed, there are two very different perspectives on various societal foundations. The differences are so extreme that these cannot be easily mapped, as there are many stages and processes in each that the other lacks.
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These works are powerful illustrations of the relationship between culture and different sciences. However, these studies do not cover all perspectives of the relationship between culture and science, since an investigation into culture-related issues could be an extensive study by itself. These works are, however, helpful in clarifying some of the underpinning concepts of this study.
The rapid increase in wealth and economic development with oil discovery in Saudi Arabia has led to changes in lifestyle and culture. This expansion has been noted in the rapid expansion in ICT as well. This rapid expansion has shown that there are very limited ICT systems and security experts in Saudi Arabia (Alkahtani, H, 2013). There are numerous Saudi Arabian cultural differences such as language, hierarchy, gender communication, fear of losing face, and favouritism, which may impact on Information communication systems (ICT) and can have strong impacts on the success and security of the society (Alkahtani, H, 2013).
Islamic law is the basis of the Saudi legal system, and the government derives power from the Holy Quran and the Prophet's traditional sayings. In Saudi Arabia, any law or regulation must not conflict with the above sources. Also, there are many legal instruments that directly rule the administrative life of the country. Some of them are reserved for the King because of his legal status and some are issued by the King in his capacity as head of the Council of Ministers. The King, as a president, has almost all the power he needs to direct the country. The purpose of Islamic law in the Saudi Arabian courts is based mainly on the rules of the Islamic Shariah as interpreted by the Hanbali School, the fourth Islamic school of law within Sunni (Ansary, A. 2015; Otto, Jan Michiel, 2010). In Saudi Arabia, the judiciary has the power to identify and accept evidence according to the case before them. Judges can reach a decision through the examination of any evidence and the methods can be approved as long as they do not conflict with Islamic law. Therefore, the judge is required to provide information about previous decisions used as a precedent to reach judgment. In regard of the Anti-Cybercrime Law, it was issued as late as 2007. The KSA Anti-Cyber Crime Law punishes any illegal use of digital devices, while the existing Telecom Law and its Bylaws provide a real basis for the control of
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telecommunication service providers in the Kingdom, but neither it nor its Bylaws address e-crime entirely.
In summary, the four related works discussed in section 2.2 and Saudi Arabian culture and religion discussed in section 2.3 show that culture and religion are important factors that affect the relationship between the legal system of a country and science, more specifically, digital science. They also show that culture is universal in the sense that every society has its culture, but culture is not always the same across all societies. Moreover, these works support the argument that different cultures have different impacts on the way they regard science and its application in the daily lives of the members of any particular culture. Religion and culture can affect an individual’s mind-set, way of thinking and altitude toward all that is new to society. The legal enforcement professionals’ attitudes could be largely affected by government legislation, regulation and overlapping responsibilities. Consequently, these findings are important for this study to answer the research questions; in what way and to what extent do Islamic religion and Saudi culture affect the status of digital evidence in the legal process? What principles do the practitioners have to observe in the way they treat digital evidence in the judicial proceedings? How do digital forensic practitioners resolve this apparent conflict in practice?
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