JEDDAH: The Ministry of Justice has entered a new era with the launch of a strategic plan to enhance the Kingdom’s judicial system. Justice Minister Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al-Asheikh said the plan — named Adl (Justice) — would cover all activities under the ministry, including courts, judges, lawyers, marriage contracts and commercial registrations.

He said the plan would enhance the accreditation system in duties and rights such as patent rights, copyright and intellectual property rights.

In an interview with Saudi TV’s Channel 1, Al-Asheikh said the plan would facilitate court procedures, expand the establishment of specialized courts, support development and investment programs, and expedite court litigations.

He said workshops, comprising judges, businessmen and public figures, were held for over a year to prepare plans to be implemented over a 30-year period. “The execution of the first phase, to be implemented through a five-year plan, has already started in Huraymilah, near Riyadh, in the domain of accreditation,” he said.

The minister said the implementation of the accreditation aspect of the plan would gradually move to other areas until the entire Kingdom is covered. “This would preserve the rights and properties of people, and would reduce the need to take such cases to court,” he added.

Al-Asheikh said the development would cover both the organizational and technical aspects of the judicial system. He added that under the plan, the judges would be trained to use computers and interact electronically with concerned parties.

“The plan would enable judges to dedicate all their time to their judicial work instead of being involved in routine administrative matters,” he said, adding that this would save time and create transparency.

The minister said the plan would pay special attention to lawyers with a view to producing qualified lawyers who would act as society’s mouthpiece.

Al-Asheikh also said the plan would give particular attention to the business and investment sector, especially as the Kingdom is attracting foreign investments. “Investors are usually hesitant to enter into any country without sufficient knowledge of its judicial system,” he said.

Meanwhile, an experts committee of the Council of Ministers published English translations of the Kingdom’s new court laws and how the court of grievances operates. The translations are presently being distributed to concerned government departments.

Al-Asheikh said the Department of Translation completed translating around 60 Saudi laws, which were approved by English language specialists and legal experts from several Saudi universities.

A number of Saudi lawyers have expressed happiness at the new plans.

“I am exultant by this new development which would save the time and efforts of both judges and those involved in cases,” said Khaled Abu Rashid, a famous Saudi lawyer. “This would reduce the time of litigation which in some cases run for many years,” he added.

He hoped the plans would be further extended to ensure the financial rights of lawyers and allow lawyers to enter into the realm of real estate registration, which is so far done by the notary public of the Ministry of Justice.

Abu Rashid said the system of lawyers, which was introduced into the Kingdom about seven years ago, would see further developments. “Specialized lawyers would be required to appear before the new specialized courts. This would further enrich the profession,” he added.

According to Abu Rashid, the speedy settlement of investment legal cases would lead to more investments in the Kingdom.

“The fact that investment cases remain unsettled in courts for several years lead to the freezing of money and projects,” he concluded.