If someone killed a farmer’s cow, intentionally or by mistake, the owner would demand compensation. A competent body would look into the matter and oblige the faulty party to compensate the farmer. If someone damaged your car, the amount of money needed to repair the car depends on the type of car and the extent of the damage. Here in the Kingdom at least three licensed workshops would be asked to assess the damage and provide an estimate. No judge, police officer or any other person would set a price at random for cost of the repairs, regardless of the type of car.

Now in the light of what we have said, consider the following. A famous surgeon was involved in a traffic accident and lost his right hand. This is the hand that earns him his livelihood, so the surgeon sues the guilty party and the court orders the party to pay half the diyya — blood money — or SR60,000. This is equivalent to two or three months’ salary for the surgeon who has been left unable to work in his field for the rest of his life. A beggar loses his hand in an accident and the judge awards him SR60,000 in compensation. The beggar emerges from the court a rich man, thanks to a law that may even encourages him to resort to more tricky and sophisticated means to earn money.

Let us consider more serious cases involving loss of life. A car kills an engineer who earns SR300,000 a year. The court rules that the heirs should get the full diyya which is SR120,000. A squatter living on the street or a thief is also hit by a car and their heirs also receive the same amount, SR120,000. There is also the matter of loss of life and injuries resulting from medical mistakes. Judges, lawyers and other interested parties should force a review of the existing compensation laws governing traffic accidents, medical mistakes and other accidents involving death or loss of limbs. We don’t need to copy systems applied in other countries where claims and counter-claims are often exaggerated and cases blown out of proportion. At the same time we don’t want the compensation laws currently in use in our country to remain as they are. There has to be change. Let us begin by establishing pressure groups to pursue changes now that both medical and driver’s license insurance has become mandatory.

Arab News From the Local Press 9 June 2003