Two weeks ago, I visited Jeddah’s general court for two consecutive days — Tuesday and Wednesday. The visits were part of the “nosy” field trips I got used to performing long time ago. I appeared the first day at the court’s gate at seven in the morning and I had to wait until a police officer allowed me to enter at 7:30 along with one of the first employees to arrive at the court premises.

I went immediately to see who showed up in one of the departments. I only found employees of the department where they summon the plaintiffs. Honestly and sincerely, those employees were the best in observing the court’s official working hours because they were the first to arrive at the premises and the last to leave.

I then went to the court president’s office to see whether he was there. After all he’s the president and therefore the role model for his employees but I didn’t find him. I saw some employees in front of an office signing a paper so I figured that it was the attendance sheet. I was surprised that employees in this department had never heard of a new invention called attendance machine that works using punch cards or with fingerprints. Probably, such modern devices are not meant for court employees.

After an employee signs the attendance sheet, he doesn’t rush to his office, but to the buffet to enjoy his breakfast. I didn’t have one that day so I decided to join them. I would advise people who have business to do with the court not to miss the egg sandwich they serve because it’s one of the best I’ve ever savored.

I ate my sandwich and drank my cup of tea, and then I headed again at 8 a.m. to the president’s office to check if he was present, but he wasn’t there yet. By the way, the court’s official working hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. I tried to look for the court’s administrative manager, but he wasn’t there either.

I then went to the judges’ offices to see what was happening there and observe the mechanism of administering justice in our beloved country as a citizen who wants to get acquainted with the different bodies that govern my life, and to find out how they work and what are the standards by which they operate — all out of patriotic curiosity. I arrived at the first office, but before that I must describe the general status of the court. The court is composed of a group of buildings scattered in the premises randomly connected with sidewalks, some of them paved and shaded. There were no signposts to guide the people to their destination inside the court or to the judge before whom they should appear. To tell the truth, I lost my way more than once while touring the court premises. The court buildings seemed neglected and deserted, perhaps a reflection of the general atmosphere inside.

Anyway, I entered the first building and I went to the first judge’s office and it was empty. I then went to the second judge’s office. Luckily I found one employee. I asked him if the sheikh has arrived; he said no. Can I have the schedule for that day’s sessions? He told me he has not received one yet because the employee responsible for drawing and distributing the schedule hasn’t arrived.

I decided to go to the second building and I noticed that one of the judges was just arriving. I looked at my watch and it was 8:15 a.m. You might find it bizarre, but I asked someone about this phenomenon and I was told that a judge must be in a very comfortable and stable psychological state and must have a good night’s sleep so he could take his decisions deliberately and calmly.

However, I toured all judges’ offices and they were all vacant. So I went back to the president and it was nine in the morning. He has finally arrived and so has the administrative manager who was reading the newspaper to update himself on international and local developments. I playfully chided him for not reading my newspaper, Al-Watan.

I went back to the judges offices at 10 a.m. and nine judges were present — out of 23. At every judge’s office I would ask his clerk about the day’s cases. Case schedules were hung on the door and the first session starts at 8 a.m. except for one judge.

You people must be wondering why cases take such long to be decided or settled in our courts.

I asked one of the clerks, “Why do you schedule the judge’s session at 8 a.m. when you know only too well that he won’t show up before 9:30? That is if at all he shows up.” He answered, “The schedule is printed by the computer set by the Supreme Judicial Commission.”

“But what has this got to do with reality?”

He replied, “It is issued by the Supreme Judicial Commission.”

What he meant was that it’s just a paper and there was no need for these documents to reflect the actual situation on the ground. Does the commission want to know what’s really happening? Does the court in Jeddah refuse to tell the commission the truth? Everyone is happy and satisfied and that’s all that matters. What matters is that the judge enjoys his comfort and peace of mind. As for us the plaintiffs or people with critical cases we have two options: The Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea. We could drink of the water from either until we quenched our thirst.

I left the court to attend to some personal business and came back to perform my prayers at the court’s mosque. I have prayed in many mosques and usually the minute the imam finishes the prayer everyone springs to his feet as if they were haunted by some invisible demons. But to my surprise, in this particular mosque the situation was quite different. When the imam finished no one was eager to move and they remained supplicating quietly and performing more voluntary prayers in great devotion. To tell the truth, I have never seen people with so much piety and devotion.

I was relieved to realize that all court employees are so pious and so religious. When prayers were over, I hurried to the court to check who has returned to his office and who was still missing after I left earlier at 10 a.m.

As I mentioned, nine out of 23 judges showed up that day. When I went the next day (Wednesday), I took the same route. I found one guy parking his car in front of the court’s gate. I asked him to move his car a bit so I could park mine. He said to me, “Wait a minute, I will go inside just to sign the attendance sheet and then I will leave.” And that’s what he did. When he was leaving, I asked him, “Do you work in the court?” He nodded so I went and parked in front of the gate.

The judge who was present the first day at 8 a.m. didn’t show up the second day. Anyhow, only eight judges were present on the second day. What’s nice about all of this is that if a judge is late or absent it means that the case has to be delayed a month, months or perhaps years. However, the plaintiffs have to be in the court at 8 a.m. and if they were ever late their case will be thrown out even if everyone in the court knew that the judge wouldn’t show up before 9:30 or 10 a.m.

I prayed in the court’s mosque as I did the first day and this time the imam turned to face the ones remaining inside the mosque. By the way the imam is the court’s president, and he gave us a beautiful lecture criticizing what certain individuals did while praying — apparently a man left his mobile on and the ring tone disturbed the worshippers. The imam also drew attention to the dangers of listening to music. Everyone listened carefully to the righteous imam.

I conclude this article with a request to my dear brothers and sisters. You must visit the general court in Jeddah to see for yourselves the truth of what’s happening there. And I’m sure that will only increase your trust in the judicial system and induce you to join me in my prayers for them to live long and remain always alert, concerned about people’s rights and making sure they are not denied justice. Amen.