RIYADH: A new organization is to be set up to deal with judicial investigations, the Saudi Press Agency reported. It comes after the Supreme Judiciary Council conducted a review and approved new statutes to be implemented with immediate effect.
The new statutes constitute five sections, including general definitions and regulations, the general administration for investigations, investigations and objections and complaints and inquiries. It is the second one that allows for a new general administration body to be set up, allowing special investigators to be appointed. The statute clearly defines the qualifications and duties of an investigator, who should not be below the rank of a court’s chief judge.
The section also outlines how to complain against a judge. It also allows a judge to voice his complaints. Public notary offices will come under the statutes of judicial investigation.
The judiciary council’s decisions also include sending draft statutes governing Haj and Umrah departments, junior judges and the jurisdiction and authority of chiefs of courts and their assistants to a committee for examination. The committee is made up of members of the judiciary council and its secretary-general.
The president of the Supreme Court is now able to give judges in his court permission to hold their sittings outside court headquarters on occasions such as recording the sighting of the new moon. The council approved the recommendations of the Courts Administration to open new appeal courts in Jazan, Najran, Northern Border Province, Tabuk, Hail and Baha.
It also decided to promote, transfer or newly appoint a number of judges and junior judges and fill the vacancies in various courts.
At present, there are 266 Shariah courts in the Kingdom with 1,600 judges, but the country requires more than 4,000 judges. A judge looks into 1,184 cases annually, while Saudi courts looked into 691,938 cases in 2007, according to an earlier report.
