“The inspectors of the Supreme Judicial Council will follow in detail the proceedings of a judge while handling a case in any court once the networking is completed. They will also look whether judges are keeping the time schedule for case sittings and if the courts are fulfilling the required conditions while examining cases and passing judgments,” Director General of the Computer Department in the ministry Majed Al-Adwan said.

While the inspectors would be supplied with secret codes to gain access to live proceedings in courts, the system would not allow the supervisors to interfere with the work of a judge, Al-Adwan added.

The online linking of courts will also enable a court of appeal to review the proceeding of a lower court without calling for the physical transfer of documents or evidences to the court of appeal, he said.

He said the online linking and computerization of the legal system would considerably cut down the delay in issuing a verdict and its implementation. He added that the ministry’s linking with nine courts in Khamis Mushayt, Qassim, Madinah and the Eastern Province has been completed while the linking works with 15 courts in Abha, Taif and some other towns will be completed in less than three months.

He said the ministry would have the ability to track down any foul play by a court official or public notary in the country in two years. By that time the ministry’s link up with more than 200 courts and 200 offices of public notaries would be completed. He also said necessary safeguards have also been taken to prevent tampering with any document that appear online.

Alteration, copying or cancellation of such documents would not be possible. As an additional precaution all data will be recorded in an unalterable database, he said. The ministry also planned to contract an international company for total protection of its systems from virus attacks. The company will have to continuously update the devices of virus protection in all sections of the ministry. The update should be in such a way that the ministry’s computers will have to be protected from any virus appearing in any part of the world, he said. “The company will report to the information center of the ministry about the appearance of any new version of a virus and take appropriate protective measures to counter it.