Judges in various courts in the Kingdom are doing nearly 60 percent of administrative work that do not actually come under the purview of their duties.

This results in prolonging the judicial process in all types of criminal, civil and family cases. The time for fixation of court sittings for most cases takes up even up to one month. About 55 percent of the judicial process is affected by the involvement of judges in administrative matters, according to eminent judicial figures. They shed light on various aspects of the issue in a report carried by Al-Riyadh Arabic daily.

Prominent judicial expert and former judge Dr. Faisal Al-Oshaiwan noted that judges in the Kingdom and other GCC states are normally doing several duties that are supposed to be carried out by administrative officials, and these include correspondence, notifications about court sittings and signature of documents with regard to court procedures. “However, this is not the case in most other countries in the world. In those countries, the duty of judges is restricted to devoting themselves fully to cases by examining them, holding court proceedings and pronouncing verdicts,” he said, adding that the heavy burden of various extra-judicial works would have a negative intellectual impact in addition to putting more mental pressures on judges.

Al-Oshaiwan stressed that judges should be allowed to devote their full time to study cases thoroughly and pronounce the verdict after examining all aspects. “But our judges do not get enough time to study cases as they are preoccupied with extra matters. Contrary to our courts, most countries allocate judges one day a week to study the cases before pronouncing a judgment after completion of trial proceedings,” he said.

Al-Oshaiwan recalled that earlier he had presented a series of proposals to the Ministry of Justice to solve this problem. “The proposals included appointing an assistant to the judge in the post of a researcher or consultant and he should be under the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The assistant must be provided with training similar to that given to judges. He will be entrusted with the task of reading case files and listening to the arguments of the petitioner and the accused. The assistant then presents it to the judge so that he could focus on the case, pronounce judgment and thus expedite the judicial process,” he said.

Al-Oshaiwan noted that most of the cases pending before judges are those pertaining to family disputes, especially concerning marriage. “Some of these cases are pending for up to nine years, and estranged wives remain in distress all through these years. Normally, such cases must be resolved within two to three sittings as these involve many elements such as children, provision of maintenance and the future of couples,” he said, while noting that the ministry has started implementing some reforms, including setting up reform committees at courts with an objective of reducing the burden on judges.

Echoing the same view, Rashid Al-Qaud, former judge at the Court of Grievances who is presently working as a lawyer, called for appointing specialists to assist judges in expediting court procedures.

“This judicial researcher must be specialized either in Islamic Shariah or law. The official should work as an attendant of the judge for at least for four years initially. Then he could be appointed as assistant to judge and could be listed in the panel of judges at a later stage,” he said, while stressing the need for audio-visual recordings of court proceedings as a step toward ensuring transparency.

According to Al-Qaud, court offices face a shortage of qualified staff specialized in various office jobs such as documentation and keeping files. A study carried by a Jeddah court showed that judges devote at least 30 percent of their duty time to completing administration, he said. Al-Qaud also called for comprehensive overhaul of the Kingdom’s 70-year old judicial system.

On his part, Dr. Ibrahim Zamzami, lawyer and legal consultant, said that there are two major hurdles facing court offices at present. The first concerns the conducting of administrative procedures for cases, such as formal procedures for accepting a petition, sending memos to clients and fixing dates for sittings, among others. All these procedures contribute to the delay in settling cases. The second handicap is related to cases. He said judges do not get enough time to study the cases thoroughly because of their extensive list of tasks, both administrative and judicial ones.

According to Zamzami, the average number of cases coming in front of a judge daily is around eight. “This happens at a time when the maximum number of cases that a judge can examine in a single day is four. After starting duty at 8 a.m., a judge has to spend at least one and half hours to finish administrative procedures before starting court procedures. So he can examine three cases until the noon prayers and one case after prayers,” he said.

Zamzami suggested that lawyers should be allowed to have access to the case files well before starting court proceedings. “This is the best way to ease the burden on court office staffers. There should also be orientation courses for office staff on how to interact with the lawyers and the public in the best possible manner,” he said, while adding that lack of civilized conduct on the part of some administrative officials has a negative impact on expediting cases.

Commenting on the issue, Majed Al-Odwani, director general of IT at the Ministry of Justice, told the newspaper the ministry is taking a series of measures to reduce the administrative burden on judges.

Most important among them is introducing an electronic service at courts. “The ministry has introduced an e-service in all correspondence with clients. A total of 40 major courts in the Kingdom have been linked with the e-system where judges can take advantage of various facilities such as video conferencing,” he said, adding that measures to bring notary offices under the e-system have already been implemented.

Al-Odwani also unveiled plans to introduce a number of other services such as linking judicial offices to other agencies including the Investigation and Public Prosecution Bureau and the Directorate of Prisons. The jail authorities will be passed online information about court sittings and other procedures. He also indicated there would be a move to appoint assistants to judges as part of expediting court proceedings.