The ministries of Interior and Water have provided the Ministry of Justice with land to establish courts near prisons in eight cities. Talks are under way to secure additional sites.
They aim to build the courts near prison sites to speed up procedures in individual cases.
Majid Al-Edwan, manager of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques project on developing the facilities, said the Justice Department acquired the land from the Ministry of Interior in Dammam, Madinah, Jeddah and Jazan.
The Justice Department seeks to acquire additional land near the prisons in Makkah, Tabuk and Alkhobar.
For prisoners in Riyadh, the Ministry of Water decided to acquire land owned by the Malaz Prison to build a criminal court. This would accommodate up to 80 judicial offices.
According to the project manager for the development of the judiciary, the Ministry of Justice adopted the designs of those courts, which allowed the transfer of prisoners to and from the courts through special passages.
This way, prisoners could attend court hearings by using the corridor between the prison and the court. These corridors are connected with elevators that link with the courtrooms, thus eliminating the possibility of interaction between prisoners and the court staff.
Al-Edwan pointed out that this move aimed to speed up court proceedings, in addition to achieving the highest level of security while transferring prisoners to and from courts.
“This project aims to reduce the cost of transporting prisoners, and provide safe means of transport for them through the corridors linked with the courts, which will be isolated from any external influences.
It also takes into account the humanitarian aspect of the prisoners being shielded from public glare,” said Al-Edwan.
The project manager confirmed that 80 percent of the Kingdom’s courts have been linked electronically with the judicial inspection department.
Ministry acquires land for new courthouses
