Judges instructed to refrain from using signature stamps

The Ministry of Justice has instructed judges to stop using signature stamps that replicate their handwritten signatures for signing crucial documents.
The move comes in the wake of the ministry discovering several forgeries on documents and deeds issued by courts.
The ministry said that it is imperative that original, handwritten, signatures be used to prove the absolute authenticity of any decision or ruling taken by a judge.
The Supreme Judiciary Council moved to close any loopholes that may affect the integrity or authenticity of official papers issued by the courts.
A local daily learned that the council has banned the use of signature stamps and asked that judges use handwritten signatures instead.
Following the move made by the council, the Ministry of Justice issued strict instructions to judges to stop using the signature stamps.
The ministry has recently issued a directive saying that “pursuant to the decision taken by the Supreme Judiciary Council, judges must from now refrain from using signature stamps and should themselves sign on the documents using their own handwritten signatures.”
The decision would effectively nullify contracts with parties that make signature stamps by imitating handwritten signatures.
Khalid Al-Babtain, a lawyer, said that the move by the Ministry of Justice “certainly protects the documents signed by the judges from being forged and protects judges and other people from the liabilities that may arise as a result of forgery.”
“It is all too easy to imitate signature stamps. Handwritten signatures, on the other hand, are much more difficult to imitate. And of course, criminal investigation can detect whether or not a signature is forged or inauthentic,” he concluded.