JEDDAH, 22 October 2004 — Saudi lawyers say they plan to raise objections to 37 articles of the Code of Law Practice and the Law of Procedure before Shariah courts “because the executive rules of these laws contradict their original text.”
Sources said a group of lawyers intend to write to the Minister of Justice, Dr. Abdullah Al-Sheikh, calling for amending the executive rules that contradict the laws.
These have been in effect for the past two years and the lawyers now say they find difficulty in dealing with the said rules because of the contradiction between these and the original laws.
The lawyers argue that the executive rules contain additions and amendments to some of the articles contained in the Code of the Law Practice and the Law of Procedure before Shariah courts. Any such changes, the lawyers argue, is the responsibility of the judiciary and not the executive branch.
The complaints cover 22 observations the lawyers cited against the Law of Procedure and 15 against the Code of the Law Practice. In one case the lawyers referred to Article 5 of the Law of Procedure which states that the case shall be “filed by at least three citizens in any matter involving public interest to be accepted” if there is no official agency in charge of that interest in the town, whereas in the executive rules it is mentioned that the case shall be filed by the town dignitaries without specifying any number of individuals involved.
Another article links accepting the case against government agencies with the approval of the higher authorities while the executive rules do not mention such condition.
The lawyers also objected to the composition of the disciplinary board set up by the minister of justice to consider the imposition of penalties on lawyers who violate the provisions of the laws, saying the executive rules say the disciplinary body shall be headed by a judge while the Code of the Law Practice states that the minister himself shall name the person to chair the board.
