JEDDAH, 25 May 2006 — The Justice Ministry intends to establish a series of specialized courts, including three state security courts in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam as well as family, traffic and commercial courts.
“The new courts will operate in line with the Kingdom’s general judicial system and people will have the right to appeal their verdicts,” Justice Minister Abdullah Al-Asheikh said.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has instructed the establishment of special courts to deal with family violence in the country. Higher authorities have also approved the formation of traffic courts to take speedy action on traffic accident cases.
Al-Asheikh also disclosed his ministry’s plan to appoint 300 new judges this summer. “State security courts will start working very soon,” he pointed out.
In a previous statement Interior Minister Prince Naif said the government would set up a special state security court to try Al-Qaeda militants held for their involvement in terrorist attacks across the country.
The setting up of specialized courts comes as part of judicial reforms introduced by the government in April last year. According to the new plan, a supreme court will be established in Riyadh and new appeals courts in each of the Kingdom’s 13 regions.
Under the new justice system, there will be general courts to deal with all conflicts except labor, commercial and family disputes and criminal courts to address crimes. Civil courts will handle family and personal conflicts.
The ministry has also set up special sections for the reconciliation of defendants and plaintiffs to achieve peaceful settlement of conflicts. “The move aims at achieving the objectives of Shariah, which prefers the peaceful settlement of conflicts between people, and cutting down the number of court cases,” Al-Asheikh said.
The minister emphasized the significance of an out-of-court settlement as it promotes good relations between defendants and plaintiffs and helps them win their rights in a way acceptable to both.
The courts will have peacemaking sections set up in phases. “These sections will be established in courts that deal with cases related to public rights and personal disputes. It will be linked with the chief justice and manned by experts,” he said.
Al-Asheikh said the new sections would deal with marital and family disputes.
Divorce is a major social problem in the Kingdom. Courts register 25 to 35 divorce cases daily. An average of 16,000 divorces take place annually out of a total of 66,000 marriages.
The heads of families, such as fathers or eldest brothers, are responsible in 80 percent of family violence cases, while the victims in 75 percent of cases are women and children. Many cases of abuse of children and women go unrecorded because the victim doesn’t know where to seek help or perhaps is afraid or ashamed to speak of the problem.
