After reading an article in the Al-Watan newspaper published on June 13 that said that 53 Saudi lawyers were given licenses to start practicing law in the Kingdom, I called a lawyer friend of mine. I asked him about the conditions that need to be met in order for these lawyers to be awarded licenses. He replied by saying that a university degree and experience are the main requirements. I asked him: “Isn’t there a condition to identify the type of cases that these lawyers should defend in court?” So my lawyer friend responded by asking me the reason why I was asking such a silly question. I told him, “You’ll find out later on.”
A.T. Al-Yami, another lawyer friend of mine, has a law license given to him by the Ministry of Justice like many other Saudi lawyers. He trained in a major legal office in Jeddah for seven years and said that on May 9, 2006, he was in the penal court in Jeddah at the judicial office No. 4 as a legal attorney representing Dr. M. A.
The latter had a court case similar to that of Nabel Al-Ramadan. If you remember, Al-Ramadan had hired two women to work in his “Ranoosh” restaurant in Qatif and was sentenced to 90 lashes, and nine months in jail after he was taken to court for violating Saudi laws.
After Al-Yami had patiently waited for his turn for two hours, the judge asked him to sit down so he did. The judge asked him, “I’ll ask you a question and you have to answer by telling the truth, are you Sunni or Ismaili?” The lawyer answered by saying he was an Ismaili, so the judge said, “Take your ID and your attorneyship and get out because I will not accept anything from you. Let your client come and represent himself or tell him to look for a Sunni lawyer.” So the lawyer answered by saying that he possessed an official license from the Ministry of Justice and that his attorneyship is legal. He insisted that it was his right to practice law as a Saudi citizen. So the judge replied, “I don’t like Shias and you’re not welcome.”
After a long discussion, the lawyer threatened to file a complaint against him with the authorities, so eventually the judge agreed to continue the trial on this occasion saying he wouldn’t accept any other cases from Al-Yami.
I found out later that the judge was a close friend of Jameel Farsi, the famous Jeddah jeweler, and so I told him about the incident. Jameel told me later that the judge had defended his action by saying that this is how the system is.
Based on this information, I concluded the following. Either Al-Yami doesn’t know about this system, where lawyers receive their licenses based on certain criteria or the judge voluntarily spoke about an unwritten code. It seems that only among certain judges is Al-Yami not allowed to appear in court. This Ismaili lawyer had been practicing law without being questioned by other judges in Jeddah about his sect for a considerable time. I believe that the majority of lawyers come from a variety of backgrounds, including Ismaili and Sunni. Or perhaps there is a certain group of people who have their own definitions of Shariah basics and national unity under the umbrella of Islam.
Only the minister of justice can confirm any of the mentioned possibilities. The ministry is the place where lawyers are issued their licenses and the minister is the person who needs to clarify statement this issue. A clarification that we hopefully will be able to read in detail in the near future.
— Qenan Al-Ghamdi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at: [email protected].
