JEDDAH, 13 November 2007 — A top judge in Jeddah has said that the country’s courts are not to be blamed for the long delay in disposing of cases and passing judgments on people awaiting trial in detention.
Rashid Al-Huza, president of the Jeddah General Court, said in a press statement on Sunday that some external factors were the root cause of excessive delays in passing judgments.
“A recent study undertaken to pinpoint the real causes of delays in court cases ... found that that delays were caused by related departments rather than the courts themselves,” the judge said.
The study of 30 prisoners awaiting trial found that one unnamed department was solely responsible for 47 percent of the delays, said Al-Huza, adding that other unnamed departments were responsible for 35 percent of the delays, Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported yesterday.
“Only 13 percent of delayed cases were attributed to the courts,” he said, adding that court delays were not be blamed on the judges but on departments that fail to provide judges with necessary case details.
“Without all the details, how can a judge study cases and issue a fair judgment?” he said.
According to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Interior, security authorities detain without trial people who commit crimes that are punishable by execution or amputation.
These crimes include premeditated or partially premeditated murder, terrorism, breach of security, possession of weapons and ammunition, car theft, assault resulting in the loss or serious impairment of an organ or part of it or that which hospitalizes a victim for more than 15 days, destruction of public or private property worth more than SR5,000, attacking security men or damaging their vehicles or equipment, using or threatening to use a firearm, breaking into a home with the aim of attacking, raping, robbing or violating someone’s privacy, possession or production of alcohol, drug related crimes, prostitution, pimping, counterfeiting currency, money laundering, forgery, bribery, impersonating a government official, embezzling government funds and assaulting one’s parents.
Huza added that as part of efforts to expedite judicial procedures, the general court is planning to launch its own website.
“The website would be instrumental in saving a lot of time and energy for the public. They would no longer need to wait at the court. They would just need to make a visit to collect their final documents,” Huza said.
Stressing the need for the online linking of various departments for better performance of the judiciary, Huza said that the general court in Jeddah has already started operating a networking system.
“Various offices related to the court, such as the verification and registration office, the property registration and deeds office, and the public notice office have already been connected to the court,” Huza said.
He added that the Ministry of Justice would take necessary steps to link the general courts with other departments such as jails, the governor’s office and other courts.
