The latest figures show that the Jeddah Criminal Court dealt with more than 31,500 cases during the past six months.

“Twenty-one judges working on a monthly average of 1,500 cases per judge, issued rulings in 31,500 cases over the past six months. This average is three times higher than that which is actually required of each judge,” President of the court Abdul Aziz Al-Shathri said in a statement to Arab News.

Al-Shathri said that the highest number of cases were related to drug trafficking, liquor consumption, immorality, disobedience to parents, swindling, debts of less than SR20,000, harassment of women, use of abusive language, making baseless charges, juvenile crimes, information crimes, violence, money laundering and traffic violations. Its jurisdiction also covers murder cases, vandalism, crimes for which the Shariah has prescribed punishments, bribery, forgery and weapons possession.

After two and a half years of continuous efforts, the location of the court is being shifted to a building in the northwest of Jeddah on King’s Road, because the existing court building on Tahliah Street does not have the space for all the subsidiary courts and offices for the 21 judges, Al-Shathri said.

By the end of the current month, the shifting of the court to the new premises is expected to be completed. Al-Shathri and a team of judges have been doing their best to find a suitable building for the court with the support of the Justice Ministry and the Supreme Judiciary Council. The amenities at the new court premises include separate waiting lounges for men and women and lounges and corridors for prisoners, and offices for the Bureau of Investigations and Public Prosecution, offices for the rival parties in cases, administrative offices and the archive, prayer hall and the reception office.

In the meantime, the courts will be operating in rented buildings.