Officials at the Ministry of Justice have asked judges about their progress within newly implemented performance-monitoring mechanisms.

The ministry defined three categories, namely the “green,” “yellow” and “red” categories, to assess the number of hours put in against the number of achievements made by each judge.

The ministry is to send monthly e-mails measuring the performance of individual judges.

The Justice Ministry earlier confirmed that a ratio of seven judges for every 100,000 citizens is a typical international standard and that “The ratio in Saudi Arabia is twice this figure compared to many European countries.” The number of judges in the Kingdom has doubled in the last four years to more than 5,000 judges.

Judges look into 14 to 20 cases every day. Recent statistics have showed an increase in the number of cases handled by legislative judges.

In addition, cases that are held off pending further investigation for final ruling add to the work pressure on courts.

The Ministry of Justice fired 40 judicial employees last year, while salaries were cut for neglect and delays in finalizing paperwork. The opening of magistrate’s courts has reduced the burden on judges.

These courts handled more than 17,000 cases of family disputes in one year, most notably cases of divorce, child custody, alimony, as well as real estate and traffic cases.

There were 103,000 cases at the general court last year, while administrative courts handled 99,000 cases. The grievances court has invoked legislation that aim to speed up case processes.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah earlier announced a plan to develop the judicial body and enhance its independence and allocated SR7 billion toward the process. The plan will come up with solutions for shortages in judicial staff, complicated procedures and poor performance of judges.

Regulations of the Justice Ministry allow the appointment of holders of a bachelor degree in Islamic law, while the Court of Grievances appoints only those with a master’s degree.