The Ministry of Justice has withdrawn the licenses of 13 marriage registrars for allegedly committing irregularities, local media said.

The sacking of the marriage clerks came in the wake of the repeated marriage cases, notably in squatter towns in southern Jeddah, between citizens and resident women without the required approvals from competent authorities, Al-Watan daily said.

The Head of Marriage Directorate at the Ministry of Justice Mohamed Al-Babtin said the number of authorized marriage registrars Kingdom-wide is reaching 6,000. “The person responsible for legalizing the marriage contracts should have a license to authorize him to do so in accordance with guidelines set by the marriage registrars’ code,” he said.

Meanwhile, an informed source confirmed with the paper that the ministry has withdrawn the licenses of a number of marriage registrars for committing certain irregularities including conducting marriages of resident women at home or completing the procedures without an approval from the competent authorities. On the other hand, legal adviser Abdulrahman Al-Shahrani said that the Shoura Council had earlier tabled a proposal for imposing a fine of SR100,000 on citizens who marry resident women without authorization, but the proposal was never implemented.