Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Personal Status Court in Riyadh has revealed that it has taken measures to expedite cases involving minors.

A report issued by the court said such cases would be settled within two days in general or a maximum of 10 working days, in contrast to several months in the past.

The measures were adopted following directives from Justice Minister Dr. Waleed Al-Samaani, who launched several initiatives to expedite minors' cases. These included a project for the re-engineering of procedures, paperless appeals and amendments to some of the executive regulations in the Law of Civil Procedures.

"Numerous cases have been determined in a matter of two or three days, while the maximum time-frame was 10 working days. Such cases used to take several months before the procedures were re-engineered. This major shift resulted from several initiatives directed by the justice minister," Sheikh Saad Al-Saif, the head of the Personal Status Court in Riyadh, said.

He also explained that the competent department at the court had resolved, during the year 1438, more than 577 applications on behalf of minors. They had to do with permits, such as the sale and purchase of property and non-objection to borrowing or to introducing them into companies. Such cases used to take several months, and the progress reflected positively on the value of these properties and their attractiveness to investors.

"The initiatives include the paperless appeal project, which has reduced the time required for sending documents to the appellate court from several days to several minutes. An application can be ratified within two hours of submitting it. The amendment of some articles of the Civil Procedure Law, which authorizes property conveyance to notaries after ratification of the ruling by the appellate court — had also contributed a great deal to ease the caseload on judicial departments. What also helped was the assignment of a special notary at the Personal Status Court to take care of related issues," Al-Saif added.

"The delay in some cases of this sort was due to circumstances related to the parties, not judicial procedures. The justice minister has often stressed respect for the rights of minors, and giving priority to their applications to achieve the ministry's vision of swift justice," said Sheikh Abdullah Al-Rashoud, a judge in the court.

The objectives of the Justice Ministry in expediting the court procedures was in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which aims at improving services and achieving satisfaction of clients, especially those with special circumstances, such as minors, women, the elderly and troops on the frontlines.