Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Justice Minister Waleed Al-Samaani has revealed that 85 reform initiatives are currently being implemented by the Ministry of Justice. He revealed this while speaking at a meeting of the Saudi Society for Opinion Writers.

He said the initiatives were being carried out in three phases: infrastructure, especially digital transformation and necessary legislative amendments, speeding up procedures to achieve a competitive edge for the Kingdom, and establishing principles to ensure judicial safeguards.

He clarified that the ministry was seeking feedback from the public, as well as clients’ ratings of judicial services.

“Codification is a necessity and a settled issue,” Al-Samaani said, noting that disparity in judicial principles is risky in both financial and civil matters.

“After carrying out extensive studies, we will use artificial intelligence for determining average sentences, then regard the average as the relatively fair sentence to be taken into consideration by judges,” said Al-Samaani.

He also noted that the ministry was working to instill institutionalism into the legal profession.

“Over the past three years, we have reduced the number of probate cases handled by judges, which will be mostly transferred to notaries under the draft Law of Notarization to be issued soon,” Al-Samaani explained.

“The notarization of various contracts has reduced the influx of cases since they could be directly implemented by the enforcement courts,” he added.

As for the suspension of services, Al-Samaani said: “The Ministry of Justice does not suspend services.”

The judiciary only wants to prevent financial transactions with dilatory debtor under a judicial ruling or decision, he added.

“The ministry is working on eliminating enforcement rulings and penalties based on formally valid claims by lenders exploiting the needs of low-income people,” Al-Samaani said.

The minister also emphasized that he had previously met with Minister of Health Tawfiq Al-Rabiah to discuss transferring the full jurisdiction of medical error issues to the Ministry of Justice. “The ministry will seek the help of consultancies regarding such cases,” he said.