Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — Dr. Faisal Al-Fadel, member of the Shoura Council, said that Saudi Arabia’s ranking globally in the indices related to the justice system is not in line with the Kingdom’s ambitions and the goals of the Vision 2030.

“Today we are witnessing an unprecedented openness in the Saudi judicial environment, and therefore I suggest to the committee to formulate a recommendation under which the ministry would study the possibility of the Saudi judicial system adopting the jury mechanism, which is prevalent in a number of countries, while dealing with certain types of cases.

“The mechanisms of justice and litigation were not isolated from the march of development and openness,” he said while attending deliberations of the Councils’ Islamic and Judicial Affairs Committee regarding the annual report of the Ministry of Justice, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learned from sources.

It was mentioned in the report that the ministry had set a number of strategic goals and directives with the aim of developing the judicial sectors and simplifying judicial services for the beneficiaries and that is in line with the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. The ministry has approved a total of 37 strategic initiatives, of which 17 are new initiatives.

Most of the new initiatives are under various phases of implementation while two initiatives have been completed. These are the initiative to highlight the advantages of the Saudi judiciary and the dissemination of the culture of justice, and the initiative to upgrade the Kingdom’s global classification.

Al-Fadel said that the ministry did well when it recently established the International Judicial Indices and Reports Observatory, which works on international indices and reports within the ministry.

“The observatory aimed at implementing the recommendations of the World Bank, which will contribute to raising the rating, and that will be reflected through attracting foreign investments to individuals and companies so that the observatory can perform its roles effectively,” he said.

Al-Fadel suggested that the ministry could use the National Competitiveness Center, which plays an important and supportive role for all the parties concerned, and aims to improve and develop the competitive environment in the Kingdom.

“The center also works to improve the Kingdom’s ranking in relevant global indices and reports, by studying, identifying and analyzing obstacles and challenges, proposing solutions, initiatives and recommendations, following up on their implementation, in addition to launching a new generation of legislative and procedural reforms.”

During his intervention, Al-Fadel stated that he was briefed on the legislative projects that the ministry is working on, including the review and development of some of the existing systems as mentioned in the report.

He suggested that some articles of the Judicial Law needs to be reviewed and developed in a way to be consistent with the Basic Law of Governance and in line with the objectives of the Vision 2030 and what the Shoura Council issued regarding this law.