Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s Attorney General Sheikh Saud Al-Muajab launched the procedural guide of the Public Prosecution for supervising prisons and detention centers.

The guide contains the procedures for supervising the execution of criminal judgments, and monitoring and inspection of prisons and detention centers. The launching ceremony was held in the presence of Deputy Attorney General Sheikh Shalaan bin Rajeh Al-Shalaan during the annual meeting of the regional heads of Public Prosecution held in the Asir region.

Speaking on the occasion, Sheikh Al-Muajab underlined the need to fully comply with the provisions of this guide as well as to intensify judicial procedures to directly supervise the implementation of criminal verdicts to bring about prompt justice. He also underscored the necessity to raise the efficiency of the prosecution work related to detainees and prisoners, and to accelerate the court procedures of their cases according to the law, as well as to receive their complaints and address them promptly. He urged to give detainees and prisoners special priority and to intensify monitoring rounds in this regard.

On his part, Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Prison Control and Sentence Execution Sheikh Fahd Al-Rashoud briefed on the mechanism of drafting this guide, the legislative stages it went through, and the procedural experiences at the local and international levels, in line with the regulations that are in force, and the most important legal articles included in the guide.

The guide has several salient features with regard to the work of judicial oversight over prisons and the supervision of the execution of sentences, including the re-governance of judicial procedures taken by the competent members of the Public Prosecution, and the institutional organization with specific and documented tasks and procedures. The guide also contains unified work models, in line with the Law of Criminal Procedures and its executive regulations; the Law of Public Prosecution and the relevant international regulations, treaties and charters.

It is noteworthy that the guide included organized judicial procedures in monitoring judicial inspection of the places where seized items were kept so as to ensure the judicial protection of assets, property, financial values and other seizures, especially those subject to confiscation.

It is also mentioned that the Public Prosecution has recently launched a number of procedural guides regulating its judicial work. These included the Public Prosecution’s manual of instructions and the guide regulating the work of the Public Prosecution, and it periodical reviews and mechanisms of the prosecution procedures.