MIDDLE EAST:Saudi officials, lawyers and reformers have welcomed a major restructuring of the kingdom's justice system decreed this week by King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz.
The reforms, which are expected to improve treatment of personal status issues and the business environment, involves the replacement of the Supreme Judicial Council with a sup- reme court, an appeals court and courts to deal with personal, trade and labour disputes.
Nearly $2 billion has been allocated for training judges and constructing courts. Justice minister Abdullah al-Shaikh said the measures "will bring about qualitative change in the kingdom's judicial system". The formerly all-powerful Supreme Judicial Council will be limited to reviewing administrative matters and appointments. Saudi judges have been able to issue rulings in accordance with their personal interpretation of Islamic canon law and have resisted codification and reliance on precedent when deciding cases. Defendants often have no legal representation and no right of appeal. Internationally recognised legal standards have not applied.
While Islamic Sharia remains the law of the land, reformers argue that conservative clerics will lose their grip on the system. "Anything which helps to clarify and codify the application of law in Saudi Arabia is positive and welcome," stated Bernard Savage, the EU representative in Riyadh.
The Saudi daily newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat observed: "Developing the judiciary and its systems is the main gateway to reform and modernisation in Saudi Arabia."
The new measures will create a "law culture" in the society, channel disputes to the specialised courts, lead to the establishment of facilities for training lawyers and judges, produce legal technocrats and provide professional opportunities. Litigants will not have to wait for years for resolution of disputes.
Reform has been expected since Saudi Arabia joined the World Trade Organisation in 2005.
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