A legal consultant has called upon the Justice Ministry to fulfill its promise of conducting training programs for new law graduates while some graduates have complained about law firms that exploit them by taking money for issuing experience certificates. Maram Al-Shahri, who studies law at Princess Noura University, said she faced difficulty to find a suitable law office in order to have practical training, which is important for practicing the profession. Osama Al-Motawa, a law graduate from Umm Al-Qura University agreed with Al-Shahri. "There is shortage of law firms in the country and some of them take money for issuing experience certificate, exploiting lack of monitoring authorities," he told Al-Watan Arabic daily. Suwaira Al-Osaimi, a student of Taif University, said female graduates face difficulty to get training as most law firms lack a women's section. "Other law offices will not accept women trainees." Al-Osaimi also pointed out that some law firms put difficult conditions for admission such as proficiency in English language and high marks in university exams. As a result of these difficulties, Mushabbib Al-Nimsha, a student at King Khaled University in Abha, expressed his fears about the future of legal studies and law profession in the Kingdom. "I am really afraid of entering this field. Moreover, law firms speak badly about new law graduates and they depend mainly on expat legal consultants to prepare laws and memorandums and study legal issues. As a result of this trend young Saudis miss opportunities to learn and practice law." Naif Al-Qahtani, a trained lawyer, criticized the present attitude of law firms toward new law graduates. "They exploit the new graduates forgetting their role of training new lawyers as teachers and guides to strengthen the profession," he added. "I have noticed that some law firms prevent Saudi lawyers from meeting clients to study the issue. As a result, new lawyers will not be able to prove their capabilities and talents," Al-Qahtani said. Abdullah Qassim Al-Anazi, a legal consultant, said the Justice Ministry and Saudi Bar Association were aware of the problems facing new law graduates. "We hope the ministry would take an initiative to solve this problem as quickly as possible," he told Al-Watan. "Although the ministry has promised to provide new lawyers training at Al-Adli Center, it did not take any action to implement the plan," he explained. He hoped that the Justice Ministry would play an important role in training lawyers and called for making changes to Article 3 of the Lawyers Law. He said Saudi Shariah and law colleges were producing more graduates than what is required by the market. "Most law firms were established five years ago and many of them do not have license to provide training," Al-Anazi told Al-Watan. "In order to solve the problem the Lawyers Law and its Executive Bylaw must be changed accommodating new developments." He emphasized the need to revise the law giving it a human touch. "The law should bring about a balance between public and individual interests."
