JEDDAH — A total of 14,018 marriage contracts were finalized last month against 4,513 divorce cases with a ratio of 3:1, local daily Al-Watan reported onTuesday quoting a report released by the Justice Ministry. The report said Makkah was first with 3,319 marriage contracts followed by Riyadh which had 2,592 and the Eastern Province 1,656. It said there were 1,511marriage contracts in Asir, 1,190 in Jazan, 1,021 in Madinah, 719 in Qasim, 394 each in Al-Jouf and Hail, 391 in Najran, 355 in Tabuk, 292 in Baha and 184 in the Northern Borders Province. The ministry said there were 1,125 divorce cases in Makkah in a month followed by Riyadh which had 1,001, Asir 419, Madinah 322, Qasim 257, Tabuk 163, Hail 148 and Al-Jouf 117. Nawwaf Al-Nabati, a lawyer, said the introduction of electronic marriage contracts has expedited the documentation more accurately and has led to the cancellation of the paper works in the courts. He said the spread of awareness of the married life among couples has resulted in a drop of divorce cases.
