The Minister of Justice and Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council Sheikh Dr. Waleed Bin Muhammad Al-Samaani has issued directives to launch the second phase of court sessions audiovisual documentation allocated for Makkah Province courts, after completion of the first phase allotted for Riyadh City courts, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Monday. The ministry disclosed that the documentation of sessions in Riyadh courts has covered over 77,000 court sessions during the first phase, for a period of two months. The pertinent authorities have documented the sessions in 150 circuits. In this regard, the Criminal Court topped the list in terms of number of sessions documented, totaling 45,000 court sessions, followed by the General Court with over 26,000 court sessions and the Labor Court with nearly 5,000 sessions. For easy search and access, the recording system ties hearings to their time through the Najiz court system. The goal is to streamline judicial work and enable review by the parties and judges; and most importantly, by the Supreme Judicial Council. Meanwhile, the ministry is working on the digital development of the documented sessions' data. The court session documentation process aims to facilitate work by transforming all that is going on during litigations into digital form that can be reviewed by the parties to the case and the judge. This would decrease the complaints in this connection, in addition to protecting the rights of the judge and litigants, as all that is going on in the session will be recorded (both audio and visual). Furthermore, the Supreme Judicial Council has the right to see and hear the documented court sessions, as this comes under its jurisdiction. The Ministry of Justice is in the process of taking advantage of technology via a set of projects and initiatives to raise the level of performance. This will have a positive impact on the beneficiary from judicial services. — SPA
