Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – The Council of Ministers on Monday decided to establish a center to improve the efficiency and performance of judges and the judicial staff at the general and administrative courts in the Kingdom. Prince Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier, Adviser and Special Envoy of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Yamamah Palace here. Minister of Health and Acting Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah said that the Cabinet approved the establishment of the center after reviewing the minutes of the Higher Committee for Administrative Organization with regard to providing training to notaries and all others who assist judges. The center will be within the organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice and linked to minister of justice, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The center aims at improving the efficiency and performance of judges, notaries, clerks and other assistants of judges in the public and administrative courts. The role of the center will be confined to organizing training programs, working sessions, practical workshops, meetings and seminars directly related to the job tasks of the concerned sections of court staff. The center will have a Director General with 15th rank in order to oversee the center's departments and its divisions, besides running the center. After reviewing a report presented by the minister of interior and a decision of the Shoura Council, Dr. Al-Rabeeah said, the Cabinet approved amendment in Article 4 of the prison and detention law. The amendment gives authority to the minister of interior, in terms of crimes affecting national security, to make a statement regarding the name and details of the prisoner or detainee involved in any of these crimes, whenever their case has been widely publicized or it involved an abuse of truth. This will be to serve a public or private interest, and the method of this statement will be determined by the executive bylaw of the prison and detention law. The Cabinet also approved the unified rules to give priority for domestic products from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in government purchases. These rules were adopted by the meeting of the GCC Committee for Financial and Economic Cooperation, held in Riyadh in October 2013. The Cabinet also welcomed the outcome of the recent visits of Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, to Pakistan and Japan, and the signing of agreements in various fields to serve the interests of the Kingdom and its people.
