shows by litigants, which cause inordinate delays in court cases – especially labor cases – will soon be a thing of the past in Saudi Arabia. A new draft law being examined by the Experts Committee of the Council of Ministers has enough provisions to bring about a quantum leap in caseflow management, said Dr Abdullah Al-Yahyia, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice. Accordingly, no ruse to delay court cases or block enforcement of judgments will work, he said. The 99-article draft law vastly empowers judges by allowing them to also enforce judgments. For example, the judge will have the power to sentence any father to three months in prison for impeding judgment on custody, guardianship or visitation rights to minor children. The new law allows use of force to execute judgments on divorce, custody and all other cases based on the Status Law. This includes intervention of the security forces concerned for forcible entry into a house under court order.The Ministry of Justice has trained a number of judges on the new law that will bring about comprehensive judicial reforms in the Kingdom. Similarly, judges will be empowered to enforce judgments in cases involving uncovered checks and bills of exchange, and impose a travel ban on the guilty. The law empowers the executive judge to jail a debtor who fails to obey a judgment. However, if it is proven that the debtor has the financial capability to repay the debt, the judge should not send him to jail. Six new executive judges – two in Riyadh and one each in Dammam, Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah – have already been appointed A specialist circuit for enforcement of civil judgments will be set up, to deal with administrative, financial and executive matters such as licensing debt collectors, debtor executors and liquidators. The new law also authorizes the Supreme Judiciary Council to order establishment of executive courts other than the ones functioning under the Ministry of Justice, if the need arises. Decisions of the executive judge can be appealed but the appeal verdict would be final and irrevocable.
