Lawyers are fundamental to the justice system in the Kingdom and their importance has been recognized by the country's leadership, according to Dr. Muhammad Bin Abdul Kareem Al-Issa, the Minister of Justice. Al-Issa made the comments while addressing the final session, in Riyadh Sunday, of the Forum of Lawyers and Legal Advisers organized by the Saudi Council of Chambers of Commerce and the Legal Training Center. He said lawyers play a fundamental role in the Saudi justice system, which is reflected in the tasks they carry out in courts and other judiciary bodies. He also praised the work of the forum in developing the profession. “The forum is unique and important, because it reflects the great efforts made by the lawyers themselves to upgrade the standard of the profession in the Kingdom,” the minister said. He also praised the efforts of lawyers to produce guidelines for the new system governing the profession, which would first be endorsed by the Ministry of Justice and then submitted to King Abdullah for final approval. He said judges have also welcomed the role of lawyers at courts because they help to speed up the judicial process. He added that Saudi lawyers have also established good reputations in international circles. Once the new system is approved, the Ministry of Justice will assign some time-consuming tasks of judges to lawyers, particularly some documentation procedures. The ministry has already assigned some of the tasks connected to the tragic Jeddah floods to lawyers as per the royal order, said Al-Issa. He said the ministry is considering increasing the number of judges in courts. However, this did not mean there is a major problem in finalizing cases, which in any case, is a problem worldwide. Al-Issa said the delays at the Kingdom's courts lies in the weak setup of the judiciary office, as shown by the studies carried out by the ministry. “In spite of this, the number of judges who consider cases at courts in the Kingdom exceeds the international rate. Another factor to be added to this is that the judges are engaged in work, which is supposed to be carried out by the judiciary office. Judges should be fully devoted to looking into and resolving cases. However, this shows that there is a pressing need to study the reasons behind the delay of cases at courts.” He said that the ministry hopes to expand training programs. Some judges have been sent to European countries to learn about court procedures. He said some of them have already come back with proposals to simplify procedures at Saudi courts. He said the ministry will also send a number of Saudi lawyers abroad, after nominations are made by the National Committee for Lawyers. He said one of the most important characteristics of the new system for lawyers is that it prevents unprofessional and unqualified people from practicing the profession in the Kingdom. He added that the immunity which Saudi lawyers enjoy is not currently defined in a written system but this would be resolved at some stage. He denied there are major problems between judges and lawyers, but added that there are differences of opinions on some procedures.
