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The authority also seized ready-to-use marijuana that was being stored with the intention of selling in the country
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Saudi Arabia plans training for judges
Changes to the legal system are seen by analysts as crucial for wider social and economic reforms aimed at reconciling Saudi Arabia’s traditions with the demands of a young population and modern economy.
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it would set up training centres for its judges in a move that should accelerate judicial reforms in the kingdom.
Changes to the legal system are seen by analysts as crucial for wider social and economic reforms aimed at reconciling Saudi Arabia’s traditions with the demands of a young population and modern economy.
However, some clerics in the kingdom have opposed any change to the judiciary, seeing the country’s legal system of Shariah cannot be changed by temporal authorities.
A cabinet statement reported by the Saudi Press Agency said the training centres, run by the Justice Ministry, would focus on the “efficiency and performance” of judges and other officials.
Saudi judges are clerics who preside over everything from economic, criminal to political cases using Islamic jurisprudence. Educated at state-run madrassas, they learn how to interpret judicial texts and apply them in court as they see fit, without reference to precedence.
“All judges, assistant judges, clerks and court secretaries need a huge amount of training and upgrading of their skills,” said Majid Garoub, a prominent lawyer.
Some people in the judiciary and the Justice Ministry have tried to block the training and other reforms including the introduction of specialised courts for different branches of law and women practising as lawyers.
Earlier this year the local Al Jazeera newspaper reported that 200 judges had written to the king attacking the reforms.
Justice Minister Mohammed Al Issa was appointed in 2009 to accelerate the reforms. In 2012 he was also made head of the Supreme Judicial Council, the body that oversees judges’ performance and new judicial appointments.
The king appointed 183 new judges last year, and has approved the creation of 5,000 new positions for judges to help unblock bottlenecks in the legal system.
The change is seen as important for investors, who now mainly rely on boards of arbitration similar to those used in commercial disputes in some Western countries. “It is one of the main issues for international investments, but (the legal framework) is a little bit obscure now. People do not know exactly what is going on,” said Fawaz Al Alamy, a former deputy minister of commerce and industry who helped negotiate Saudi Arabia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation.
The world’s top oil exporter has pushed economic reforms aimed at diversifying its economy and reducing the reliance on energy exports by encouraging more private sector activity.
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