Fast-track courts open

Justice Minister Muhammed Al-Issa has launched a system of fast disposal of legal cases at the Social Status Court (SSC) in Riyadh.
“The system of making decisions in a single sitting on cases that do not require detailed study has been implemented in the Social Status Court in Riyadh. The system will be extended to other courts gradually,” Al-Issa, who is also chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), said while inaugurating a system of special courts, including courts for commercial and labor disputes and courts for implementation of verdicts issued by other courts.
The new special courts will take away the existing huge burden on general courts as all cases will be classified according to their topics and then transferred to special independent courts, the minister said.
The move will also speed up the decision-making process in each court, as a court will look into issues of a particular category only, a local Arabic daily reported on Wednesday.
SJC member Mohammed Mirdad said that the special courts system has been launched in line with the aspirations of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to reform and speed up the legal procedure
in the country besides restructuring the SJC, the supreme court and the two appeal courts in Riyadh and Makkah, in addition to opening 11 new appeal courts in other provinces.
The restructuring will also include the setting up of labor courts, commercial courts, general courts, social status courts and courts for implementation, Mirdad said.
“The setting up of special independent courts of implementation in Makkah, Riyadh and Jeddah, and its circles in general courts in other cities will be instrumental in the speedy implementation of verdicts issued by other courts which, in turn, will protect the people's rights and avoid procrastination,” Undersecretary for Sequestration and Execution at the ministry Khaled Al-Dawood said.
He added that requests for the implementation of 69,000 court orders involving a sum of SR26 billion were made over the past nine months.
The ministry has laid down detailed plans to implement the restructuring of the legal system in coordination with the SJC, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Civil Service for the creation of the required number of new legal posts in the courts, assistant undersecretary for courts affairs at the ministry Muhammed Al-Aqil said.
He said 3,700 new legal staff members had been appointed and a number of training programs launched for them.
He added that 115 new court buildings and notaries have been commissioned in various parts of the country.