Government | Friday 13 February, 2015 7:57 am |

A drop in the number of judges and the high number of vacancies at the Justice Department has led to the accumulation of unresolved court cases, especially in the most populated regions, the Shoura Council revealed.

Shoura members urged the Ministry of Justice to fill vacant jobs in judiciary, as well as to encourage participation and employment of women in judiciary. Other recommendations included taking advantage of unemployed judges and to raise awareness of judicial procedures among the country’s citizens.
The Shoura attributed the increase in the number of unresolved cases in the courts to the absence of an arbitration culture.

While Shoura member Mohammed Al-Naji praised the efforts of the ministry to train more than 1,600 judges during the past year, he said the reports do not necessarily address alternative sanctions, especially for parties who lose cases.

According to Al-Naji, there have been requests to open nine new general courts while six other personal status courts have not been implemented, since the Supreme Judicial Council has not yet reached a decision regarding this issue.
Several Shoura members indicated that the Ministry of Justice has a weak infrastructure, as well as a chronic shortage of buildings and judges and called on the ministry to establish new courts in different regions of the Kingdom