JEDDAH: The Ministry of Justice has launched a new fingerprinting system to identify women who come to court, said Dr. Muhammad Bin Abdul Kareem Al-Issa, Minister of Justice. This will replace the old system where judges had to summon guardians or witnesses to ascertain the identity of the women who have to appear before the court. This will also prevent criminals impersonating women. Al-Issa said the system has been introduced in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior. When a woman appears before the judge she first enters her identity number and then places her thumb on the e-printer. All her personal details would then appear including her name. He said the system protects the privacy of women because now they would not need to uncover their faces. He said this will be applied at notaries public for services related to the issuing of powers of attorney and proxies. He said the system puts an end to cheating and impersonations. For instance, there was once a husband who claimed that the woman who appeared in the court was his wife and she had agreed to settle their dispute and drop her case against him. Later, the judge discovered that the woman was his sister and he had given false testimony under oath to obstruct justice. He said the ministry is working on a legislation criminalizing false claims. The new law is also meant to save judges' time. Additionally, the ministry will soon implement a law that will prevent litigants from delaying court cases. The new law empowers judges to make a ruling whether the litigants are present or not. Al-Issa postponed the inauguration of the new building of the General Court in Jeddah Tuesday until the premises of 30 courts are completed in two weeks' time. He also revealed a plan by the ministry to rent buildings for the district courts in Jeddah until the completion of the 390 buildings included in the King's Judiciary Reform Program. He said the new buildings include chambers for lawyers and general prosecutors.
