JEDDAH — The Ministry of Justice announced its plan to establish specialized centers for implementing visitation and custody rulings in order to help families find suitable places to meet. These centers are part of "Shaml" initiative, which the ministry launched in cooperation with civil society. The ministry started preparing 47 centers across 11 cities and regions in cooperation with non-profit organizations as part of its National Transformation Program 2020. It has based its planning for these centers on a number of regional and global case studies of similar centers in countries such as the UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Australia and the United Kingdom. "We are expanding on the Shaml initiative, which was first launched on October 2018," explained the ministry. "Our aim is to provide safety and security to clients and workers in addition to providing the necessary social and psychological support to parents in disputes. We want to ensure the protection of rights and safety of children in specific." The initiative was launched to provide support to courts in cases that require social and psychological evaluation. In addition, it helps increase cooperation between the ministry and other government and social entities that provide community services. Custody and visitation centers will provide numerous services to clients including social, psychological and legal support sessions throughout the year. The ministry will soon expand the program to more than 50 centers across the Kingdom.
