RIYADH — The Shariah courts will freeze the bank accounts of any one refusing to pay alimony money to his ex-wife and children, Al-Hayat newspaper reported Monday quoting an official source at the Ministry of Justice. “In collaboration with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the courts have actually frozen the bank accounts of a number of men who refused to pay alimony to their children and ex-wives and will continue to do so,” said Dr. Nasser Al-Oud, adviser to the justice minister. He said when the father refuses or stops paying alimony, the court sends his ID number to SAMA, which instructs all commercial banks to freeze his accounts. “This measure has been in effect for a long time now and will be further toughened,” he said. Al-Oud revealed that the ministry was very close to completing a special program that would show the number of divorce cases in the Kingdom and their causes. He said under the program, which will be used by courts all over the country, men who apply for divorce would have to reply to a number of questions on why they wanted to leave their wives. He said: “We are very close to finalizing the program. “Divorce applicants will have to answer about 10 questions that aim to provide the court with convincing data on divorces.” Al-Oud said the questions will focus on the applicant's age, number of children, income, education, how long he has been married and other relevant questions concerning the causes of divorce. “The court will rule on the application for divorce after assessing all the answers,” he said. He said the program would provide the ministry with the exact number of divorce cases and detailed reasons for them. “The current statistics about divorces in the Kingdom lack accuracy and only cover certain categories of society,” he said. Al-Oud said the program would enable the courts to thoroughly study the causes of divorce and work on reducing their numbers as much as possible. “The program will also provide accurate data about divorces to the interested universities and research centers,” he said. He said many countries were using this program to find out the exact number of divorce cases. “The program requires electronic coordination between the courts and the ministry,” he said. Al-Oud revealed family reconciliation offices attached to the courts have been able to resolve several differences between married couples. “These offices have settled about 80 percent of divorce cases before they come before the courts,” he said.
