WHEN King Abdullah announced his changes to the cabinet in February, Saudis were thrilled that measures were being taken to modernize our government and make it more accessible to Saudis and non-Saudis. Comments made recently to Saudi reporters by Muhammad Al-Issa, the new minister of Justice, confirms what I had thought all along that changes in the Saudi judicial system were finally on the horizon. Al-Issa is taking up the responsibility of codifying Shariah. Our current legal structure has tarnished Saudi Arabia's reputation of dispensing fair and equitable justice and has allowed personal bias, tribal issues and other concerns that affect the lives of thousands of Saudis. Al-Issa told a reporter that the “code will be made mandatory on all judges in the absence of a better opinion.” By codifying our laws, the ministry in effect establishes an operating manual that offers distinct guidelines, rules and regulations on how to handle child custody issues, divorce, and domestic abuse, specific sentencing procedures for criminal offenses, such as drug abuse and trafficking, and other issues. A bright spot, and somewhat of a surprise, is Al-Issa's offhand remark to a reporter that the Ministry of Justice will seek “foreign expertise to improve its infrastructure facilities.” The comment is annoyingly vague as to whether he means expertise in “infrastructure facilities” as in building courthouses or if he means the Saudi judicial infrastructure. I guess it's the latter. I hope this means bringing in legal experts not only from other Muslim countries that use a combination of Shariah and secular laws but from the West as well. We should consider implementing some – and I emphasize some – Western concepts based on the US Constitution, for example, in the Saudi judicial system. Consider for a moment a codified Saudi judicial application of domestic cases. Judges could look at child custody laws that are not determined based on the mother's citizenship. Divorce cases could stick to a specific timeline that ends with a result rather than dragging on for 10 years. The appropriate alimony could be determined by the court to guarantee the woman's and children's well-being after divorce. The minister said he was disturbed by the number of divorces, noting that many are initiated due to the extreme age differences between husband and wife. Establishing a minimum marriageable age for a girl is not only appropriate but long overdue. In addition to domestic cases, the ministry should consider a law that allows for a drug treatment diversion program for drug abusers instead of jail time. Another law could set specific criteria defining the quantity of drugs seized by police to determine whether a person is a drug dealer or drug user, and then explicitly define the punishment for both cases. These are Western concepts that with proper investigation can be woven into our current system as long as it doesn't conflict with Shariah or our Islamic values. This also means establishing accredited law schools that are recognized worldwide and sending law students abroad for study of foreign systems. It's also encouraging that the issue of female lawyers practicing in the courtroom will soon be addressed, but it's disappointing that Al-Issa is less sure of women as judges or whether women can play a more prominent role in the judiciary beyond representing females in divorce cases. Setting aside for a moment the bad press Saudis get for the way they dispense justice, Saudi Arabia's entry into the WTO at least demands a codified judicial system to not only give Saudis confidence in their government but also to foreigners who do business here. The economic reality is that foreign businesses need the security of consistent judicial inspection to conduct business with confidence. – SG – The writer can be reached at [email protected] and her blog is: www.saudiwriter.blogspot.com __
