JEDDAH: The Ministry of Interior has recommeded that security officials not be used to bring to court persons who have failed to appear for hearings in civil complaints. Sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that a Shariah Committee tasked with drawing up the ministry's observations concerning amendments to the legal procedures project had identified the procedure as an unnecessary use of resources. “The committee believes there is no need to expend Ministry of Interior resources such as security bodies and regional emirates in bringing defendants to civil complaint hearings, and that their role should be limited to bringing them in criminal cases,” the sources said. The recommendation is, according to the sources, currently being looked at by the Cabinet's Experts Commission and is contained in a request from the Ministry of Interior to omit four articles from the current law, which is still being reviewed. Under the current system, regional emirates are required to coordinate with court police to force persons to attend hearings should they refuse to accept a written summons or fail to appear. A representative from the Ministry of Interior said that informing defendants of a court summons was “judicial business” that should “not require action from security officials, particularly in civil cases”. The Kingdom's courts hear on average 750,000 cases a year, with civil complaints constituting approximately 40 percent of them.
