Saudi Justice Ministry expands rights of female attorneys

By Abdul Wahab Saleh in Riyadh
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-03-01

[ABDUL WAHAB] Damam branch of the Ministry of Justice.

As part of the plan to develop the legal system in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Justice Minister Mohammed Al-Issa said February 21st that the government plans to issue a law allowing Saudi women to work as lawyers.

"The project proposed by the ministry calls for giving women permits for practising the legal profession," the Justice Minister said. "To begin, they will represent women in specific cases, such as personal law matters including child custody, divorce and other family-related issues."

Dr. Majed Mohammed Garoub, president of the Attorneys Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Al-Shorfa that this law will allow many women lawyers to open law offices. He said that there are "1,500 female attorneys, of whom 1,000 are attorneys who received scholarships to study abroad under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program," adding that there are no "social problems confronting the Saudi woman lawyer."

Zuhair Al-Harithi, a member of the Shura Council, said that "this law is a practical necessity in matters of personal law involving women. There are many women who need someone to defend their case."

It is natural that "this aspect is undertaken by women lawyers", Al-Harithi added. "This is a leap for the legal profession, which will open new doors for developing the Saudi legal system."

He also said that "there are formal rules from certain religious authorities, and these authorities should allow for more freedom of expression for women, and avoid regulations which stand in the way of achieving this, such as uncovering the face in courts or women opening private law offices."

"Saudi universities have allowed women to study law. We have many female graduates and we need to allow them to work in their specialty," he added.

Suad Al-Shammari, the first female attorney to defend cases in Saudi courts and in the Board of Grievances, said that "the issuance of this approval will help restore justice to women".

"More than 70% of those who come to the courts in the kingdom are women," she said, adding that the decision of the Justice Ministry will facilitate many things which "I demanded six years ago, especially that many of our court cases are still pending without a decision."

Al-Shammari also said she is satisfied with her right to defend cases related to personal law, but she looks forward to being able to defend all cases.

As for female attorney Nawal Al-Bawadri, she said the latest decision is an outstanding advancement during the rule of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

"Conservative societies are not against working women. Quite the contrary, women defending women like themselves is the essence of conservatism," Al-Bawadri said. "There are many women who shy away from mentioning many issues in their lawsuits, which could totally change the course of these lawsuits. They are more at ease when talking about these issues with a female attorney who is able to represent them before a judge in a legal and professional manner."

Court cases in Saudi Arabia are numerous, she added, "but they are mainly of a single nature, such as divorce, alimony, child custody and other matters relating to civil status laws such as the refusal of the husband to include his children in the family ID card. This is an important issue in our society and is very common."

Al-Bawadri stressed that "the Saudi woman attorney has great potential both locally and internationally. There are many women lawyers who have received their training after graduation, and they hope that their previous training would be recognized instead of having to undergo a new training."

Attorney Asmaa Fallatah told Al-Shorfa that "in order for a Saudi woman lawyer to obtain a permit to practise law, she has to undergo training for a period of at least three years before she is allowed to practise the profession."

This, however, does not mean that the woman attorney can appear in court or police stations in order to argue cases, said Fallatah. "She can work in an office doing legal consulting or studying court cases and drafting legal notices. However, many Saudi women attorneys have defended cases by means of power-of-attorney representation."

Fallatah said that "the Saudi woman attorney will provide important services to women, especially that many women do not disclose intimate matters to male lawyers, as opposed to their openness when dealing with Saudi women lawyers."

Attorney Abdul Aziz Qasim believes that "a woman is an independent person from a legal standpoint, and she is allowed to represent herself."

He told Al-Shorfa that "Islamic law has given women the right to represent themselves in all kinds of lawsuits, whether they are claiming their right in front of a judge or through a contract. The strange thing in Islamic law is that there is a limitation on women exercising this right."

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