Free legal aid for poor

The Saudi Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the Saudi Lawyers’ Committee (SLC) will provide free legal services to those who cannot afford the cost of litigation, the HRC president said on Saturday.

“The aim of these deliberations was to promote greater transparency in their operations and achieve better coordination in the national interest of safeguarding human rights and improving the status of people on trials in line with the Kingdom’s national policy,” Turki Al-Sudairy told Arab News.

The service will be open to both locals and expatriates depending on the merit of the case, he added.

During a meeting between the two groups, both stressed the urgent need to incorporate a chapter on human rights in the syllabus of law faculties of various universities and also to increase the number of lawyers in the kingdom.

“Such measures will create an awareness among law students and produce more lawyers to meet the current needs of the growing population in the Kingdom,” said the SLC.

Saudi has a low concentration of lawyers compared to other countries in the region. Bahrain has 4,000 lawyers and Jordan has 16,000 legal practitioners. The kingdom requires an additional 10,000 lawyers, according to the SLC.

The groups stressed the need to introduce supplementary courses for various departments of the judiciary to update its officials with the latest advances in the field.

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