Qatar’s judiciary is in need of a thorough reconsideration, one that brings about the necessary changes and reforms for serving society and coping with the Qatar National Vision 2030. This thorough reconsideration will help our country become a modern regional powerhouse at all levels.
This reform and these changes will at the end of the day serve public interests embodied in the creation of an independent and transparent judicial system that relies on national justices. In doing this, we must put important considerations in mind, including the peculiarity of the Qatari society, rule of law, and the need to protect citizenship rights and obligations. As all this is done, we must also make sure that the Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) remains intact.
Individuals’ rights are always violated wherever there is a dependent judiciary or one that is not held in high esteem. This lack of independence for the judiciary of course hampers development and keeps countries away from international competition. But before we go deep into facts related to Qatar’s judiciary during this phase of reform, we need to speak about some general, yet important definitions related to the judiciary. We will then speak about the changes needed so that Qatar’s judiciary can serve the public interest first and foremost, which is the aim of writing this article.
Qatar judiciary overview
We need to go through some important definitions about Qatar’s judicial Authority Law. The SJC represents the power of the judiciary. The SJC includes the judges of the Cassation Court, the judges of the Appeals Court, Chief Justices, and the judges of preliminary courts.
Judges cannot be removed from office, except in cases set forth herein. Nobody may interfere with the judiciary. Arabic is the language of the courts.
The SJC works to fulfill the independence of the judiciary by playing the following roles:
• Providing opinion on issues related to the judiciary, studying and proposing legislation aimed at upgrading the judicial system.
• Providing opinion on the appointment of judges, their promotion, moving, mandate, or referral to retirement, except in cases set forth herein.
• The SJC considers complaints related to judicial affairs. The decisions of the SJC are final (but here the council is always enemy and judge at one and the same time).
• The SJC considers other functions its president entrusts it with.
Article 33 stipulates that the Emir is responsible for determining the salaries and the bonuses of the judges, provided that he does not give any of them any exceptional treatment in this regard. Before taking over, judges swear by this oath: “I swear by Almighty God to always judge fairly among people and respect Islamic Shariah laws”. Judges are banned from expressing political views or engaging in political action. They shall not run in elections, be they legislative elections or municipal council elections, as long as they act as judges. Judges do not accept gifts or authorise family members to accept them.
The judges accountability article stipulates that judges may be referred to a disciplinary committee in the following cases:
— Violating duties specified in their job
— Degrading the honour of the judiciary or its prestige
— Putting themselves in positions of suspicion or doubt
Disciplinary action against judges is only taken after approval of the SJC President and after a proper administrative investigation. Disciplinary action against judges include alerting them, impeachment, and dismissal. Judges shall not be deprived of their right to pension or bonuses.
In the very act of committing a misdeed, judges may not be arrested or any act of interrogation may be taken against them unless it is based on their own initiative, on a request from the Chairman of the Cassation Court, or on a request from the general assembly of the court. Judges’ salaries and bonuses may not be withheld, or partly or totally deducted during the period of suspension.
Judges’ mandate is only terminated in one of the following cases:
• Death
• Resignation
• Reaching retirement age
• Dismissal upon disciplinary decisions
• Dismissal decreed by the Emir due to considerations linked to public interest
• Forced retirement
• Movement to other non-judicial positions.
The retirement age for judges is 70. Judges may be given an additional five-year service extension. Judges can request retirement at the age of 60. Request approval is made on the date of submission.
Legitimate questions, files that should be opened
The conditions of the judiciary raise many important questions, particularly at this stage of reform and change that aims at protecting this vital pillar of Qatari society so that Qatar can occupy its deserved position of leadership in this field.
This makes the need for opening some files urgent. These files include the mandate of the judges themselves and their qualifications, realities about corruption within the judiciary, and whether there are judges and administrative staff who accept bribes as rumours go. How does the judiciary deal with foreign media when it challenges its honesty? To what extent is Qatar’s judiciary honest these days? Is the prestige of our judiciary at risk? Why are judge appointment decrees not published in local newspapers?
There are also questions about the status of the judges and the suffering they undergo to get their independence and rights in their personal and professional life. What about court reporters?
We also need to discuss some general issues related to SJC. SJC members may serve their personal interests by amending some laws, for example. The low salaries of the judges, including bonuses that are not equally distributed, should be discussed as well. The issue of Judicial Inspection and the need to bring lax judges to account also need to be discussed. Have we fulfilled the Qatar National Vision 2030 in the field of the judiciary? All these points and questions will be discussed and answered for the sake of public interest.
Is there an absence of supervision and follow-up?
We hope to have a transparent judiciary where nobody, regardless of how strong or influential he/she is, has a say but the judges themselves. Nobody should be above the law.
Confusion and the rule of one person against the desires of everybody else are already main features in many state institutions in general. There is a disconnect among these state or semi-state institutions in specific terms. This makes intervention by the state necessary to save the judiciary and correct the mistakes that spread where there is a lack of legal oversight and accountability.
People who hold public posts will think twice if they are certain that they will be held accountable for the mistakes they commit. Qatar has sought to give the independence of the judiciary enough immunity through both the constitution and the law. It has sought to spread justice among all people so that we can live in stability, security, and social peace. Everybody should be equal before the law, and there should be no interference in the judicial authority. This aims in the end to bring about an independent Qatari judiciary that acts as a role model for judiciaries in other Arab countries.
Conditions of Qatari judges are heartbreaking
These conditions offered a large number of online forums fodder for their discussions recently. These conditions also reveal the deplorable state of the judiciary in Qatar in general. The prestige of the judiciary is threatened, particularly when feelings of these deplorable conditions seep out of judicial circles into the public realm. Qatari newspaper Al Rayah reported on February 18, 2009 that 33 Qatari judges had submitted their resignations to protest what they described as continual interference in their job by one SJC official.
A judge, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the same newspaper that concerned authorities had started an investigation into their complaint, opening the way for further crises inside the SJC. He added that he and his colleagues had requested to be exempted from looking into court cases until interference in their work had stopped.
The same scenario happens over and again. Hundreds of judges from some countries in the region had submitted their resignations in protest against the deteriorating conditions of the judiciary in these countries.
The fact is that the conditions of Qatari judges are heartbreaking as writer Mohamed Ali Al Kubaisi notes in an article in the Qatari Arabic language daily Al-Sharq on July 25, 2010.
“Poor honourable judges, although you are exempted from the human resources law, you have three main concerns: your fear from God’s judgment, your inability to lead a normal social life, and the need to tailor your income to the rising cost of life,” Al Kubaisi wrote in his article.
