QNA
Within its efforts to develop the judicial system, the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) has created new departments specialised in both the Court of Cassation and the Court of Appeal, as well as two appeal-hearing chambers, a new chamber for hearing implementation disputes, and a specialised department for reviewing pretrial appeals.
The new formations included many new elements in a way that reflects the Council’s efforts in developing the judicial system and achieving full justice in line with developments that the country is witnessing in all fields, as in addition to the usual departments such as the department of Hadd and Qisas, as well as Criminal, Civil, Administrative, Labor, Formations and Family Departments, the formations also included new departments specialized in numerous judicial fields. The decision of SJC included the creation of a new criminal department in the Court of Cassation, in addition to the current one. Despite the great leap made by the Court of Cassation this year in completing the cases before it, the need for work requires more achievement in the field of criminal discrimination.
The evening period has been allocated to review the pending cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance, while the SJC approved the new formations of chambers in the Court of Cassation, the Court of Appeal, and the Court of First Instance.
It is worth mentioning that the Court of Cassation has not stopped its service during the suspension of sessions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to an unprecedented achievement of the court, as only a small number of unforeseen appeals remained for one or two more sessions.
In light of the great success achieved by the Criminal Council Chamber that was created in the last amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code issued under Law no. 23 of 2004, it was decided to continue the Chamber’s work in two chambers, and it is hoped that this will make a qualitative leap in the consideration of criminal appeals and the speed of adjudication in them.
The decision to create a specialized department to look into the appeals of execution disputes aims at what enforcement disputes require in terms of speedy adjudication in the consideration of appeals filed against them.
The Chamber will hold two sessions per week at its headquarters at the Court of Appeal in Lusail.
In this context, the Council affirmed the necessity for the implementation department to take the necessary measure not to seize funds that exceed the amount required by the executor against them.
In light of the results achieved from the work of the evening courts, the Council decided to continue working with them, as several evening chambers have been established in the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal, and the evening chambers are expected to complete all the cases that have been delayed due to the pandemic circumstances.
Family documentation was also strengthened with an additional number of judges, as the number of judges was increased to meet the increasing demands on documentation procedures, in addition to developing and updating the work system by relying more on electronic systems, which contributes to completing transactions and speeding up procedures.
The launching of the first phase of the implementation program is where cases are recorded electronically to facilitate the public in litigation procedures.
Supreme Judicial Council indicated that the execution judge is exclusively competent to adjudicate all substantive and temporary execution disputes, whatever they are, and to issue decisions and orders related to execution, as well as decide on temporary execution disputes as a judge of urgent matters.
In the context of implementing the rulings as well, the Supreme Judicial Council instructed not to withhold funds that exceed the amounts required to implement judgments, in coordination with the concerned authorities to achieve this, so that seizure is only made on the amount required to implement judgments.
The new procedures approved by the Supreme Judicial Council aim to settle and decide on pending cases, within the framework of an integrated action plan to develop performance and save time and effort for the public.
Also, the Council is keen to increase the Qatarization percentage, especially the positions of heads of courts’ departments during the new judicial season, as the Council places the issue of Qatarization of jobs, especially the legal ones, on the top of priorities for the Qatarization plan for the judicial and administrative staff in the courts, in cooperation and coordination with the academic and legal authorities in the country within a clear strategy and plans that can be implemented according to priorities within a specific time frame.
The Supreme Judicial Council affirmed that the procedures for developing judicial work come within the framework of keenness to achieve prompt justice, which includes speed in litigation procedures, quality, and workmanship in a manner that guarantees the rights of all.
The Council pointed out that the judicial system is subject to comprehensive development and modernization process, whereby all the actors in this system are updated, on top of which is the national human component, which is one of the priorities of its strategy for development and progress, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030. The Supreme Judicial Council is implementing a plan to modernize courts, which is a national project that aims to bring about a comprehensive transformation at the level of Qatari courts to ensure their distinction and elevate their work to the best international practices.
The project provides quality and efficient services to the public through several easily accessible channels, including the mobile application, the online portal, and online services in line with the Qatar e-government 2020 strategy. The project also includes plans for development and improvement of the work environment by taking care of the status of the judiciary and judges, in a way that achieves the aspirations of litigants by providing prompt and efficient justice.
The strategy of the Supreme Judicial Council includes focusing on training and qualifying all employees in the judiciary, as the Council attaches great importance to this, through continuous legal training programs, including integrated training programs for judges aimed at developing judicial work skills and learning from the experiences of other countries to provide the appropriate environment for the work of the judge by getting acquainted with the conditions and customs of the society in which the judicial work takes place.
The Council is working on developing online services, activating smart device application services and linking them to the “Hukoomi” portal and providing the service of submitting requests via the online system, and online inquiring about cases. It also continuously provide new services, developing courtrooms and equipping smart courtrooms.
The plan also includes activating the services of online judicial notifications, electronic integration with the relevant government agencies, stopping the paperwork related to the procedures for implementing judgments in accordance with developed procedures aimed at preserving the interests of litigants, ensuring the privacy of data, and providing multiple alternatives for the implementation of judgments.
The notification services provide the online notifications feature to the public in the event of any requests registered in the courts or cases that are submitted.
Among the online services is the “Inquiry” service available on the council’s website, which provides a feature to inquire about the session’s date, time, location, and judgment status in the event of a session by inserting the case number.
The “case status” service sends text messages for the personal number registered in the system regarding the status of the case and the judgment issued or the decision resulting from the session, thus providing the opportunity for the person to follow the progress of the case and immediate knowledge of its progress.
