Saudi women to be allowed to argue cases in court

by stejeb | February 21, 2010 at 07:36 am

341 views | 25 Recommendations | 4 comments

Change happens, it happens everywhere all of the time, though the pace of it varies widely.

The Middle East is one of the places that the west has tried in the past to force change, often with disastrous consequences.

Saudi Arabia is gradually changing, not because of military, political or economic coersion, but simply because of it's commercial contact with the rest of the world and the influence of western culture from within, a lot of westerners live and work there.

This latest move by King Abdullah to give women a bigger role in the legal system follows other initiatives, the opening of a mixed sex science and tech university last year met protest from many, but went ahead anyway. When female education in Saudi Arabia first began back in the 1960s, girls attending school had to be protected by soldiers.

So change is happening, it has to if King Abdullah is to realise his ambitions where employment and education are concerned, and I admire his fortitude in this. With four new industrial cities planned, which will create an estimated 1 million new jobs, the present number of young people unemployed (currently running at around 25%) could be set to fall drastically.

There are no plans afoot yet, however, to change the law on women driving, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that has a law to stop them.

Saudi Arabia is planning to bring in a new law to allow women lawyers to argue cases in court for the first time.

Justice Minister Mohammed al-Eissa said the law was part of King Abdullah's plan to develop the legal system.

The law - to be issued "in the coming days" - would allow women to appear in court on family-related cases, including divorce and child custody.

At the moment, they can only work behind the scenes in government and court offices.

The new legislation will also allow Saudi women to complete certain procedures without the presence of a witness.

"In accordance with the new law, women will be able to complete their preliminary procedures with notaries by just presenting their IDs," said Ministry of Justice official Osama al-Mirdas, according to Arab News.

I sincerely hope the desire for change spreads rapidly.

After the "Western nations" put Rome into ashes it took them over a thousand years to evolve from a feudal oppressive system into a democracy as we know it today.

They could just as easily have adopted the Roman democratic system, it would have saved them centuries in social uprisings and revolutions.

But they did not, for they had to evolve at their own pace and learn for them self first.

No "Western nation" put Rome into ashes. Rome was sacked by the Goths and Visigoths which were Germanic tribes.

Yes and No. Democracy cannot be thrust upon a different people. It doesnt work as such would require identical perception filters and mindsets. Those being absent necessitates adaptation and slow evolution. There is no other methodology wherein the product will last.

Also, Rome was not a democracy but a dictatorship helmed by an Emperor. Furthermore, even when it was a "democracy" it was classist and more akin to an oligarchy. Grecian or moreoever Athenian democracy was democracy at its radix. That is what the populus wants but cannot feasably achieve.

Yes Grace, in deed. Those evolved into what we call the West today. It is a metaphor.

Rome went back and forth between democracy and dictatorship through out its history.

The Roman Republic was governed by a complex constitution, which centred on the principles of a separation of powers and checks and balances. The evolution of the constitution was heavily influenced by the struggle between the aristocracy, or the patricians, and other talented Romans who were not from famous families, the plebeians.

Many of Rome's legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and the rest of the world by modern states and organisations. The Romans' Latin language has influenced grammar and vocabulary across Europe and the world.

The Senate passed decrees, which were called senatus consultum. This was officially "advice" from the Senate to a magistrate. In practice, however, these were usually obeyed by the magistrates. The focus of the Roman Senate was directed towards foreign policy. Though it technically had no official role in the management of military conflict, the Senate ultimately was the force that oversaw such affairs.

The constitutional history of the Roman Republic can be divided into five phases. The first phase began with the revolution which overthrew the monarchy in 509 BC. The final phase ended with the revolution which overthrew the Roman Republic, and thus created the Roman Empire, in 27 BC. Throughout the history of the republic, the constitutional evolution was driven by the struggle between the aristocracy and the ordinary citizens.

The Germanic tribes that broth Rome down along with the Huns, evolved and spread through out Europe and North Africa and latter their descendent went to the Americas... _the so called Western World."

This thread is Romein all over the place ! Women are allowed to fly planes in Saudi Arabia. Men are not allowed to be gynocologists in the Muslim world. Women have been working as doctors and nurses in Muslim countrys for centuries. It is frowned upon for women to go out alone in Saudi Arabia, largely for their own protection, two women in a car are almost certainly less likely to be stopped than one. Getting back to the story, as most readers know, many Muslim women practice law throughout the world