Change, unfortunately, comes slowly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It’s been at least 10 years since women have been academically qualified to serve as lawyers in the country, but the best the Minister of Justice can promise, according to this Arab News piece, is that they will ‘eventually’ be able to practice law.

There’s really no reason, beyond social inertia, that this cannot happen now. Nor is it unreasonable to expect Saudi women to act as judges. The problem comes when Saudi men have to deal with the psychological issue of giving women more power and more authority than they now have. All sorts of excuses—mostly coming down to ‘We’ve never done it this way before’—are offered up. None of them hold water.

Women to practice as lawyers
Ghazanfar Ali Khan | Arab News

RIYADH: Justice Minister Muhammad Al-Eisa said on Thursday the Kingdom’s efforts to revamp the judicial system were well under way and that women would eventually be allowed to practice as lawyers representing women clients.

Speaking at a meeting of heads of notaries in Riyadh, the minister said the judicial reforms will not only modernize the system but also reduce the backlog of cases by adding more basic infrastructure, like more courthouses.

“The judicial plan developed in cooperation with King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals will help decrease the number of cases in the Kingdom’s courts,” Al-Eisa added.

He said he would support more interaction among the different departments of the judiciary and the government to ensure closer coordination in applying a reformed justice system that adheres to Shariah.
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