GCC Justice Ministers Committee Contributed to Enhancing and Unifying Laws, Regulations
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jasem Albudaiwi said in a news release that the council's Ministers of Justice Committee, throughout the blessed journey of the GCC, has contributed to strengthening and unifying laws and regulations in the judicial field.
"It has achieved homogeneity in this aspect among the council's countries through a number of achievements, most notably the adoption of the agreement on the execution of judgments, commissions rogatoire, and judicial announcements, and the adoption of more than 21 systems (laws) in all judicial fields as guidelines," he stated.
The secretary-general's statement came today during the 34th meeting of the Ministers of Justice of the GCC countries in the Qatari capital, Doha, with the participation of the justice ministers of GCC countries. The meeting was chaired by State of Qatar Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ibrahim bin Ali bin Issa Al Mohannadi. Qatar is the president of the current session.
At the beginning of his speech, the secretary-general expressed his highest thanks, gratitude, and appreciation to Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, president of the current session of the Supreme Council of the GCC, and to Their Highnesses the leaders of the council's countries for their continuous and ongoing support for strengthening the march of joint Gulf work, wishing the government and people of the State of Qatar continued progress, advancement, and prosperity under His Highness' wise leadership.
Albudaiwi pointed out in his speech that judicial and legal cooperation at the level of joint Gulf work began with the Committee of the Ministers of Justice, coinciding with the establishment of the blessed GCC, when the first meeting of the ministers of justice was held in December 1982. "Since then, the committee has worked on unified codification projects in the following main areas: civil, commercial, personal status, and criminal, based on the provisions of the tolerant Islamic Sharia," he said.
The GCC chief noted that today's meeting , along with the agreements that will be approved, such as the agreement on the extradition of accused persons and those sentenced, is a continuation of the legal and judicial cooperation agreements among the council's member states. This includes the ratification of the agreement governing cooperation in civil and personal status matters, as well as the agreement regulating cooperation in criminal matters, which are both developments of the agreement on the execution of judgments, judicial requests, and notifications.
Additionally, the committee adopted the Doha Document on the Rules for Juveniles that includes the general principles that must be considered when trying juveniles, paving the way for their submission to the Supreme Council.
"These agreements are a clear testament to the importance of the ongoing cooperation among the council's member states in the judicial field," the secretary-general concluded.