The number of cases received by courts across the Kingdom during the fasting month of Ramadan was much less compared to the monthly average in the past eight Hijri months.

While the courts all over the Kingdom heard 70,000 to 78,000 cases every month over an eight-month period, in Ramadan that number dropped to 41,501.

Public disputes accounted for 43 percent of cases during Ramadan, personal status cases 34 percent and criminal cases 24, said a report carried by Al-Madina Arabic daily quoting Justice Ministry sources.

According to the monthly bulletin issued by the ministry, the number of verdicts issued by first class courts in the Kingdom this Ramadan reached more than 29,000, registering 44 percent increase compared to the same month in the previous Hijri year.

Every day the courts issued 1,158 to 2,489 verdicts with personal status cases accounting for 39 percent, followed by public disputes 33 percent and criminal cases 28 percent.

The ministry also pointed out that the number of marriage contracts registered during Ramadan reached 5,826, which is a 9 percent increase compared to the same month last year. More than 45 percent of the marriages took place in the Riyadh and Makkah regions.

During the same month 2,378 divorces took place with half of them occurring in Riyadh and Makkah, Al-Madina reported.

However, the report pointed out that the number of marriages and divorces appeared in the report did not represent the actual numbers as there are many cases yet to be documented.

The number of cases received by commercial courts during the month reached 1,699, an increase of 161 percent compared to the same month last year.

Cases related to bankruptcy, brokerage, intellectual property rights and money transfer accounted for 53 percent of the cases received by commercial courts, followed by cases related to breach of contracts and commercial agencies and offices.

Commercial courts issued 861 verdicts this Ramadan, which is an increase of 68 percent over last year, the report said.

The courts received 43,000 applications for execution of verdicts, 40 percent more than the same month last year. Notaries attested more than 130,000 documents during Ramadan, 16 percent more than the same month in 1438 AH, with 34 percent of them related to real estate.

About 67 percent of these document attestations took place in the Riyadh, Makkah and the Eastern Province, according to the report.

SOURCE : SAUDIGAZETTE