Labour courts have officially started functioning in Saudi Arabia, in a first for the country, Saudi Gazette reported.
Minister of Justice Waleed Al Sama’ani gave the go-ahead for the new specialised courts to begin work, crowning a process which lasted three years.
“The Supreme Judicial Council played a crucial role and paved the way for this shift, with its impact on the investment and economic environment,” the minister said.
Procedures at the new courts will be fully digital for the swift delivery of justice and better service to clients. The labour court judges have diverse experiences and were trained to handle labour cases.
Labour courts and panels started exercising their jurisdiction, as stipulated in the Civil Procedure Law.
The decision also identified six minor types of rulings that cannot be contested after a judgment has been issued by a first instance court.
These include, for example, cases with a financial claim less than SR20,000, claim of experience certificate, or worker’s documents kept by previous employer, and complaints against the decisions of the commissions on domestic employment.
The Supreme Judicial Council also clarified that cases registered at amicable settlement departments shall be referred to the labour courts and panels as soon as the courts commenced their work.
The competent departments shall continue to implement the decisions of commissions on labour dispute settlement regarding applications for enforcing the judgments of labour courts, it said.
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