By Mobin Pandit & Mohammed Osman
DOHA: The draft of a new civil and commercial procedure law has been finalised by a specialist committee that was set up by the Ministry of Justice for this purpose.
The existing civil and commercial procedure law was put in force 26 years ago, in 1990, so it needed an update.
Minister of Justice H E Dr Hassan bin Lahdan Saqr Al Mohannadi said yesterday that the Ministry believes that an extensive debate by legal experts and researchers is needed on the draft.
“This will enrich the draft and help us have an advanced and integrated legal system in our country,” said the Minister. He was delivering opening speech at a two-day event which opened here yesterday to discuss the draft civil and commercial procedure law.
The Minister also pointed out that an Arbitration Law will soon see the light of day, reported Qatar News Agency (QNA). The Ministry will soon launch an electronic forum where legal experts could give their opinion on legal matters, exchange their views and experiences, the Minister told the seminar.
The event is being attended by legal experts, heads of legal affairs departments from various ministries, lawyers and the head of Qatari Lawyers’ Association, among others. Civil and commercial procedure rules (as enshrined in a law) are interlinked and, as the term suggests, they outline procedures about how a civil lawsuit is to be filed, how the court proceedings should take place and how court verdicts are to be given and how one could go in appeal.
Prominent lawyer, Yusuf Al Zaman, told this newspaper the procedure law also tells how court decisions are to be enforced.
The current law was passed in 1990 and since then a lot of social and economic developments have taken place so the law needs to be updated, said Al Zaman. The present law is not helping the courts to settle disputes fast. Problems remain in areas like informing the other party that a lawsuit has been filed.
Then, court summons are to be sent to the party or parties to a dispute. The old systems need to be updated. The justice ministry is holding this two-day symposium to have an open discussion on the draft, he said. Yesterday, part of discussions focused on the negative impact of the current civil and commercial procedure law and how to avoid them, he said.
Al Zaman said that soon the Arbitration Law would also see the light of day. It would help parties to settle their dispute fast and in a mutually agreed way. And unless the parties agree beforehand, an appeal cannot be filed against the verdict decided under the Arbitration Law, he said. The justice ministry has prepared the draft and the proposed law is based on the principles of international laws of arbitration.
About the new civil and commercial procedure law which is on the anvil, Al Zaman said that it is too extensive and contains 573 articles. “So it will take a long time to be finalised and put in force.” That is why some legal experts suggested at yesterday’s seminar that some key articles of the present civil and commercial procedure law be amended instead of preparing a whole new law, said Al Zaman. At today’s seminar, participants will be discussing the articles in the current civil and commercial procedure law that need to be amended.
The Peninsula
