Qatar Chairs 34th Meeting of Ministers of Justice of GCC States

Doha: The State of Qatar, represented by the Ministry of Justice, chaired the 34th meeting of Their Excellencies ministers of justice of the GCC countries that was held in Doha, on Monday. HE Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Ibrahim bin Ali Al Mohannadi, chaired the meeting, which brough together Their Excellencies ministers of justice of the GCC states in the presence of HE Secretary-General of the GCC countries Jassim Mohammed Al Budawi. In his opening speech, HE Ibrahim bin Ali Al Mohannadi underscored the importance of the meeting to enhance legal and judicial cooperation among the GCC states and lend impetus to this cooperation, in pursuit of epitomizing the vision and aspirations of Their Majesties and Highnesses the leaders of the GCC states, along with their wise orientations toward achieving the interests of the Gulf nations and promoting the GCC's regional and global position. HE the Minister of Justice praised the achievements of the GCC Ministries of Justice in mod ernizing legal and judicial systems and shifting toward empowering digital justice by leveraging the accelerating technological advancements that the governments of the GCC states have successfully invested in. This progress has led to advanced technology, prompting the need to capitalize on this milestone to enhance joint cooperation, share successful expertise to promote the Gulf legal and judicial system, and strengthen Gulf justice, citizenship, and the rule of law. The State of Qatar has advanced justice systems to consolidate judicial independence and achieve swift justice, His Excellency added, underlining that important steps have been taken, including the modernization of many systems and laws related to documentation procedures, real estate registration, judicial enforcement, and the public prosecution. These efforts aim to expedite processes, facilitate legal services, and enable citizens to access justice services in accordance with the state-of-the-art standards and tools of institutional legal performance, he said. HE Al Mohannadi highlighted that in order to keep pace with the Third National Development Strategy 2024-2030, the Ministry of Justice is embarking on the execution of the strategy's plan, which will play a positive role in enhancing joint cooperation with our brothers in the GCC states. He stated that the ministry is currently implementing many legal and service projects with the required accuracy and quality to provide legal training for the targeted segments within the state judicial system. His Excellency affirmed that the ministry is coordinating with government bodies regarding cases filed by or against them, noting that efforts are underway to convert the ministry's services into online services as part of a comprehensive digital transformation plan. HE Al Mohannadi noted the State of Qatar's advanced experience in leveraging AI applications in legal and judicial services. He emphasized the importance of benefiting from these applications by drawing parallels between the challe nges and opportunities associated with harnessing these technologies in legal and judicial systems. Additionally, he highlighted their impacts on human rights and the rule of law, as well as the conclusions that can advance justice systems and accelerate digital transformation programs, which have become indispensable components of prompt justice. HE Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ibrahim bin Ali Al Mohannadi underlined that the perilous challenges and security threats currently engulfing the world necessitate enhanced legal coordination, as well as justice and judicial cooperation among the Ministries of Justice in the GCC states. He emphasized the importance of unifying enforced legislation to establish an integrated Gulf system capable of addressing these challenges and formulating a Gulf strategy that strengthens joint legal action among GCC states. He highlighted the importance of endorsing an action plan to implement a professional Gulf program to build human and technic al capacities of staffers in the bodies operating in the field of human rights, counter-terrorism, organized crime and law enforcement. For his part, HE Secretary-General of the GCC countries Jassim Mohammed Al Budawi underscored the importance of the meeting and its potential outcomes that will approve array of agreements that complement the system of legal and judicial cooperation among the member states. The meeting discussed a host of topics related to bolstering the joint legal and judicial cooperation among the Ministries of Justice in the GCC states, including the project to develop the agreement on the enforcement of judgments. It also discussed requests for assistance, and judicial notifications among the GCC states, and approved the Doha document on the rules of juvenile crimes for the GCC states. The meeting discussed the project on the unified rules for combating discrimination and hate speech among the GCC states, as well as the proposal from the GCC General Secretariat to convert some princip les found in the laws into unified rules and reviewed reports from the committees of directors and heads of training and judicial institutes, as well as officials from international cooperation and international relations departments within the Ministries of Justice in the GCC states and took the appropriate decisions accordingly. Source: Qatar News Agency