(DISCIPLINARY LIABILITY FOR LAWYERS IN SAUDI ARABIA)
Chapter one
Introduction
The legal profession occupies an importance in all civilized countries of the world because it is one of the most important reasons for preserving the rights of people and giving them the legal advice and defends them in courts. On the other hand, legal profession contributes the achievement of justice in society. The legal profession occupies in the Arab Nation a great importance because that legal consciousness of individuals is still limited. Also, the parties are unaware of the legal rules, and do not have the ability to present their arguments, and assert their rights, which requires them to find a lawyer to take over their defense in courts.
In different countries around the world, the legal profession laws determine the basic duties that the lawyer must abide at the time of the exercise of this profession. If those duties are violated or the lawyer committed one of the Disciplinary violations, it is subjected to the disciplinary liability. Legal profession laws vary in identifying the Disciplinary liability and the power that they have jurisdiction, and the guarantees enjoyed by the lawyer at the disciplinary trial procedure. The research will discuss the subject of disciplinary liability of the attorney under the legal profession law in Saudi issued in Oct15, 2001. The research will also identify this liability in some of the Arab countries in the laws of comparative law.
The researcher will show the importance of the study for the disciplinary liability, what are the objectives of the study, what methodology the researcher will follow and what are the limits of his research.
The importance of the study:
Although the existence of previous studies and research that addressed the issue of legal profession in Saudi Arabia from different sides, they concentrated mostly on explaining the codes, determine the conditions of the attorney’s license. They also concentrated on the attorney’s rights, as well as the historical aspect of the legal profession. The researcher has searched for researches and studies that conducted on the subject of disciplinary liability in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and compared with Kuwait and UAE, the researcher discovered that there are no researches or studies that talked about this topic, especially in Saudi Arabia. The topic (disciplinary liability for attorneys in Saudi Arabia) is one of the most important topics that all lawyers must be aware of.
The law that was issued in Oct15, 2001 relating to the legal profession did not refer to the civil liability of lawyers and criminal liability, it only mentioned and talked about the disciplinary liability. So, the researcher believes that the legal provision that talked about the disciplinary liability is one of the most important regulations in the law that was issued in Oct15, 2001. In addition, people lost their rights because of the mistakes done by lawyers. They lost their rights because they were unaware of their rights and the way to claim it. The goal of this research identifies and clarifies the disciplinary responsibilities for lawyers in Saudi Arabia, and compares it with Kuwait and UAE.

Objectives of the study:
– Define the legal profession and clarify the requirements for practicing law in Saudi Arabia.
– Clarify the lawyer’s duties and rights in Saudi Arabia.
– Explain the definition of the disciplinary liability.
– Clarifying the most important situations of the disciplinary liability that could fall on the lawyer.
– Clarify who is the authority that is responsible for suing the lawyers for disciplinary action.
– Determine who is the authority that is responsible for considering disciplinary action.
– Explain what are the procedures for the disciplinary liability.
– Clarify the penalties for the disciplinary liability that could fall on lawyer.
– Determine the ways to appeal to the disciplinary liability decisions.

Questions of the study:
– What is the definition of the disciplinary liability for lawyers?
– What is the disciplinary violation?
– What are the situations for disciplinary liability?
– What are the procedures for disciplinary liability?
– Who has the authority that is responsible for suing the lawyers for disciplinary liability?
– Who has the authority that is responsible for considering disciplinary action?
– What are the penalties that could fall on a lawyer for the disciplinary liability?
– What are the ways to appeal the disciplinary liability decisions?

The limitations of the study:
This research will talk the disciplinary liability of a lawyer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and compare it Kuwait and UAE.

Research Methodology:
Obviously scientists and experts has designed a few research Methods that the researchers should follow, however each search has his special or his own method, which distinguish it from other researches. In this research, the researcher will follow the analytical and descriptive method which requires the collection of relevant information related to the subject research Also, taking a lot of information from essays, books, cases, interviews and specialized studies. Also look at research articles published in scientific journals. In addition, we will use the laws that was issued in this matter, the legal profession law that was issued in 2001, for example. The researcher will collect scientific article on the subject of the disciplinary liability for lawyers and the most important resources and references that will improve the research, whether ancient or modern.

Elements of the study:
– Chapter one:
• Research summary.
• Introduction
– Chapter two: The legal profession in Saudi Arabia.
• Definition of the lawyer in Saudi Arabia.
• Historical overview of the attorney profession in Saudi Arabia.
• The requirements of practicing law in Saudi Arabia.
• The Duties for the lawyer.
• The rights for the lawyer.
– Chapter three: Disciplinary liability violations.
• Definition of the disciplinary liability violation.
• Situations to the disciplinary liability.
– Chapter four: Disciplinary procedures.
• The authority that is responsible for suing the lawyers for disciplinary liability.
• The authority that is responsible for considering disciplinary liability.
• The Disciplinary liability procedures.
– Chapter five: Disciplinary liability punishments that could fall on the lawyer.
– Chapter six: How appeal disciplinary liability decisions.
– Chapter seven: Research results and recommendations.
Chapter two: The legal profession in Saudi Arabia.
Definition of a lawyer:
Many laws of the legal profession have not defined the lawyer or the law practice, contrary to the Saudi system, but they focus on the multiplicity of the law practice terms and the statement of lawyer qualifications. It is noticeable that the jurists disagree on the definition of the attorney. The French dictionary refers to the lawyer as “the one who acts for somebody in court, and devotes time to pleading on their behalf. And mentioned that the lawyer “suggests his written opinion and advice in writing in dissolved disputes.” We understand from the definition of attorney in the French dictionary that the lawyer is legally registered in the table of the lawyer’s syndicate as one who gives advice and legal or judicial counsel. The lawyer orally and in writing defends in court the honor, freedom, and interests of citizens, with treatment or representation if necessary. This definition is flawed, since it includes some explanations that drive the proper definition away from its emphasis and conciseness.
Some Arab scholars define the attorney by saying “Lawyers are a group of jurists who are not employed by but assist the litigants by giving advice to them and direct the litigation of their proceedings in courts.” Professor Rizkallah Antaki defines the attorney by saying, “Lawyers are not employees; they are specific jurists’ assistants, and their job is to help litigants by giving them legal advice and defending them in court”. Dr. Abdul Aziz Amer defines the lawyer as “a specific group of people composed of members who must have knowledge, competence, experience, and a good reputation. Their job is assisting litigants in courts to defend them, give them advice, and take over their judicial affairs.”
From the previous definitions, we understand that the attorney includes three types of legal work:
● Providing legal opinions
● Representing the client in lawsuits
● Defending the client in courts and beyond courts.
In Saudi Arabia, the first article of the Saudi legal profession law identified the meaning of the profession by saying “As herein used, the phrase ‘law practice’ shall mean representation of third parties before courts of law, the Board of Grievances, and other committees as may be set up pursuant to laws, decrees and decisions to consider the cases falling within their respective jurisdictions. It shall also mean rendering consultancy services based on the principles of Sharia and the rule of law. Whoever practices this profession shall be called a lawyer. Any person shall be entitled to litigate for himself.”
The regulation list of the first article of the system mentions the following points:
1. Pleading for self-legitimacy is a right of every person, unless there is a legitimate objection requiring the person to plead through an agency, state, or guardianship.
2. The lawyer must defend his client in the investigation stage in accordance with Article (4) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
3. The lawyer must defend the accused in major crimes, provided his presence, and defend him in other crime cases, even without his presence, since the court does not require his physical presence in any case that was in accordance with Article 140 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The definition of the attorney in the Saudi legal profession law book has defined the attorney is, what the attorney does, and the courts and committees that the lawyer pleads to. The legislator highlights the legal entities for which the lawyer may plead, so they are the legal courts, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the committees formed under the laws and regulations to consider the issues within their competence. “The first article has been appointed the scope of the attorney profession. The lawyer is the only qualified person legally able to plead for third parties in courts of all levels, or in front of existing committees, whether their nature is judicial or administrative.” This article gave a definition for both the attorney and the law practice at the same time. The attorney pleads for others in courts, the Office of the Ombudsman, and all committees formed legally as well as engaged in legal consulting. A lawyer exercises rights to plead in affairs of the entities referred to in this article, and also practices legal consulting.
There are some remarks about the definition of attorney in Article I:
1. The regime must be flexible, identifying the entities where the lawyer can plead, and cannot be extrapolated in the future to what may be emerging from judicial entities, such as traffic or trade courts, thus eliminating the flexibility that must be characterized by the system.
2. The article entirely ignored the legal conditions that the system requires in order to gain the characteristic lawyer. Article 3 of the Code requires lawyers to be registered to the lawyers list in order to gain the characteristics of a lawyer. The regulations had to address this issue in the definition, and had to, according to the researcher; require in the definition that the name of the lawyer must be registered among the practicing lawyers.
When we look at the definition of the attorney in the Emirati system, we find that the first article stipulates that “the attorney is a free profession that performs a public service regulated by the law; the judiciary power is involved to confirm the message of justice, ensure the power of the law, and keep the right to defend the rights and freedoms of the people.” We also find that the second article mentions “Lawyers have taken the attorney profession to provide judicial and legal assistance for those who seek it. Lawyers can directly exercise their profession with the rights and guarantees provided by the law and comply with the obligations imposed on them.”
We realize that the Emirati regulations defines the law practice in the first article and then defines the attorney in the second article. Unlike the definition in the Saudi system, which defines the attorney and law practice in one definition by saying “As herein used, the phrase ‘law practice’ shall mean a representation of third parties before courts of law, the Board of Grievances, and other committees as may be set up pursuant to laws, decrees, and decisions to consider the cases falling within their respective jurisdictions. It shall also mean rendering consultancy services based on the principles of Sharia and the rule of law. Whoever practices this profession shall be called a lawyer. Any person shall be entitled to litigate for himself.”
When we look at the Kuwaiti attorney system, we find that there is no definition of the law practice in the system; it began with the required conditions to practice in the attorney profession. The first article states “Whoever operates as a lawyer must be registered by name in the practicing lawyers’ table mentioned in Article (6), in the manner prescribed in this Act.” According to the researcher, the Kuwaiti regulations must use flattery to define the attorney profession. The definition of something is an important and politic issue to determine what it is; therefore, there must be a general definition that reaches the significance of the word on right the meaning, with the shortest and the most informed sentences. On the other hand, the researcher agrees with the Kuwaiti attorney system, since it mentioned the requirement of the registration of the lawyer name in the lawyers’ list in the first article, contrary to the first article of the Saudi attorney system where the registration of the lawyer name in the list is not required, although was mentioned in Article 3 of the system. The researcher believes that the first article of the Saudi attorney system lacks the requirement of the lawyer name registration in the practicing lawyers’ list.
Therefore, we can say that the attorney includes the following aspects:
1. Pleading for third parties in courts or other entities to prove the right. Then, the lawyer takes care of defending his client, whether an individual or a group, and whether the cases are personal, civil, or criminal. The lawyer follows the conduct of this case in different courts of various degrees, and he defends his client in some specific courts, such as military and administrative courts.
2. Providing legal opinion and giving advice, the lawyer is considered an adviser for his client by offering scientific and legal opinions that facilitate the achievement of his legitimate goals with the right way and the right style to reward the effects of injustice and expected damage. The lawyer oriented his client to follow the instructions and proper steps to resolve the dispute or terminate the proceedings in the courts, in pursuing, arbitrating, or reconciling the lawsuit. The lawyer practices the consulting mission in the lawsuit between his client and his opponent; he can always be a consultant for an entity, whether it is an individual or a group.
3. Writing and reviewing contracts, the lawyer can review and draft contracts for his client, so as to avoid any errors that may occur between contractors.
4. Doing a lot of administrative work on behalf of his client, doing reconciliation and arbitration with the competent official authorities, and managing real estate transactions, notification procedures, receiving instruments, etc.
5. The lawyer can perform many activities as stipulated in the attorney document. The lawyer plays an important role for his client, relieving for his client the difficulties of attending trials and frequent revisions. He removes his client from mistakes and actions that may not be in his interest, and also ensures the safety of such actions in accordance with the applicable law.
Historical overview of the attorney profession in Saudi Arabia

Some might think that the law practice is recent in KSA, and it is a new job and system. Perhaps there is a lack of a previous system of attorney that determines the features of this profession, but with tracking systems, we found that the attorney has existed for a long time. The lack of a system led to an insufficiency in the community, and some official entities realized the importance of the attorney profession. In this section, the researcher will review the organizational development of the legal profession in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The judiciary in KSA takes two phases:
First: Before codification of laws
Second: After codification of laws
The first stage: Before codification of laws

The litigation system differs from Najd (central of KSA), Hijaz (west of KSA) and Al-Ahsa (East of KSA) as the largest provinces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Judiciary in Najd

The environment of Najd used to be modest; it is a nomadic environment for those who are in the countryside and a rural environment for those who are in the villages. In those environments, conflicts and disputes are rare, we can say that the judiciary system is simple. The greatest conflict is found in the villages on the borders of farms, houses, wells, and floodplains. In the countryside, issues are about the loss of camels, sheep or their crowding other camels and sheep of other tribes. This was their life, and this was their case; that’s why they need assistance in litigation when they are absent or to authorize someone with knowledge, power of argument, and persuasion.
There was no certain way to litigate, and the judge was not distinctive, either in dress or location. The judge executes judgments between people in his home and his council is his judgment house. He does not have a particular time for litigation; disputers come to him during the night and daytime because in their nature, disputers hate delays and want to finish their problems as soon as possible.
The antagonism comes on behalf of the prosecutor or the defendant, without the presence of the prosecutor or the defendant, and without presenting an official paper to prove it. The judge hears their sayings and executes the judgment; meanwhile, the litigants must implement the execution. The judge does not have to write down the judgment, unless the litigants want it done, especially if the case is about the borders and streams. If the litigants request a written paper, then it is called at this time (Almakhlas), and this makhlas is an official paper proving rights, so the Prince must execute it if the intervention of the Prince is required.
Judiciary in Hijaz

Hijaz used to be different from Najd and other regions, since it is a forum of Muslims across the globe by the presence of Mecca where many people come to that place to perform Hajj and Umrah. So, it was distinguished by the different ethnic groups, making the social situation in Hijaz distinct from others, and greatly impacting cultural behavior and customs. In addition, the Turkish influence was under the control of Hijaz under Ottoman government, and the subordination of princes of Mecca under the Ottoman government; thus, the judiciary was subsequently influenced. Hijaz used to have courts from many administrative systems, with different circumstances than Najd. In the Hijaz, there was a recording and observance of the sayings of litigants as well as a division of lawsuits by their different types. The influence of Ottoman governance was present in Hijaz, so there was a major key court in Mecca, composed of a president, three vice-presidents, and members of the Court. Therefore, Hijaz has a governing judiciary that distinguishes it from the rest of the areas in the Kingdom. The agency with antagonism was present then and was registered in court records as well as issued and stamped by the court. Issuances were not declared by the existence of a special system of litigation (lawyers) in the Hijaz, but the attorney was present and known by the Ottoman.
Judiciary in Al-Hasa

The judiciary in Al-Hasa was close to the judiciary in Hijaz and away from the judiciary in Najd. The agency antagonism was applied in Al-Hasa, where Al-Hasa was a region of the Baghdad province, part of the Ottoman rule.
Ottomans have sought to apply all the judicial systems in which they work, but the residents of Al-hasa refused to deal with these systems, making the Ottomans reconsider the application of those laws and regulations. After that, it was ordered to cancel the regular courts in 1890. The committee, formed before the cancellation of the system, describes an image of the situation of Al-Hasa residents by saying: “Since the people of the area do not want to refer their judgment to the civil laws, and want to apply Islamic law only, the Committee recommends cancelling the civil courts until the inconvenience of civil laws go away.”
Second stage: After the codification of the regulations and unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

After the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the courts remained in what was the dominant system of courts at that time, which was Ottoman law. King Abdul Aziz issued instructions when he announced the temporary configurations for the presidency of the judiciary in 1926, Hijria. These instructions were known as “temporary reformist articles for the Islamic courts;” then, in his speech published in the newspaper Oum-Al-Qura No. 32 on 16/01/1926, Hijria he explained about the identification of the sources of judicial decisions. He said: “The provisions of Islam are the essential pillar of the rule, and will remain a lit candle that guides the walkers and lightens its light ‘Almudalljon’; Islam is a religion that came for the goodness of people in this life and the hereafter; individuals and groups who want happiness in this life and the hereafter must understand the truth of Islam and its rulings, and seek to work them out in order to have blissful happiness and well-being.”
In 1927, the king ordered to continue the application of Ottoman law. He said: “The rules of the Ottoman law have applied until now, because we have not shown our will to cancel them or enforce new regulations. Thus, we agree to your proposal for the continuation of the provisions of that law, and ask you to inform the judges, governors, and administrators.”
In 1928, the Royal Decree, which is considered a copy of Ottoman instructions and is related to the situations of Islamic courts and their formation, was issued. The first chapter discussed the formation of the Islamic courts and their functions, as well as the creation of the following courts in Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah:
A- The first instance court considers the misdemeanors and judicial sentences
B- The second instance court considers the situations of the countryside and what is related to it.
C- The major court considers all the claims made to it, which is outside of the jurisdiction of the first and second courts.
Chapter III of the decree is interested in the new system of procedures for judicial trials. The procedures are outlined in ten articles only, include some subjective matters, and state the prohibition of acceptance of antagonism (attorney) for one of the litigants, except when there is an excuse, such as travel or illness, as well as inclusion of the permission of accepting relatives for the agency between each other.
In 1931, the legitimate trials system was released. It consists of 36 articles treating the same subjects that were treated by the previous decree, but with further details and new additions. So, the conditions of attorney are lightened in that decree comparing to the previous one: It allows the employees to have agency, even if they are in the country. It also relieves the absence distance by allowing the attorney for one of the litigants by defining it as the distance between small villages.
This also allows to help remotely, when the attorney during illness as well as advocating relatives. The decree requires also that the lawyer has a certificate qualifying him for an attorney if the lawyer is not relative to his client. In 1936, the legal pleading system was issued in 142 articles; it did not come out from the previous system, but it was more detailed than before.
In 1953, the legal pleadings system was reformed and reformulated in 96 articles. It is called administrative business organization work in the legal entities.
We will talk about the antagonism attorney in this system called the administrative business organization in the legal entities.
It is noted that the system and its articles did not mention the permission of the attorney, but they mention from what is understood that the proxy in cases means litigation in the courts. Then, the word attorney was not acceptable for most people in our country, and yet for some people, because they were an attributing attorney to civil laws, that is why they hate the word attorney.
This system includes nine topics, and the eighth one was specific to the attorneys. The organizer makes it clear in Articles 59, 60, and 61 of the system that everyone has the right to appoint someone else without any constraints of any kind, including whether that person is residing in the country or abroad.
The system allowed the attorney for any person, no matter his educational level, in one case to three cases. If he is facing three cases from three people, his agency will not be accepted from others, and he has to continue with his three agents no matter how many their cases are.
The regulations explained the conditions of practicing this profession, in Article 62. The regulations demonstrates that attorney’s permits are given by a scientific committee elected by the judge in the country where the applicant lives.
According to article 63, the attorney permit is given only to those who fulfill the following conditions:
A / Age 21 years, old or above
B / Having good conduct
C / Sponsored by the government of his majesty
D / Having the final certificate from the Saudi Institute, the high class of Falah schools, or the equivalent of one of those two certificates by the decision of the directorate of knowledge.
According to Article 64, the issuance of the attorney permit can be given without a scientific certificate after taking a test in judicial subjects through the scientific committee, which is elected by the judge in the country where the applicant lives.
In Article 65 of the system, the regulations shows that the permits, issued by judges to the agents of litigants, are checked by the committee of legal auditing. That is all about the licensing procedure for the attorney profession.
To conclude these articles related to the attorney, article 66 states that the agent is allowed to ask the judge to allow him more time to obtain clarification from his client about what the client wants, since it appears that if the court finds out that the agent is asking frequently for more time by pretending to have a lack of clarification while his intent is to stall, the court has the right to ask the client to complete the pleading by himself.
This article came to restrict what has been unrestricted in Article 59 (Everyone has the right to an attorney without restrictions), and indicates that the judge can stop the agent and not accept the attorney if it appears to him that the agent and his client are stalling, manipulating others, and disregarding the court. The judge may ask the client who has the case to come in front of his opponent to judge in their case.
The organization of the attorney had continued from 1953 to 2001, when the Royal Decree No. (M / 38) was issued, containing the approval of the issuance of the attorney system. It is considered the first attorney system in Saudi Arabia since it was founded. This system consists of forty-three articles within four sections.
First section: Definition of attorney and conditions of practicing law
Second section: Duties and rights of lawyers
Third section: Disciplining lawyers
Fourth section: General provisions
The previous article, No. 42, states that “The Minister of Justice issues the executive list of this system, then it is published in the Official Journal. He also issues the necessary decisions for its implementation.” The article 43 states also “This system is published in the Official Journal and applied after ninety days from the date of publication. Any inconsistent provisions will be eliminated.” The executive list of the system was issued in 2002 and published in the seasonal Journal of Justice issued by the Ministry of Justice in XVI.
Requirements of Practicing Law and Registering to Join the List of Practicing Lawyers

Articles 2, 5, 7, and 31 of the legal profession in Saudi Arabia transmitted to the Ministry of Justice covered the legal profession and the conduct of the affairs and offenses committed by lawyers during their years of practice. The second article of the law clarified that responsibility must be on the Ministry of Justice to prepare the general list that contains the names of practitioners and non-practicing lawyers. The ministry should also transfer the name of the lawyer who stopped exercising the profession for a period longer than a year to the non-practitioners list. Article 3 stipulates that those who engage in the legal profession are to be registered on the list of practicing lawyers.
In this section, we will examine the requirements of practicing law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the panel that administrates the decision-making process, and registration procedures for practitioners and non-practitioners and compare these factors with the UAE and Kuwaiti systems.
Section I: Requirements of Practicing Law in Saudi Arabia

Modern legal laws agreed that making a list of practicing lawyers is a primary rule for law practice. The courts are therefore obliged not to accept a lawyer that does not adhere to the aforementioned rule. The legal profession in Saudi Arabia has confirmed the need for registration on the practicing list as a condition for practicing law in Article 3. Therefore, in this section, the researcher deals with the requirements for practicing law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia compared with the requirements for practicing law in Kuwait and the UAE.
According to Article 3 from the Saudi system, a person who practices law should have his name included on the list of practicing lawyers and should satisfy the following requirements:
1. The applicant must be a Saudi national. However, a non-Saudi shall be entitled to practice law subject to the terms of agreement concluded between the Kingdom and other countries.
2. The applicant must be a holder of a degree from a Sharia college, a bachelor of law from one of the Kingdom’s universities, an equivalent of any of these degrees obtained from abroad, or a post-graduate diploma of legal studies from the Institute of Public Administration.
3. The applicant must have at least three years of practical legal experience. This period may be reduced to one year for a holder of a master’s degree in Sharia or in law, an equivalent of any of these degrees, or a post-graduate diploma in law for the graduates of a Sharia college. This requirement will not apply to a holder of a doctorate in these fields of specialization.
4. He must be of good conduct and not under interdiction.
5. He must not have been subjected to any hadd (Qur’anic prescribed punishment) or any other sentence in connection with a crime that impugns integrity, except where a minimum period of five years has expired since the execution of that sentence.
6. He must be a resident of the Kingdom.
The Minister of Justice shall prepare a declaration form to be signed by the applicant wherein he confirms that the applicant has complied with all of the requirements.
According to Article 3 of the legal system, with reference to Article 3 of implemented regulations, we can detail the requirements for the registration of the practicing lawyers as follows.
First: The Requirement of Nationality and Residency
The Saudi system, as many other systems in Arab countries, has limited the right to exercise the profession, defend others, offer judicial advice, and draft contracts to Saudi nationals. As for non-Saudis, they are capable of practicing but only under some special requirements.
The applicant for registration shall be a Saudi resident
It is mandatory for one who wants to practice law to be a Saudi. The Saudi regime has included further criteria to practice law, which is that the applicant should be a resident of the Kingdom. The applicant is bound to sign and confirm his residency using the application issued by the minister of justice. In principle, non-Saudis shall not practice because Saudi citizenship is a prerequisite for practice, but this does not mean that the Saudi regime closed the door completely to non-Saudis. The system has enabled them to practice within special and specific circumstances.
The non-Saudis’ right in practice
The requirements for non-Saudis to practice law and consult are as follows:
Paragraph A of Article 3 of the Saudi legal system approved that non-Saudis can practice as allowed by the agreements concluded by the Kingdom with other countries. In such a case, it is possible for non-Saudis coming from sponsored countries within the Kingdom to practice.
Article 39 of the law system of Saudi Arabia allowed non-Saudis who are licensed before the decision of the Council of Ministers No. (116) dated 10/16/1980 to temporarily practice consultancy only according to the following requirements:
– A non-Saudi should carry out his practice on a full-time basis.
– He should not litigate before courts of law, the Board of Grievances, or the committees referred to in the Saudi legal system; competent authorities should not allow him to litigate.
– He should reside in the Kingdom for a minimum period of nine months per year.
– He should satisfy the requirements for registration, excluding citizenship.
– Copies of his qualifications and his old license shall be filed with the Ministry of Justice within six months of the date of implementation of Saudi legal code.
The Ministry of Justice should prepare a special register for licensed non-Saudis and should provide them with temporary permits. Also, the Minister of Justice should determine the particulars to be entered in this register and in the license. He should also specify the duration and expiration date date of such license. A license is terminated by force of law if any of the requirements mentioned in the Saudi legal-profession code are violated.
Requirements for obtaining a consultancy license for non-Saudis
Non-Saudis who want to engage in consultancy work should hand in a letter submitted to the administration accompanied by the following:
1. A certified copy of a passport
2. A certified copy of the residence permit
3. Papers and documents for the degrees held and the experience period
4. Three color photographs of modern photography size (4 x 6)
5. The office address
6. A signed statement stating the following:
a. The requirements for practicing lawyers, except the nationality, are achieved
b. The requirements for the non-Saudi attorneys are achieved
c. Return the temporary license when it expires or if he stops practicing consulting work
d. Prohibition of working with a non-Saudi lawyer, whether is it an individual or a company
e. Report any change to the data contained in the register of the non-Saudi consultants table.
Duration of license for non-Saudis
The provisional license for practicing consultancy is issued after registering in the non-Saudis practicing list by the decision of the minister in accordance with the required application, provided it contains the necessary applicant information. The length is a five-year, non-renewable term. If a licensee’s counsel works on consultancy after being delisted from the non-Saudi consultants’ table, he will be imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year, receive a fine of less than thirty thousand Ryals, or both.
The causes of removing the consultancy license to a non-Saudi
The name deletion of a licensed counsel from the table of non-Saudi consultants and license abolition is generated by a decision of the registration committee in the following cases:
1. If the person requested to stop practicing
2. If his right to practice is on hold
3. If prejudicially sentenced to a penalty for offending honor or integrity
4. If unable to engage in the work of consultancy due to critical disease
5. Death
Article 40 of the Saudi law system clarified that the consultancy licensee should work alone or in conjunction with a Saudi lawyer and cannot be assisted by a non-Saudi counsel, whether individuals or companies. The practicing consultant should work in his office and is not entitled to open a branch office. Also, the counselor is not eligible to work in conjunction with more than one Saudi lawyer or firm. Any Saudi lawyer with whom a non-Saudi counselor works shall have an office for practice.”
The requirements for the use of assistance of non-Saudi lawyers by Saudi lawyers
The Saudi legal system permits the lawyer to be assisted in his office according to the need to work with one non-Saudi lawyer or more under an employment contract under the Saudi lawyer’s responsibility and supervision with the following requirements:
1. The licensed lawyer should attend to his practice regularly and should sign all correspondences issued by his firm in connection with relevant cases. However, he may delegate his authority to any of the Saudi lawyers or to any other lawyer who is licensed.
2. A non-Saudi lawyer has to satisfy the requirements for registration, excluding citizenship, and shall have a minimum of five years of practical experience.
3. His practice has to be restricted to providing assistance and preparation of submissions in the name of the lawyer who is holding the license. He should not represent third parties before courts of law, the Board of Grievances, or the committees to which the Saudi legal-profession code refers.
The implemented regulations clarified that the regulations require that, in addition to co-counsel requirements, the length of his stay in the Kingdom shall not be less than nine months per year. If the requirements are not respected by the non-Saudi co-counsel profile, the applicant counsel is then subject to a disciplinary punishment. Additionally, the Saudi lawyer is required to be registered on the practicing-lawyers list and to have an office where he can practice.
Thus, the position of the Saudi regime came to be different from other systems, such as Kuwait and the UAE, which allowed non-citizens to practice in the territory of the country under certain requirements.
The Kuwaiti system allows Arab nationals to practice within Kuwait, while a non-Kuwaiti’s record is set for temporary registrations under specific guidelines. The person who registers must fulfill the following:
1. Be a national of an Arab country.
2. Be full-fledged, praiseworthy, and reputable with no judicial or disciplinary sentences for urgent reasons or disclosure.
3. Have a bachelor’s degree in law from one of the faculties of the Arabic League.
4. Must have worked as a lawyer or in a judicial position for at least ten years.
5. Have a residence in Kuwait permanently throughout the duration of the registration.
Looking at UAE law, it also allows non-citizens to practice in the UAE when they meet the abovementioned requirements in addition to the following requirements:
1. The applicant has already become a lawyer or participated in judicial functions for at least fifteen years to be accepted before the Federal Supreme Court and ten years for other courts.
2. The applicant must be a lawful resident in the UAE for the duration of the registration.
3. The applicant must engage in the profession through an office of a citizen-lawyer enrolled among practicing lawyers.
Article 10 of the UAE law system has made it clear that the practice is to be limited to citizen-lawyers. A non-citizen lawyer who was registered before March 12, 1996 is to practice through the offices of citizen-lawyers enrolled in the register of practitioners before the same date for a duration of two years from the date this law took effect. That does not allow any non-citizen lawyer to work at those offices after this law. The Council of Ministers can decide to extend the time limit for a period of two years and could extend it only twice.
It seems that generally, the contemporary legislation tends to develop terms and special controls for foreigners practicing law. These terms are different from one country to another, depending on the circumstances, the political situation, and other national interests. Accordingly, the Saudi regime made practicing law really convenient and accessible for its citizens and did not allow non-Saudis to practice except under an office of a Saudi lawyer, without proceedings before the courts and the competent committees.
The Second Condition: The Lawyer Qualification
Saudi law requires that the applicant for registration is to have a Certificate of Sharia or a law degree from one of the universities of the Kingdom or an equivalent from abroad; the system does not exclude anyone except who worked in the judicial area for three years in the Kingdom. The start time to exercise law is the date directly after appointment to the judiciary, and the ending of the practice of the judiciary is linked to the cutoff date. What follows does not count in the duration of judicial practice:
1. Special holidays or sickness retreat that exceeds three months
2. Career breaks
3. Transportation, reallocation, or a loan-out for work outside the judiciary field
This exception has many supporters and opponents. Dr. Najib Abdul Razak criticized exemption from the training period with three years of experience. Dr. Najib argued that this exemption is not appropriate and is not justified scientifically or practically. He added that an attorney’s job is indeed a science and is part of a branch of legal science and practice requiring knowledge of forensic science, legal, civil, commercial, criminal, administrative, and other sections of the law. It is a science that needs precise scientific qualifications and specializations, in which even its experts are barely well rounded when it comes to practice. He argued that if an exemption from practicing law for three years has had a scientific basis in the past, it is no longer acceptable; the Kingdom currently boasts qualifications, competencies, and certificate holders in various disciplines. Dr. Najib indicated that this exception, which mentioned that those who practiced judiciary work for three years can initiate attorney profession without obtaining the required degree, requires serious review.
Dr. Najib believes that it is necessary to review the minimum duration required to take advantage of this exception and to maybe adjust the duration to ten years instead of three. He also said that Sharia and the law could be compared to a dangerous ocean of knowledge and science; it therefore requires good swimmers and three years of judicial work is insufficient to prepare and qualify a person for the practice of law that was not preceded by a university qualification.
In addition, Dr. Mohamed Kharif criticized the content in the article, also judging the term as insufficient to gain experience, especially with the variation in the work of the judges from one court to another. For example, the work of the courts within the city is not comparable to work in the suburbs, not only in terms of intensity but also in what concerns the type of cases, making the experience gained during this time inadequate. Dr. Kharif explained that lifting the duration from three years to five years would be reasonable in order to acquire expertise.
The view of Dr. Kharif is more appropriate than the ten years suggested by Dr. Najib. Five years is sufficient if the working environment is intense enough in one of the bustling cities or districts with an average density that allows cases to fall down to the office of the experience-seeking law agents.
Looking back at the UAE legal system, we realize that Article 4, Paragraph 4, requires a lawyer to be in possession of a degree in Islamic law, a law degree from one of the universities or colleges. or a recognized equivalent. However, people who obtain a qualification by possessing experience in judiciary work for at least two years and those working in federal or local government agencies, public institutions, public bodies, or the private sector for at least three years are exempted from this requirement.
As for the Kuwaiti regulations, we find that Article 2, Paragraph 4, requires a lawyer to have a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kuwait or a recognized university or a bachelor’s degree in judiciary Sharia from one of the colleges of Sharia in Arab countries. Kuwaiti lawyers registered on the practicing list under Act No. 21 of 1960 are exempt from this requirement.
We find that there are similarities between the system of law in Saudi Arabia and the Kuwaiti and UAE systems. The majority of systems in the Arabic States agree that access to university qualifications in law or Islamic law from a university in the same country or an equivalent from a university outside the country is required. The scholar’s view also attests that it is the most necessary requirement for an attorney for several reasons mentioned above.
The Saudi regime differs from Kuwait’s and is similar to the UAE’s with the exception of the university degree qualification. In fact, in Saudi Arabia, those who have previous work experience in judiciary work for at least three years are excluded from the qualification requirement; as for the UAE, the person must work in the justice field for two years or work in the legal field in a local or federal government or in public or private bodies for at least three years. Kuwaiti law did not speak about this exception and merely mentioned a requirement to obtain a certificate in its regulations.
In the view of our scholar, two or three years of experience is a big mistake; it is not sufficient to acquire expertise and because of that, the legislator need to move it to five or above; this is why the researcher agrees with the Kuwaiti regime that obliges a person to pursue a qualification from a university, which at least covers for the lack of practical experience.
The Third Condition: Legal Experience
The attorney’s job is not a simple science; it is an art that requires experience and skill, and its practice requires a certain amount of experience and a constant study of daily rules, cases, and judgments happening in the field. Thus, usual, contemporary laws are used to incorporate experience and practice as conditions of practicing the profession of law. So for the applicant seeking registration as a practitioner, it is mandatory to have a specific period of time of exercise to begin practice.
The Saudi regime says that work experience should account for at least three years of total experience. This experience can be acquired while doing one of the following acts:
1. Judiciary work inside and outside the Kingdom
2. Issuing formal fatwas in Saudi Arabia
3. Teaching jurisprudence or law in universities, graduate studies institutes, or other educational institutions in the Kingdom
4. Consultancy on the countries’ instruments, institutions, or bodies
5. Experience gained from legal experience in companies or institutions
6. Public prosecutor experience or investigation tasks in the Ministry of Interior within the Kingdom
7. General or primary secretary tasks of justice in the Kingdom
8. Accruing secretary experience in civil conflicts cases, criminal courts, or the Office of the Ombudsman in Saudi Arabia
Although the Saudi law system requires that a registration applicant have at least three years of experience, this rule is subject to two exceptions: reduction of training period and exemption from training. The Saudi regime has reduced the duration of training for scientifically qualified applicants from three years to one year as follows:
1. If the registration applicant has obtained a master’s degree in Islamic law or a law degree or equivalent
2. If the applicant has obtained a diploma in law for Sharia college graduates
On the other hand, the system has relieved applicants from the requirement of experience for both of the following conditions:
1. Holds a PhD in Islamic law
2. Holds a PhD in law
The required three years do not have to necessarily be completed consecutively; however, self-defense cases are not considered experience.
When working in an attorney’s office, it is indeed considered experience if the following requirements are fulfilled:
1. The applicant in training should achieve the requirements for entry in the practicing list, except the experience requirement.
2. The training should be done at the office of an attorney who has spent at least five years in practice.
3. Interning should be full-time training.
4. The trainee should be a resident in the same city he is working at the training, whether it is the headquarters of the firm or a branch office.
5. Training should be in a form of a written contract between the lawyer and the trainee and should include the time period of the training.
6. The trainee’s pledges in court and consultancy work should be on behalf of the lawyer.
7. The trainee should apply for registration after the end of the training period, sooner than two years after the end the training.
According to the UAE legal system, applicants for registration must hold a degree in law or Sharia at a university, higher educational institutions, or equivalents recognized by the country. Thereafter, the trainee gets registered on the training-lawyer list and should achieve the practicing-lawyer requirements, except for the experience requirement. The request for transfer to the practitioners list shall not be granted unless the applicant got through the training period without a break with a total training duration of at least one year. The trainee may, after six months of training, appear in trial courts in the presence of his boss. In addition, the applicant must bring a certified copy of the certificate of qualification in law or Sharia law written in Arabic; a foreign language version must attach a legal translation in Arabic.
The UAE law system’s regulations explained the requirements regarding the training year. The Institute of Judicial Training and Studies of the Ministry of Justice is responsible for preparing and training the trainee lawyers through legal studies related to the profession. The Institute will familiarize them with the rules of the profession, its discipline, and traditions as well as its know-how. This occurs for a period of six months, after which the trainee should pass a test that he has studied and trained for. The trainee must comply with the program developed by the Judicial Training and Studies Institute for the training, and if any trainee scores a commitment level lower than 80% in terms of attendance of this program, he will be automatically eliminated from the training period. Finally, the trainees get redistributed throughout the offices of lawyers for a period of six months to complete their training. The training supervisor helps them define courts partitions, fulfill methods for recording proceedings, and guides them in how to proceed before the courts. After this, the trainees obtain the required knowledge and practice to begin the profession.
Going back to the Kuwaiti law system, we find that the trainee lawyer must, after his registration on the training list, join the office of one of the practitioners and also notify the commission of the name of that lawyer, and his office address, and an acceptance letter from the lawyer allowing him to train. The Kuwaiti system requires that this procedure is done within a maximum period of six months from the date of registration on the training list; otherwise, the registration request will be considered canceled. If a trainee unable to attend one of lawyers’ offices, the Admissions Committee may decide to appoint the trainee to an office of its choice, and the office owner is not able to stop this decision without an acceptable excuse. The system allows the trainee to be transferred as long as the admission committee approves. The trainee lawyer cannot open an office under his name, cannot initiate law duties under his name, and therefore is not eligible to sign any law-related inquiry or case paperwork; he is also prohibited from claiming that he is a practicing lawyer without highlighting that his is still a trainee.
In addition, the Kuwaiti system defines the training length as two consecutive years of actual law endeavor, after which the lawyer who is registered as a trainee gets a certificate from his supervising lawyer that proves his initial date of practice at the office and the complete length of training. The certificate also states the work undertaken during that period. It is compulsory to attach a formal statement with the numbers of the cases that the trainee worked on with this certificate.
The length of practice is calculated within the exercise period in one of the following activities:
1. Functions in the public prosecutor’s department, the legal and Legislative Advisory Department or the General Directorate of Investigations by the Ministry of the Interior or the Legal Department of the Municipality of Kuwait
2. Teaching law at a Kuwaiti university or any other recognized university
3. Any other occupation approved and issued by the Minister of Justice after taking the opinion of the committee on the admission to consider it as a counterpart of the lawyer’s profession
When we compare the experience requirement in the Saudi Arabian system with the law systems in the UAE and Kuwait, we find that there is a certain tolerance in the Saudi regime of the exemptions from the period of training. The advocacy field is a field of science and art; it needs scientific theory and scientific expertise. In the scholar’s view, this profession must be exercised to obtain a certain efficiency and practical experience to perform this profession successfully and with firm mastery.
We found that the legal systems in the UAE and Kuwait did not talk about exemptions as in the Saudi system. When it comes to scholar’s view and his take on UAE system, he thinks that they actually succeeded in establishing a special institute to train future lawyers for six months and practical expertise acquisition for the remaining period. The Institute of Judicial Training and Studies will familiarize the trainees with the rules, disciplines, traditions, and know-how to exercise the profession, and then it will have the trainees take a test over what they were taught. There is no doubt that complacency and laziness in the delivery of a solid experience before the official practice would negatively reflect in Saudi Arabia in terms of achieving justice.
Dr. Najib Abdul Razak suggested that registration applicants should have experience in the nature of work for at least three years. This period is reduced to two years for master’s degree holders in the law field and reduced to one year for those with a PhD in law or Sharia. This is what doctor Najib is holding to in favor of justice.
The Fourth Requirement: Eligibility, Good Conduct, and No Convictions of an Offense
The applicant should be of good character and conduct to register, and that should be documented and signed. Whoever is not proven to be of good conduct is not eligible to practice this profession.
In addition, the person cannot exercise the profession if sentenced for a crime against honor or honesty unless the sentence was completed at least five years prior. This condition is commonly agreed on by jurists as a necessity to practice law. Moreover, this condition is an essential requirement by the nature of the profession and happens to be imposed by all contemporary laws because it is not logical and reasonable to allow perpetrators of an offense prejudicial to honor and honesty to be the ones to defend the rights of honesty and honor.
Crimes against honor or honesty lead to weakness of religious deterrents and the crimes of bribery, forgery, rape, embezzlement, swindling and fraud, treason, and drug use. If convicted on any of the crimes listed, then the case is brought to the Disciplinary Committee as provided in Article 31 of the Saudi system to decide whether the offenses are indeed against honor or honesty.
The researcher disagrees with the Saudis in the differentiation of requirements regarding eligibility and good conduct and in terms of being sentenced or punished, because we cannot have a well-behaving person apply to the profession when he was previously sentenced or punished. The regulations should make those requirements related, because it is targeting the same criteria.
UAE law system also sets similar requirements for practice. To be fully eligible, one must be of good conduct, of good reputation, and not judicially sentenced for a felony or a misdemeanor prejudicial to honor or honesty or sentenced in such disciplinary offenses. Emirati regulations also require paperwork that proves good discipline. The lawyer must attach the certificate of good conduct from a competent authority duly legalized and his criminal record from a competent authority proving that the registration applicant was not previously convicted for urgent reasons prejudicial to honor or trust. In addition, the lawyer should attach a certificate from his previous job that proves good conduct and absence of any conviction or punishment of sorts that is prejudicial to trust or honesty.
The Kuwaiti system also requires that an applicant must be a fully eligible, praiseworthy, and reputable along with not judicially or disciplinarily sentenced for urgent reasons or disclosure.
When comparing the condition of good conduct among the Saudi, UAE, and Kuwaiti regimes, we find that all of them agree that the applicant must be legally competent and show good behavior. The Saudi system added specific types of crimes against honor: crimes of bribery, forgery, rape, embezzlement, swindling and fraud, treason, and drug use. This one of the advantages belonging to the Saudi law system that succeeded in being specific about these crimes against honor. The Saudis also mentioned that there are other crimes that only the disciplinary committee, mentioned in Article 31, gets to decide upon.
Meanwhile, the Emirati regulations exceled in being clear and concise in controls to demonstrate good behavior; identifying ways to demonstrate good behavior is a positive point for the system. Unlike the Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti systems, the UAE determines the condition of good behavior, not methods.
The Fifth Condition: Inalienable
Anyone who was under guardianship due to a limitation of eligibility is not considered qualified to practice. Guardianship may occur for many reasons, such as imbalance of mind or age, or if the person is a fool, evidenced by bad management of money. If a person is unable to assume the disposition of his own wealth, then the person cannot act over the wealth of others.
The Sixth Condition: Full-Time Availability for Legal Profession
The applicant must be available full time for the legal profession and should consider the following:
1. Not combining the legal profession with any government or private professions
2. The lawyer may combine the legal profession with other professions that are not inconsistent with the nature of the legal profession, and this job-conflict assessment is subject to the investigation of the Registration and Admissions Committee.
3. While applying for registration, the lawyer should tell the committee about other professions he works in or will work in after being accepted to the profession.
The UAE legal system does not allow combining the practice of law and the exercise of any of the following activities:
1. The Presidency of the Council of Ministers or its membership
2. The Presidency of the Federal National Council
3. Public or private profession, with the exception of the Faculty of law and Sharia law in the university
4. Engagement in trade

Occupying one of those jobs while being a lawyer results in inability and prohibition from exercising law duties and therefore moves a person to the non-lawyers list.
It is important to mention that the system of law and regulations in Saudi Arabia and its executive table did not disclose the activities that are to be avoided that collide with the legal profession. It was left to the Commission of Registration with no precise instructions to be referred to, unlike the UAE system, which selects undesirable activities. These gaps are to be addressed in the Saudi regime.
It is also noted that the Saudi law system does not allow faculty members in faculties of law to combine university teaching with the practices of law, unlike the Kuwaiti and Emirati regulations, which permit faculty members to combine work with a university and the practices of law. Kuwaiti law imposed some technical and administrative constraints for combining professions such as the requirement of prior approval from the university administration.
The reasons why we say that the systems must allow faculty members at faculties of law to practice is the following:
1. The faculty board of teachers in universities consists of highly competent individuals with masterful ethics and scientific disciplines involved in positions of certain fields; they are exceptional cases requiring permission to combine academic work and the legal profession.
2. Allowing faculty teachers who are known to be experts in their fields to practice law will enrich our professional experience in the legal sector and will serve the community and justice.
Section II: Committee for Registration Decisions and Related Proceedings

First: The Committee Composed to Make Decisions Concerning Registrations for Non-Practicing Lawyers and Practitioners
Under Article 5 of the regulations, the Commission of Acceptance and Registrations has been renewed and is now composed of the following:
1. The Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Justice designated by the Minister of Justice (Chairman).
2. The representative of the Ombudsman with an equal-grade degree to the President of the Court appointed by the President of the Office of the Ombudsman (Members).
3. A lawyer who served in the practice of the profession for at least five years, appointed by the Minister of Justice (Member).
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for appointing a member if there is an absence. The membership of the committee is valid for a period of three years and is renewable once. Moreover, the committee meets in the presence of all its members, and its decisions are made by the majority response in accordance with the instructions listed in the system. Article 6 of the regulations provides that the commission must verify the requirements prescribed in the system and decide on the request if completed within a period not exceeding thirty days from the date of submission, and if denied, one must explain the reasons, if requested. The applicant may appeal to the Ombudsman within sixty days from the date after being informed of the decision of the commission.
By reviewing the article, we found that it gave members of the Registrations and Acceptance Committee flexibility, which is required by the nature of its work, in terms of study and examination of applications within a reasonable time. It also added an aspect of diligence and counseling to the work of the committee when it stipulated that decisions are made by majority, meaning that if two voted for and a third objected, the resolution takes effect, but the member should express his point of view. The system also stipulates that the decision must be justified.
What has been clarified through the previous article regarding the formation of the committee and the disclosure of the number of its members manifests the significance of the committee. The objective of the system when it clarifies the committees’ formation is the improvement of administrative decision-making, as attendance is collective and the decisions are made by the majority.
In article seven, the legislator has given the authority of releasing the license to the minister of justice after the registry of the license in the lawyers’ list. The license is valid for five years and can be renewed according to the conditions and terms specified in this system. The license applicant pays a fee of SR 2,000 when the license is issued and SR 1,000 at the time of renewal. The Ministry of Justice should prepare a general list of the names of practicing lawyers and another list of non-practicing lawyers, as of the time of registration. The two lists shall include the particulars specified by the Implementing Regulations of this Code. The Ministry of Justice shall transfer the name of a lawyer who ceases to practice the profession for a period exceeding one year from the list of practicing lawyers to the list of non-practicing lawyers subject to the restrictions included in the Implementing Regulations of this Code.
With reference to implementing the regulations of the second article of the Saudi legal practice system, the following elaboration is manifested:
1- There is a record for every list; the first should be titled “Record of Practicing Lawyers Registry List” according to the application endorsement form, and the second should be titled “Record of Non-Practicing Lawyers Registry List” according to the application endorsement form.
2- The lawyer must inform the administration about any updates in his data accompanying the registry request or the data recorded in the list that is included in the intended form.
3- Transfer of a lawyer from the practicing lawyers list to the non-practicing lawyers list takes place without the lawyer’s request or approval.
4- Names are enrolled in the list of practicing lawyers by order according to the sequence numbers of the approval decisions issued by the Registry and Admission Committee or (Enlisting or Enrollment and Admission Committee). As for the registry of the non-practicing lawyers, names are listed in sequence by date of the issued decisions regardless of their sequence numbers unless more than one decision has been issued on the same date. If so, names are listed according to seniority at the time of enrollment in the practicing lawyers list.
5- The listing of names in both lists must be done by number starting from one, added to the year of registration, starting at the beginning of every Hijri and finishing at its end. The registry number in the practicing lawyers list is considered the main number of the lawyer and is not given to anyone else.
6- Names are not to be listed on the non-practicing lawyers list except through transfer from the practicing lawyers list, including lawyers and consultants mentioned in item 38 of the system after enrolling their names in the practicing lawyers list.
7- When a lawyer requests to be suspended from practicing the profession for a period that exceeds one year, his/her name is transferred from the practicing lawyers registry to the list of non-practicing lawyers under the following conditions:
a. He/she presents a request to the Registry and Admission Committee.
b. The remaining period for the end of the certificate period is more than a year starting from the date of suspension report.
c. There have been no disciplinary proceedings against the lawyer under item 30 of the system.
d. The lawyer has not stopped due to a job that demands not practicing the profession or due to a breach of one of the conditions of registry in the list.
e. In not less than six months prior to his/her suspension, the applicant suspension announces the suspension in any of the newspapers released in the area of his/her headquarters or in any of the most influential newspapers if there are no newspapers released in his/her area, noting that the announcement has to include the duration of the suspension.
f. The lawyer has to place a signboard that clarifies his status at his workplace and its branches.
g. The cases that were assigned to the lawyer have finished completely, or the lawyer has settled them with his/her clients under an agreement, which must be attached to the suspension report form.
8- In cases other than the one mentioned above, the name of the lawyer is transferred from the practicing lawyers list to the non-practicing lawyers list in the following situations:
a. if ninety days have passed from the date of the first certificate release or its renewal or substitute and the lawyer has not appeared to receive it after being reported;
b. if ninety days have passed from the date of receiving the certificate and the lawyer has not set a location or work site;
c. if he/she has set a site or changed it without informing the administration within a period of ninety days maximum;
d. if the license (certificate) date has expired and the lawyer has not presented a renewal request;
e. if a final decision has been made by the disciplinary committee in order to debar the lawyer from practicing the profession according to item 35 of the system; or
f. if he/she has not abided by the residency condition, such as by residing outside KSA for more than six months per year during the years of holding the certificate.
9- Considering articles 29 and 35 of the system concerning the situations in which the name of the lawyer has been deleted from the list, and the certificate issued for him to practice the profession has been canceled, his name must also be removed from both lists and his certificate must be canceled in any of the following cases:
a. if he presents an absolute suspension request;
b. in case of his death;
c. if he cannot practice the profession due to an irrecoverable illness evidenced in a medical report;
d. if his registry continues to be in the non-practicing lawyers list for more than five years from the date of registry, regardless of the reason. However, for lawyers requesting suspension, as pointed out in item 7/2, this does not apply except after more than ten years;
e. if he combines practicing the profession with another job that demands not practicing the profession;
f. if the nationality condition is breached;
g. if his name is on the list and he does not pay the specified fee within ninety days of the registry date.

10- Names are listed, transferred, removed, and re-listed on both lists through the Registry and Admission Committee, based on justified decisions issued by the committee, except in cases of lawyers for whom the disciplinary committee has issued a final decision to remove their names from the list or to suspend them from practicing the profession. In such cases, the lawyer’s name is removed or transferred from the practicing lawyers list to the non-practicing lawyers list based on the disciplinary committee decision according to item 35 of the system.
11- lawyer whose name has been removed or transferred to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers must be informed through a documented letter to his address within one month of the date of removal or transfer.
12- The Committee of Registry and Admission has the right to change its decision regarding removing a lawyer’s name from the list or transferring the lawyer’s name to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers under the condition that the committee makes a vindicated decision.
13- A lawyer whose name has been transferred to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers does not have the right to open his office or to practice any form of consultation. Also, he does not have the right to defend any case in court unless he is one of the lawyers mentioned in articles b – d of the article (18) of the system.
14- If a lawyer has abided by the system’s regulations and continues to do so, he is not considered suspended according to the following:
a- If he does not get a satisfying job or if no one asks him to defend a case or present a consultation.
b- If he works for the government or any other institute in the field of research, consultations, adjudication, investigation, prosecution, company clearance, estate (inheritance) settlement, contract writing, preparation of studies and official regulations.
The committee formed according to the fifth article of the system has the authority to make decisions regarding the process of admission, transference, and removal, as the regulations has given it the authority to verify the availability of the conditions required for registering in the List of Practicing Lawyers, which in turn is specified in the third article of the system. As a matter of course, the committee retains the right to reject the applicant if he does not fulfill any of the conditions required by the system. However, in order not to allow any arbitrary decisions or any misuse of authority, the regulations has imposed two restrictions upon the committee:
1- It is necessary to make a decision regarding a given request within thirty days of the date of presenting the request if it meets all the regulationsy conditions.
2- It is necessary for the committee to justify its decisions in case of refusing to accept the request to be listed. In addition, the applicant has the right to appeal to the Board of Grievance within sixty days of the date of the committee’s decision report.
Therefore, the procedures of the committee according to the Implementing Regulations of the article are as follows:
1- A registry and admission committee for lawyers must be formed in order to look into the presented requests at least once per month along with taking minutes of the meetings, which include the requests that have been studied and the cases of acceptance or rejection and their reasons.
2- The committee’s meetings must be held in the headquarters of the ministry with the permission of its head, or in another place according to a decision made by the minister.
3- A meeting is sound only when all its members attend.
4- The meetings must be held during the government’s official working hours unless there is a emergency, and this should be according to the minister’s decision.
5- The committee must have a headquarters chosen by its chairman in order to supervise all its administrative and writing tasks and any other tasks assigned to it.
6- The complete requests have to be examined according to their order of registry in the committee’s incoming record and during the allotted period by the system, excluding the two holiday vacations.
7- The committee must issue its decision in accordance with the majority’s opinion, and any opposing member must clarify his perspective.
8- The applicant must be informed of the rejection decision and its reasons, and he must sign a notice in the specified time.
9- If the registry request has been rejected due to incomplete procedures or for another reason that prevents the registry, the requester has the right to apply for a new request after finishing the papers required by the system or after the issue preventing the registry has been resolved.
Based on these guidelines, the researcher will discuss registry in the Saudi law system and ple for practicing and non-practicing lawyers.
Second: The Registry of Practicing Lawyers:
The legal practice system is held responsible for organizing the profession of legal practice under the instruction of the Saudi Legal System and its Implementing Regulations for practicing and non-practicing lawyers provided that both lists include the mentioned information according to the Implementing Regulations above. It is also worth noting that the system has not clarified whether this list includes other attached lists related to the grades of the lawyers and their division by the types of courts or by their experiences.
The division of the general list of lawyers, as shown above, displays the extreme significance of the jurisdiction of the lawyer. The practicing lawyer has the right to defend others, whereas the non-practicing lawyer does not have this authority. The non-practicing lawyer has the right to defend himself and only those under his guardianship based on the Implementing Regulations section of the first article, “Defending Oneself is a Legal Right for Everyone.” If he falls under the description of a lawyer, he does not have the right practice law, and there is a difference between having a right and practicing the right.

Third: The Registry of Non-Practicing Lawyers:
The Implementing Regulations has demonstrated how to enroll in the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers mentioned above. Regarding the procedures of transference from the List of Practicing Lawyers to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers, the Implementing Regulations has shown the details in item number seven in the second article of the system: “the name of the lawyer requesting suspension for more than a year is transferred from the List of Practicing Lawyers to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers under the following conditions…”
Transfer from the List of Practicing Lawyers to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers has been associated with the fact that lawyer requesting suspension has had his license for more than a year, and the year is counted based on the Hijri calendar according to the fifth item of the Implementing Regulations in the second article.

A practicing lawyer who presents a request for suspension for more than a year and who desires to transfer his name to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers must meet the following conditions:
a- The lawyer must present a request to the Committee of Registry and Admission (the Registry and Admission Committee).
b- The period remaining before the license expires must be more than a year from the date of the suspension report.
c- There has been no disciplinary prosecution (lawsuit) against him, according to article 30 of the system.
d- His suspension must not be due to a job that requires not practicing the profession or due to a breach in one of the conditions of being enrolled in the list. In addition, the lawyer requesting the suspension must make an announcement one month ahead in one of the local newspapers in the area of his site or in any of the most influential newspapers if there are no newspapers released in the area. The announcement must include the duration of the suspension, and the lawyer must post a sign at his site or office to indicate his suspension from practicing the profession.
Through the manifestation of the legal practice regulations and Implementing Regulations, it is clear that the most prominent task of the committee is to transfer lawyers from the List of Practicing Lawyers to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers according to the following situations:
g. if ninety days pass from the date of the first license release or its renewal or substitute and the lawyer does not appear to receive it after being reported;
h. if ninety days pass from the date of receiving the license and the lawyer does not set a location or work site;
i. if he sets a site or changes it without informing the administration within a period of ninety days maximum;
j. if the license expires and the lawyer does not present a renewal request;
k. if a final decision has been made by the disciplinary committee in order to debar the lawyer from practicing the profession according to item (35) of the system; or
l. if he does not abide by the residency condition, such as by residing outside KSA for more than six months per year during the years of holding the license.

If the lawyer requesting the suspension withdraws the request and is accepted for enrollment in the List of Practicing Lawyers again, he is allowed to practice the profession starting from the date of his return under the condition that he informs the administration, so the committee can make the decision to re-enroll him in the List of Practicing Lawyers within a period that does not exceed ten years of the date of recording his name in the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers.
The Committee of Registry and Admission must send a documented letter to the address of a lawyer who has been transferred to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers in order to notify him about the transference within one month from the date of the transfer.
A lawyer whose name has been transferred to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers without his request and without being issued a decision from the disciplinary committee to suspend him from practicing the profession according to article 35 of the system and wants to be re-enrolled in the List of Practicing Lawyers must present a request in this regard to the Committee of Registry and Admission within a period that does not exceed five years of the date of his enrollment in the List of Practicing Lawyers. However, the lawyer who has been issued a suspension decision from the disciplinary committee may not present such a request except after the end of the disciplinary suspension period. Based on rule, a lawyer whose name has been transferred to the List of Non-Practicing Lawyers does not have the right to open his office, practice consultation, or defend others except those who are mentioned in article 18:
– Spouses, in-laws, or relatives till the fourth degree.
– The official representative of the concerned person.
– The guardian, custodian, and the entailed estate supervisor in guardianship cases and supervision of mortmain for which they are responsible.
The practicing lawyer is not considered suspended if he applies the system in the following situations:
a- He does not get a satisfying job or no one requests him for defense or consultation.
b- He works for the government in the field of research, consultation, arbitration, investigation, prosecution, company clearance, estate settlement, contract writing, preparation of studies and official regulations.
Observing the legal practice law in the United Arab Emirates, one finds that the third article of the system instructs that the list of lawyers accepted by the Ministry of Justice must be established the following way:
a- The List of Practicing Lawyers
b- The List of Non-Practicing Lawyers
c- The List of Trainee Lawyers
The fourth and fifth articles have clarified that it is no person is allowed to practice the profession of law in the government unless his/her name is enrolled in the List of Practicing Lawyers, which is prepared by the Ministry of Justice. Courts and government offices are not allowed to accept the representation of a lawyer if his name is not enrolled in the registry of practicing lawyers prepared by the Ministry of Justice.
The committee of lawyers’ registry in the Ministry of Justice is organized in the following way:

– Vice Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs & Endowments – Justice Sector – Chairman (Head)
– Vice Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs & Endowments Technical Affairs Assistant – Member
– One of the judges of the United Supreme Court – Member
– One of the judges of the Court of Appeals – Member
– A member of the general prosecution with Chief Prosecutor position at least – Member
– Director of the Department of Lawyers’ Affairs and Expertise,– Member and decision maker
– A practicing lawyer based on the nomination of the body he is affiliated with – Member
– A law expert chosen by the Minister of Justice – Member
The Committee of Lawyers’ Admission meets after being called by its chairman to examine the presented applications according to their order of arrival date (incoming date). The meeting can only be correctly formed if at least five of its members attend. The committee issues its decision if at least four of its members approve the enrollment of the name of the person who has met all the requirements, or if at least four of its members reject the request, accompanied by a statement of justification and reasons according to the situation. The applicant whose request has been rejected must be informed of the decision immediately after it is issued. The registration is for a one-year period, renewable by similar periods based on the request of the concerned person. The renewal of the registry request must be presented one month before the expiration date of the previous registry. In case the renewal request is not presented in the specified time, the registry is considered canceled after two months of the date of the notice. Renewal is not performed after that unless the Committee of Lawyers’ Admission accepts and after paying AED 500 in addition to the fees of the registry renewal.
The registry applicant whose request has been rejected has the right to complain to the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs, and Endowment within thirty days of receiving the rejection notice. Not responding to the complaint within thirty days of presenting it is considered a rejection. At the renewal of the lawyer’s registry, the Implementing Regulations specifies the percentage of the cases filed in the office in which the lawyer is committed to plead.
Observing the Kuwaiti legal practice law, one finds that the sixth article has clarified the types of lawyers’ lists and has manifested that the practicing lawyers have a general list where their names are registered. Also, their addresses, locations, and work sites are listed according to the registry date. There are several lists attached to the registry list:
a- a list of lawyers under probation;
b- a list of lawyers accepted in front of the Court of First Instance;
c- a list of lawyers accepted in front of the court of Appeals; and
d- a list of lawyers accepted in front of the Constitutional Court and the Court of Cassation.
Moreover, another list is created especially for non-practicing lawyers. The previous lists are kept at the headquarters of the lawyers’ association, and copies of them are placed in the headquarters of every court at the public prosecutor office and at the land register administration and must be documented at the Ministry of Justice. The lawyer whose name is registered on list (b) must finish the probation period, and he cannot be registered on list (c) except after three years of being registered on list (b). Also, he cannot be registered on list (d) except after three years of his registry in the previous list.
The registry in the general list request is presented to the committee of lawyers’ admission, which is formed according to the following:
– It is under the leadership of the chairman of the lawyers’ association or the acting chairman in case of the chairman’s absence.
– Membership includes two members of the board.
– At least two of the association’s members are registered on list (b) and chosen by the board of the association.
This committee is specialized in registry matters, annual review of the lists, verification of matching incoming data with decisions, and inspection of the conditions of the lawyers registered on these lists, especially those whose cases require transferring their names to the non-practicing list and issuing the necessary decisions in this regard. In order to be accepted, it is necessary for the registry request to include attachments of all the documents that prove that all of the conditions required by the law have been met. In addition, the applicant should attach to the request any evidence that signifies the complete payment of fees, which is pointed out in article 14, and the fees are returned to the applicant in case of final rejection.
The committee of lawyers’ admission is formed by a call from its chairman on the dates he specifies, and minutes of the meetings should be taken and then signed by the chairman. The formation of the committee cannot be right unless the majority of its members attend, provided that the chairman or the vice-chairman is one of the attendees. The committee issues its decision after it inspects the availability of the registry conditions within thirty days of the presentation of the request. If the committee decides to reject the registry request, it must state the reasons of the rejection, and the applicant must be informed of the decision within fifteen days of the date of issuing it in a documented letter accompanied by an arrival notice. The applicant whose request has been rejected has the right to complain within fifteen days of notification, and he must raise the complaint to the committee, which in turn must determine a decision within fifteen days at the most. If the committee rejects the complaint, or if the time for complaint ends, the rejected applicant has the right to appeal the decision issued to reject the complaint or the registry within sixty days of being informed of the complaint rejection or the end of the allotted period, depending on the situation, in front of the Civil Division at the Court of Appeals. The court makes a decision regarding the appeal after hearing the statements of the appealer, and its decision is then final and incontestable.
When comparing Saudi legal practice law to Kuwaiti and Emirati law in terms of the committee of the list of lawyers registry, one finds that there are numerous similar regulations regarding the procedures. Nevertheless, there are differences in terms of forming the committee of registry and admission to the list of lawyers. The Saudi regulations has formed a committee of three people; a representative of the Ministry of Justice assigned by the Minister of Justice (Chairman), a representative from the Board of Grievances with a grade less than the grade equal to the president of court (a) assigned by the chairman of the Board of Grievances (member), and one of the lawyers who had spent not less than five years practicing the profession, assigned by the Minister of Justice (member). From the researcher’s point of view, the regulations should have re-formed the committee because there should have been an increase in the number of members in the committee for the interest of the applicant, as the decision is made by the majority. As for the Emirati system, there are ten members: the vice-minister of the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs & Endowment – Justice Sector – president, Vice Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs & Endowments Technical Affairs Assistant – member, one of the judges of the United Supreme Court – member, one of the judges of the Court of Appeals – member, a member of the general prosecution with Chief Prosecutor position at least – member, director of the department of lawyers’ affairs, expertise and translators – member and decision maker, a practicing lawyer based on the nomination of the body he is affiliated with – member, and a law expert chosen by the Minister of Justice – Member. Furthermore, the law of the Kuwaiti regulations formed a committee of five members: the chairman of the lawyers’ association or the acting chairman in case of the chairman’s absence, two members of the board, at least two of the association’s members, who are registered in list (b) chosen by the board of the association.
Comparing the committee in the Saudi system to those of the Kuwaiti and Emirati systems, the researcher believes the Saudi regulations should increase the number of committee members and the Emirati regulations should decrease the number of committee members. The researcher holds that the Kuwaiti regulations hit the mark when forming the committee of lawyers’ registry and admission by choosing five seats for the committee. This helps to facilitate the organization of the committee and its formation.
On the other hand, the procedures for organizing the committees are similar, as the Saudi and Kuwaiti regulationss have agreed on the following procedures:
– The lawyers’ admission committee meets after a call from its chairman in order to look into the requests presented.
– The lawyers’ admission committee is formed by the attendance of all its members.
– The committee’s decisions are made according to the majority’s opinion, while in the Emirati system, the decision is made if only four committee members agreed.
– The committee must verify the fulfillment of the conditions mentioned according to the system.
– The committee makes a decision if the request is complete in not more than thirty days from the date of the request. In the Kuwaiti system, it is within fifteen days.
– In case of rejection, reasons must be clarified upon request.
– The applicant (requester) retains the right to raise a complaint within sixty days from the date of informing him of the committee’s decision. In the Emirati system, it is thirty days.
Duties of Lawyers in the Saudi Legal Practice Law

There are duties, responsibilities, and moral obligations for every job, and a professional person accepts these responsibilities and obligations and abides by the business ethics of his profession. The commitments and responsibilities of lawyers have been set and settled, but no matter how clear and detailed the penalties are for violating the rules, the regulations cannot prevent lawyers from committing such misdemeanors. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the value of the lawyers’ duties and moral obligations. Each lawyer has obligations toward the community and toward the judge, and violating such responsibilities and obligations has consequences of disciplinary penalties that vary in degree depending on the degree of the violation. The lawyer must perform all the duties imposed by the Saudi legal practice system and its Implementing Regulationss. This section will specify the duties and obligations of the Saudi system and compare them with those of the UAE and Kuwait systems.

First: Maintaining the Traditions and Morals of the Profession:
Every profession has traditions and morals in line with its nature and objectives. A lawyer must commit to maintaining the ethics of the legal practice profession.
The system obliges the lawyer in all of his professional and personal behavior and tasks to commit to the principles of honor, integrity, and morals of the profession. In addition, the lawyer is obliged to refrain from misleading or manipulating justice; therefore, the lawyer must be reliable and trustworthy when defending his clients by well presenting his case to the judge, and any delinquency in that regard is considered a betrayal of the profession.
A lawyer must be honest and must not hesitate in giving suitable advice when he is consulted in any case. A lawyer must also inform his clients if they are expected to lose their cases or if the chances of their success are low.
The Saudi system has designated its second chapter for the lawyer’s duties and responsibilities. In article 11, the regulations has clarified that the lawyer must practice his profession according to the Sharia fundamentals and the customary rules, and he must reject any act that violates the essence of those fundamentals. The lawyer must also respect the rules and instructions issued in this regard. In addition, the lawyer must not accept a case (lawsuit) instead of anyone else as long as he knows that the concerned party is unfair or untrue, and he must deny such a case. He is also not to continue defending such a case if he discovers its fallacy or unfairness during his defense.
In implementing the regulations of article 11, there are some measures that each lawyer should follow:
1- A lawyer must practice the profession himself and must not hire someone else to defend his client in a case that was completely or partially assigned to him except if he documents that honestly in the procuration document. The second delegation must be issued according to a document from the specialized division.
2- If two or more lawyers are hired in one procuration document, none of them retains the right to delegate another lawyer for the client except if they state in the procuration document the right to solely take any action of delegation.
3- A lawyer must commit to good manners when defending his client by not demonstrating any kind of dispute, riot, or harm toward his opponent or anyone else in the defense (hearing) session.
3- When addressing any party, the lawyer must avoid any matter that might delay the decision in the case, or any matter that might jeopardize or hinder the course of justice.
Article 35 of the Emirati legal practice system has clarified that the lawyer is prohibited from performing any act that does not correspond to the honor of the profession of legal practice or its traditions. The lawyer must commit to honor and integrity while performing his job and must abide by the obligations of the profession’s morals. He must also behave in an appropriate, honorable manner toward the judiciary system and must avoid any act that might hinder lawsuit decisions or might compromise the course of justice.
In article 35 of the Kuwaiti legal practice system, the system has clarified that if any lawyer has failed to perform any of his duties, breached the honor of his profession or belittled its status due to certain methods used in his work performance or any other, he must be penalized by one of the disciplinary penalties displayed in the system. Moreover, the treaty of honor for the traditions and objectives of the legal practice profession in Kuwait has manifested the following:
1- The legal practice profession is a humanitarian profession that aims to help and save people. Its motto is truth, mercy, and justice, and its main principles revolve around the prevalence of law and preserving the dignity and freedom of human beings.
2- The main principle from which the profession of legal practice emerges is to protect human dignity, defend people’s rights, and help them regardless of their color, gender, nationality, or religion.
3- The profession of legal practice is a humane profession that has a significant social role and is a primary tool to develop humanity and progress its cultures and civilizations. It is a profession based on knowledge, experience, and morals, and it is practiced according to the law that regulates it.
4- The profession of legal practice offers its services to anyone who requests it, regardless of color, nationality, or religion. A lawyer is prohibited from abstaining from performing his duty regardless of the circumstances, unless there are legally justified conditions.
The Saudi, Kuwaiti, and Emirati regulationss are keen on moral aspects of the professions and on the desire of the system to preserve the moral values of the legal practice profession. Therefore, “the lawyer’s commitment to the moral duties of the legal practice is not a specific characteristic of the Saudi system only, but it is considered a general obligation, which is customarily stated in contemporary laws and regulations.”

Hence, after reviewing the texts and statements in the Saudi, Emirati, and Kuwaiti systems, it is evident that despite the differences in phrasing the statements and the methods of presenting and documenting the material, they are all unified when it comes to the emphasis on the lawyer’s commitment to respecting the morals of the profession and its traditions and honor.

Second: The Necessity of Leaving Personal Matters to the Opponent of the Client
The lawyer is not allowed to discuss the personal matters of his client’s opponent or attorney, and he must refrain from insults or accusations that affect honor and dignity.
Moreover, the lawyer must also refrain from mentioning personal matters or hinting at them, whether in written or oral form, to the opponent or his client. Personal matters must be avoided even if they do not offend the client or the opponent unless they are necessary to the completion of the prosecution or the defense.

Third: Lawyers Using Official Papers and Addresses
A lawyer must use his stationery to present his writing on them to the concerned bodies, and those papers must have on them his name, the name of his headquarters and its branches, the number and date of the license, phone numbers, P.O. box, and postal code. The system prohibits sending to the concerned bodies any written text that does not include such information.

Fourth: Conforming to the Hijri Calendar (Date)
The lawyer must conform to using the Hijri date and pointing out its Gregorian corresponding date in the situations that require pointing it out.

Fifth: The Lawyer’s Commencement of the Defense Without Introductions and Words That Might be Misinterpreted
The lawyer must begin by tackling to topic of the defense immediately without unnecessary introductions, and he must avoid writing in his brief any words that might be misinterpreted or interpreted with more than one meaning.

Sixth: Avoiding Announcements Regarding the Lawsuit on the Media Except With the Court’s Permission
The lawyer must not announce in newspapers or other media channels any warnings from buying or contributing the claimed except with permission from the court responsible for the case, and the court must approve the announcement and give its permission.

Seventh: The Lawyer’s Avoidance of Publicity and Advertisement of Himself Through Any Advertising Tool
The legal practice regulations oblige lawyers not to make use of any advertisement methods to raise interest in practicing the legal practice profession. The lawyer must not use any advertisement tool or method other than what is allowed according to the fundamentals and traditions of the profession and what the system states. This is because the profession is created to assist the judicial authorities by empowering the defense methods and clarifying matters. Using illegal advertising methods conflicts with the profession’s objectives, which unite to serve justice and to specify responsibility. The regulations prohibit advertising in order not to be a profession whose objectives are profits and commerce.
The lawyer is not allowed to promote his professional services by implying real authority or claimed, by pointing out a position he has taken earlier, or by placing on his stationery or on his office sign any titles other than his academic title and the grade of the court in which he is accepted to present his defenses. This is meant to prevent lawyers from deceiving clients or coaxing them using mistrustful ways.
The regulations, as one of the researchers has pointed out, prevent the lawyers from the following:
1- Direct endeavors to acquire cases, procuration, and clients through brokers or middlemen.
2- Indirect endeavors to acquire cases and clients through flashy and bright advertising signs and banners.
3- Placing more than one outdoor advertisement sign or adding any name or title except the academic ones restricted to Ph.D. degrees in legal practice.
The Saudi regulations prevents the lawyer from announcing warnings of purchasing or anything of the sort in newspapers or any other media channels, and also prevents them from announcing contributions to what is claimed except after the permission of the responsible party, and under the condition that the announcement includes the statement of permission. The lawyer does not have the right to advertise himself in any commercial way through any advertisement channel or agent.
Also, the Emirati regulations prevents lawyers from advertising for themselves in a way that does not conform to the traditions of the legal practice profession or to seek any publicity through advertising methods or by promoting himself using middlemen. The methods of advertising are determined by the Implementing Regulations.
In Kuwait, the lawyer is to avoid working on attracting clients or agents to his office by any means, whether through agreements with brokers or middlemen and whether the agreements are with or without commissions. In addition, the lawyer is to abstain from using any titles or previous honor positions that might lead to having more clients or might affect the clients’ freedom of choice. Also, the lawyer must not advertise himself in newspapers, any types of press releases, or visual or audio channels.
The researcher believes that these restrictions are meant to deem the lawyers far above commercial competition, which mainly aims at financial profit without putting the individuals’ benefit into consideration. However, these restrictions carry some exaggeration and reservation, which might cause more harm than benefit. If the lawyer is prevented from using any method of advertisement, how would people know about him, especially if he is a novice in the legal practice profession? It might be best for the ministry to issue every now and then a brochure or magazine to introduce licensed lawyers and their qualifications. The ministry should be responsible for publishing such information in local newspapers, and it should take fees from the lawyers for that service.

Eighth: Avoiding Conflicts of Interest and Not Pleading Against a Body He Used to Work for
The lawyer, by himself or via another lawyer, is not allowed to accept any lawsuit or give any consultation against a body he works for or a body he has previously worked for except after five years from the end of his relationship with it. In addition, the lawyer who works for his client under a part-time contract is not allowed to accept any lawsuit or give any consultation against his client before three years from the end of the contract. The Implementing Regulations of the system clarifies the meaning of the phrases in article 14 as follows:
1- Body means companies, associations, private institutes, and people with juristic (legal) personalities.
2- Work means signing contracts with a body to undertake its cases.
3- Lawsuit or consultation of the body’s opponent or the client’s opponent means the lawsuit that was created before working for that body or before working for that client, or during or after presenting consultation in it.
4- In the first item of this article, the lawyer is prevented from accepting any lawsuit or giving any consultation against the body for which he still works, and this is not limited to a certain period.
5- The contract mentioned in the second item of this article can be any written or oral contract.
6- The prohibition in the second item of this article does not apply to the lawyer’s work for his client if it is not limited to giving consultations in cases other than disagreements as in registering companies, trademarks, writing contracts, and so on.
7- The prohibition in the second item of this article does not apply to any contract that has not been executed.
A lawyer who used to be a judge before practicing law is not allowed to accept a lawsuit himself or through another lawyer in a lawsuit that was offered to him as a judge. Also, the lawyer is not allowed to accept work on a lawsuit on which he showed his opinion as a former employee, arbitrator, or expert. Observing the reason for this prohibition, it becomes palpable that the lawyer is not permitted to represent conflicted interests.
The Kuwaiti system states in article 13 that a government employee who quits the service and works in the legal practice profession is not allowed to defend in a case against the interest of the job he was in within three years of the date of his resignation.
When observing the Emirati legal practice system, one finds that the regulations states that whoever used to work in a public or private job and then left it and worked as a lawyer is not allowed to accept the procuration himself or through another lawyer who works for him in a lawsuit against the body for which he previously worked within two years of his quitting the job. The lawyer is not permitted to defend a disagreement case against a body that consulted with him earlier and briefed him about its documents and its defense direction for certain fees or payment. A lawyer must refrain from testifying about facts or information he came to know through his job unless the person who informed him agrees, as long as that person did not mention it to him with the intention of committing a crime or a felony.
Comparing the Saudi system with the Emirati and Kuwaiti systems in terms of the condition of avoiding conflicts of interest and not representing a body for which the lawyer used to work, one finds that the three systems are the same when it comes to the prohibition, yet they differ in specifying the period of time. Some researchers have demanded reducing the condition of waiting five years from the end of the relation between the lawyer and that body in the Saudi legal practice system because they perceive it as a very long period, and they have suggested the waiting three years maximum. On the other hand, some researchers believe it is a motive for betrayal, as the lawyer might sacrifice his job in that body for a case from which he will gain a great sum of money, so he might resign and conceal data and files. After the end of the specified period, the lawyer could return as a representative of the opponent of the body he used to work for and hence win the case. Obviously, it is safer to close such a path as it was closed for former judges and experts in order not to leave a chance for any manipulation.
Therefore, it is possible to determine the area of not defending against the body for which he used to work in the Saudi system as follows:
1- Reasons of Prohibition: The prohibition in the Saudi system includes:
a- Any lawyer who used to be an employee in the government sector or in the private sector
b- Any lawyer who used to be a judge in a case that was offered to him
c- Any lawyer who used to be an expert or an arbitrator in the matter of the represented case
d- Any lawyer who used to be a representative under a part-time contract. This prohibition does not include the lawyer who works as a volunteer and donator.

2- The Duration (Period) of the Prohibition: The period lasts five years from the end of the service if the lawyer worked for the government or a private body, and it lasts three years from the end of the service for the lawyer who worked for his client part time or under a legal contract.
3- Prohibited Jobs: The prohibition not only includes the body for which the lawyer used to work but also includes a prohibition of giving legal consultations against the body for which he used to work.
It is noticeable that the Saudi system seems rather austere in its attitude toward the duty of the lawyer when it comes to not suing the body for which he used to work. This rigorousness is clear in terms of the duration of the prohibition, which reaches five years in some situations. On the other hand, the Emirati regulations settled for two years and the Kuwaiti regulations settled for three years, regardless of the reason for the prohibition. From the researcher’s point of view, the austerity of the Saudi system regarding the application of not suing the body for which the lawyer used to work aims at ensuring the integrity and loyalty of the lawyer. The Saudi regulations’s vigilance regarding preserving the confidentiality, dignity, and honor of the profession necessitated that list of restrictions. The legal practice profession is a noble profession that must not be used as a means for making money gained from some information while the lawyer was working for a certain body in the past. This assures us that the Saudi regulations is absolutely vigilant when it comes to the concurrence between the lawyer’s behavior and morals and the legal practice profession’s moral and behavioral standards and measures.
Ninth: The Lawyer’s Avoidance of Representing the Procuration of His Client’s Opponent

The lawyer, or another lawyer on his behalf, is not permitted to defend or represent his client’s opponent or to offer him any help, even if it is an opinion on a lawsuit that he has previously accepted or is related to, even after the end of his procuration. Having previously accepted a procuration means receiving the attorney-ship document from his client, whether the lawsuit was done or not, or if it was filed but not carried out. Also, the prohibition applies to any lawyer who was briefed about the papers and documents of any of the opponents but did not accept the procuration, and the prohibition applies to giving consultation to any of the opponents as well. When looking at the Implementing Regulations of the system, one finds that the lawyer must not accept a lawsuit on behalf of two parties in one case.
In the Emirati legal practice system, it is stated that the lawyer must refrain from offering any help, even in the form of advice or consultation, to his client’s opponent in the same case in which he is representing or in another dispute related to it even after the end of his procuration.
It is observed in article 15 of the Saudi legal practice system that there are two restrictions:
First, the lawyer is prohibited from representing two opponent parties at the same time. He does not have the right to be a lawyer for the prosecutor and the prosecuted at the same time in the same case (lawsuit). In addition, he is not allowed to present any help or consultation to his client’s opponent.
Second, the lawyer is not permitted to represent his client’s opponent or to present to him any kind of help, consultation, or opinion, not even after the end of the procuration, in a lawsuit he represented before, or in a lawsuit related to a lawsuit in which he was an advocate. Any procuration requires a great deal of sincerity and integrity; therefore, the lawyer must not offer any help to his client’s opponent in the same dispute or in another related dispute, even if it is only a consultation. The lawyer must give his consultation only to his client because the lawyer must not represent conflicted interests.
The prohibition exceeds the pre-lawsuit phase. For example, if a person (who is not a client yet) presents his case to the lawyer in order to know his legal opinion on his lawsuit and presents all the necessary documents to the lawyer, this phase is called “offering consultation.” As a result, the lawyer must refrain from saying anything in this regard to his opponent because he has received confidential information, and he must maintain confidentiality in the relationship between the lawyer and his client.
As a matter of fact, prohibiting the lawyer from undertaking the procuration of his client’s opponent does not need justification. On the one hand, the lawyer cannot be objective, honest, and sincere with both parties of the dispute. The profession of legal practice is fundamentally based on honesty, integrity, and loyalty, and no doubt this foundation will be confused and disturbed if the lawyer undertakes the cases of the disputing parties. Allowing the lawyer to undertake lawsuits of two opponents “is going to create disorder and disturb the balance of justice, and instead of being a profession to set and administrate justice, it will be a tool to destroy and overthrow justice.”
On the other hand, permitting the lawyer to represent the two parties of dispute or in a lawsuit related to his client’s lawsuit means breaching and violating the principle of confidentiality, on which the profession of legal practice is founded. Having access to detailed secrets is part of the nature of the lawyer’s job, and preserving his client’s secrets is one of the most important duties of the lawyer. Therefore, the law systems, such as those in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were not reluctant about prohibiting the lawyer from undertaking the cases of two parties in a dispute.

Tenth: The Lawyer Presenting to the Judicial Bodies Evidence of His Representation of the Client

The lawyer or the representative (delegate) must provide the original or a copy of his verified (authenticated – sanctioned) official procuration document to the court, the Board of Grievances, or the committees mentioned in article one of the Saudi legal practice system, and it should be presented in the first session (hearing) he attends on behalf of his client. The procuration document is not necessary if the client attends the hearing with the lawyer and the verification clerk documents this in the verification minutes. If the lawyer has a general procuration that is officially verified (authenticated – sanctioned) on behalf of any of the adversaries, the lawyer is exempted from presenting the origin of the procuration, and it is sufficient if he presents a verified copy of it, or presents the original procuration along with a copy of it, and the judge verifies it. The lawyer or the representative must deposit the original procuration or a verified copy of it when he refers to the bodies for the first time according to article (48) of the juristic (religious) defense (pleading) system. Verification of the procuration can be performed in the hearing by writing a report in the verification minutes of the case, even if the lawyer, the representative, or the opponent and his lawyer or representative does not attend, and the client signs it or thumb-stamps it, according to article (48) of the juristic (religious) defense (pleading) system.
In the Kuwaiti law system, the lawyer must present his verified procuration to the court during the first hearing, when he attends on behalf of his client, and if the client attends with the lawyer, the clerk of the hearing must write that down in the minutes of the hearing after paying the procuration fee. The lawyer who has been issued a general official procuration or a legally verified one that includes a delegation on behalf of any of the opponents in front of a court or more, is exempt from presenting the original procuration, and an official copy of it will suffice. It must be deposited by the clerk of the First Instance court, and the mentioned court prepares a document to record that a general procuration this sort was presented to it. Then, the documents will be edited and sent to the rest of the courts.
In the Emirati law system, the lawyer must present the deed of his verified procuration to the court in the first hearing he attends on behalf of his client, and if the procuration is private, it is necessary to deposit it in the case file. If the procuration is public, it is enough to verify its number, date, and the body that witnessed the writing of it in the minutes of the hearing, and it should be deposited in the case file. If the client attends with the lawyer in the vindictive lawsuit, the judge documents that in the minutes of the hearing.
When looking at the duty of the lawyer regarding presenting evidence to the judicial bodies to prove his procuration on behalf of the client, one finds that it does not need justification. It is necessary for courts to oblige lawyers to present verified procuration in order to maintain the judicial proceedings that carry out the course of the case correctly. The researcher has noticed that the Saudi, Kuwaiti, and Emirati systems have agreed on the obligation of the lawyer to present to the judicial bodies the evidence that proves his procuration in the first hearing he attends on behalf of his client.

Eleventh: The Lawyer Having an Office and a Headquarters

The Saudi regulations has clarified that each lawyer must have one or more headquarters to work on his cases, and he must inform the Ministry of Justice of the address of his office and any changes that may occur. The location/headquarters of the lawyer’s office and its branches must be appropriate for practicing the profession.
The Implementing Regulations has clarified two conditions in article 20 of the system, as follows:
a- The office must be in a public road (main street), not in a by-street or subsidiary.
b- The lawyer must place a small sign at the entrance from the outside that includes the lawyer’s name and the working days and hours. The external signs of the legal practice offices must have a unified color, shape, and size according to a format prepared by the administration. The signs must be placed on the outside doors of the headquarters and its branches, and they should include the license number, phone number, and the lawyer’s name as an individual or a partnership. If the lawyer changes the location of his headquarters or his branches, or if he closes his office, he must put the sign/banners down.
The Saudi regulations has permitted the lawyer to have one or more secondary headquarters to practice his profession in a city other than the city where the headquarters is located, under the condition that he does not have more than one branch in one city. The branch should be closed as a result of closing the headquarters, whether the closing was decided upon by the lawyer himself, by the discipline committee, or by the Registry and Admission Committee. The lawyer must inform the administration about the address of the headquarters and its branch and about any changes to the address, according to the accredited format in the Ministry of Justice.
The Emirati legal practice system clarified that the lawyer must have an appropriate office to perform his work, and he must inform the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs, and Endowment about its address and any change to it that may occur. This office is considered suitable for proceeding reports and judiciary and legal announcements according to the law. In all cases, the lawyer must not have more than one office in one city, and he is allowed to open other offices for legal practice in any of the Emirates in the country under the conditions that each office has a lawyer who is a citizen.
On the other hand, the Kuwaiti regulations clarified that each lawyer must have an office to perform his tasks on the cases for which he is responsible. He must inform the admission committee about the address and any occurring changes, and the notification must be in a document accompanied by reception notice within 15 days from the date of the change. The lawyer is prohibited from practicing his profession in the country in more than one office.
The researcher observes that there is agreement among the Saudi, Emirati, and Kuwaiti systems in terms of the lawyer’s duty of having a work site or headquarters. Therefore, the lawyer is not allowed to practice his profession without having an office. The researcher believes that the Saudi and Emirati regulationss have used the word “appropriate office” without explaining the intended and exact meaning of the word “appropriate,” and therefore, the regulationss should state the explanation in the Implementing Regulations. Hence, one can say that the regulations did not clarify the meaning of the word “appropriate” and left the explanation of the word to the professional custom of legal practice. The professional custom has set the conditions of the appropriate office, such as having more than one room, a specialized library, a section for secretaries, and finally a reception manager who has experience in reception skills.
It is worth noting that the Saudi and Emirati systems have allowed the lawyer to practice the profession in more than one office, which is contrary to the Kuwaiti system. In the Kuwaiti system, article 23 has stated, “it is prohibited to practice the profession in the country in more than one office.”
The researcher agrees with the Saudi and Emirati regulationss in allowing the lawyer to open more than one office for the following reasons:
First, it allows clients to reach the lawyer’s office without traveling far.
Second, the researcher thinks that the lawyer must have the right to open more than one branch and the right to expand his work if one office is crowded with clients.
Third, the researcher does not see any justification for preventing the lawyer from opening another office. The Saudi and Emirati systems permit a lawyer to open more than one office under the condition that each office is in a separate city.

Twelfth: The Lawyer Returning the Client’s Money and Papers When Finishing

When the attorney-ship ends, the lawyer must return to his client upon his request the procuration deed and all the original documents and papers. The end of the attorney-ship means the end of the case or the task assigned to the lawyer. However, if the lawyer has not received all his payments, he is allowed to take out, at the client’s expense, copies of all the documents that might be of good use to claim his payments. The lawyer is not obliged to submit to his client the drafts of the papers that he presented during the lawsuit or the incoming books; however, the lawyer must give his client copies of these papers upon the client’s request. An exception to this is the existence of a written or oral agreement between the client and the lawyer, and this should be acted upon. The Saudi regulations added that the lawsuit of the client is not to be heard (accepted) if he requests the papers and documents from the lawyer after five years of the end date of the lawyer’s job unless the client asks for the papers before the end of this period.
It is also worth noting that article 30 of the Kuwaiti system is similar to what the Saudi and Emirati regulationss clarified. The Kuwaiti regulations clarified that when the attorney-ship ends, the lawyer must return to his client upon the client’s request the attorney-ship deed and the original documents and papers. However, if the lawyer did not receive his payment, he is allowed to take copies, at the expenditure of the client, of all the written documents that might help him to claim his payment. The lawyer is not obliged to hand in the drafts of his papers, the books, or the documents relevant to the case to his client, but the lawyer must give his client copies of all these papers upon the client’s request and at his expenditure. The Kuwaiti regulations added that the client’s right in demanding the papers and documents is prescribed after five Gregorian years of the end date of the case unless the client asks for them before the end of the period.
It is noticed that article 35 of the system is related to the disciplinary penalties of the lawyer, and some examples have been mentioned about the cases for which the lawyer is penalized. “Revealing the client’s secrets, cooperating with the adversary, not paying the fees that the client had paid, not handing in the rights which he received on behalf of the client, not saving and preserving the originals of the documents, and refusing to return the papers and documents without any legal justification are all considered a breach of the fundamentals and honor of the profession.”
Upon observing the Emirati legal practice system, it is noticed that article 26 of the law system has the same procedures as the Saudi and the Kuwaiti systems regarding the return of the papers and documents after the end of the case. However, the Emirati regulations did not mention the prescription of the client’s right to demand them after five years have passed since the end of the case.
The researcher believes that the Emirati regulations must clarify the period of time available for the client to post his demand. On the other hand, the researcher believes that a period of five years, as the Saudi and Kuwaiti systems require, is a very long period. There is no necessity or need for such a long period, as the lawyer is usually keen to organize his office and clear it of the papers he does not need, and it is inconvenient for the lawyer to have to keep clients’ papers for five years; therefore, it is suggested to decrease the period to one year starting from the end date of the case.
Thirteenth: Keeping the Client’s Secrets

Committing to confidentiality is a duty that is imposed by the moral and ethical obligation of the legal practice profession because the fundamentals of this profession oblige the lawyer not to betray his client’s confidence. This happens by preserving the confidentiality of the information and details that the lawyer obtains from his client during his manifestation of the circumstances of the case. “The duty of keeping the secrets of the profession is a moral duty emerging from the traditions of the profession in all law regulations.” Preserving confidentiality is one of the most important duties of the lawyer, and it represents a vital principle in the ethics of the profession. “This is because the client might disclose some secrets which he conceals from everyone in order to serve his interests in the case.” Therefore, the regulations have obliged the lawyer to keep his client’s secrets and never reveal them even after the end of his attorney-ship, but most regulations made an exception to this rule as it permitted the lawyer to reveal his client’s secrets or information if revealing them helps prevent committing a crime. Revealing secrets to lawyers is a necessity that is part of the profession’s nature, and as one writer said, “Legal practice is the profession of secrets.” Hence, it is almost impossible to find regulations, whether local or global, that do not mention the duty of the lawyer in not revealing secrets of the profession.
The Saudi system prohibits the lawyer from disclosing his client’s secrets, even after the end of his attorney-ship, unless such non-disclosure constitutes a Sharia necessity. According to the Saudi legal practice system, the prohibited disclosure of secrets means:
a- Reporting information or publishing documents or letters in criminal cases.
b- Spreading information, documents, or sentences that are considered confidential in newspapers and any other media channels.
The following situations are not considered a disclosure of secrets:
a- The lawyer testifying against a client or any person who consulted him.
b- The lawyer mentioning facts and information with the purpose of defending a client’s interests if the client requested that, if the client gave him permission, or if it was necessary for the pleading.
c- The lawyer disclosing secrets if this results in preventing a crime from happening.
d- The lawyer disclosing secrets if some authorities ask him about certain information and facts.
e- The lawyer disclosing secrets if the secret is related a dispute between the lawyer and his client and the disclosure is necessary to end this dispute.
When looking at the Kuwaiti legal practice system, one finds that it obliges the lawyer to preserve the secrets of his clients and not to disclose them. When examining article 35 of the Kuwaiti legal practice system, one finds that it has elaborated the disciplinary penalties against the lawyer and has added more details about some of the violations that the lawyer might be penalized for, including not disclosing the client’s secrets. The lawyer is penalized for any breach or violation of this law or of the duties of the profession by one of the following disciplinary penalties:
a- Warning
b- Censuring
c- Suspension for a period that does not exceed three years
d- Removal of his name from the list
“Disclosing the client’s secrets is considered a breach in the fundamentals and honor of the profession…”
In the treaty of honor of the legal practice profession traditions that was issued by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Justice, the lawyer is obliged to keep the client’s secrets and not disclose them, and he must not talk about his client’s cases, secrets, or the nature of their family relationships or problems that the lawyer gets to know as part of the course of his work.
When examining Emirati legal practice law, one finds that lawyers are prohibited from disclosing clients’ secrets unless disclosing those secrets might prevent a crime from occurring.
Comparing the Saudi system with the Emirati and Kuwaiti systems in terms of prohibiting the disclosure of clients’ secrets and information, one finds that the three systems are the same. The researcher agrees with the Saudi system regarding the specification of the types of secrets, such as “…Reporting information, or publishing documents or letters in criminal cases…”
In which cases is the lawyer able to forgo his commitment regarding the secrets of the profession? The lawyer’s commitment to confidentiality remains as long he is the attorney of the client and as long as the case has not ended yet. What happens to the client’s secrets after the end of the case? The Emirati and Kuwaiti systems provide no answer. However, the Saudi regulations answers this question in article 23, “The lawyer is prohibited from disclosing any secret he had come to know about the client through working on the case, even after the end of the case and the end of his attorney-ship…”
In fact, the Saudi system has been successful in the matter of prohibiting the lawyer from disclosing his client’s secret after the end of the case and the attorney-ship, which protects the client from any harm and protects his moral and financial interests because some harm might still occur even after the end of the case, whether the secrets were revealed before or after the end of the case.
In other words, the lawyer’s duty to preserve his client’s secrets must continue as long as disclosing the secret would cause harm to the client. The Emirati and Kuwaiti regulationss should have discussed the matter of information and secrets after the end of the attorney-ship in order to avoid harming the client.
Fourteenth: The Lawyer Not Abandoning His Client’s Lawsuit

The Saudi system obliges the lawyer to remain his client’s attorney and not to abandon the case before the end of the lawsuit unless there is a legitimate reason. The system determined the meaning of the “end of the lawsuit” to mean the issuance of the final judgment except if the two parties agree on a different situation. The system did not leave any legitimate reason for the lawyer to abandon his attorney-ship before the end of the lawsuit, and it assigned a certain body to determine whether the reason is legitimate or not, and this body is responsible to the court for looking into that lawsuit. The lawyer is not permitted to abandon the attorney-ship, and he might fall under one of the disciplinary penalties mentioned in the Saudi legal practice system. The client might demand compensation for the harms (damages) that he suffered from due to the lawyer’s abandonment of the lawsuit. However, if the court approves the legitimacy of the abandonment of the attorney-ship before the end of the lawsuit, the lawyer is committed to inform the client, and he must return to him all the original documents and papers related to the lawsuit.
Looking at article 29 of the Kuwaiti legal practice system and article 27 of the Emirati legal practice system, one finds that the regulationss agreed that the lawyer has the right to abandon his attorney-ship at the courts, and in that case, he must inform his client, and must continue to work on the lawsuit procedures for a month at the most if necessary to defend the client’s interests. Both systems also agree that if the lawyer desires to abandon the lawsuit, he must return to his client upon the client’s request the attorney-ship deed, all the original documents and papers, and the advance payment.
The Emirati regulations added that the lawyer is not permitted to withdraw from the attorney-ship if the lawsuit assigned to him is prepared for a final decision unless the court approves. In other words, if the lawsuit is about to end, the lawyer must continue till the end of the lawsuit.
When comparing the three systems, one finds that the Saudi system has granted the lawyer the right to withdraw on the condition that a legitimate reason must be determined by the court looking into the lawsuit, while the Emirati and Kuwaiti systems allow the lawyer to withdraw at any time during the lawsuit under the condition that the client is informed and the lawyer continues the lawsuit proceedings for one month.
The researcher believes that the Saudi regulations has hit the mark by preventing the lawyer from withdrawing from the lawsuit. No doubt, the withdrawal of the lawyer without a legitimate reason presents a great harm to the client’s interests. It is extremely important to oblige the lawyer to remain with the client until the end of the lawsuit unless there is a legitimate reason determined by the court. Permitting the lawyer to withdraw at any given time might cause great harm to the client, and hiring another lawyer would cost the client a great deal of time and money. Undoubtedly, the decision of the Saudi system in this regard is considered wise and sensible in order to protect the lawsuit of the unfortunate client, especially if the client has committed a dangerous crime. Permitting the lawyer to withdraw at any time might cause great harm to the client, and hiring another lawyer will cost the client a great deal of time and money. The client needs a lawyer to support him, and at the same time the lawyer has the right to withdraw from the attorney-ship if the court sees that the reason for withdrawal is legitimate.

Fifteenth: The Lawyer Must Refrain from Buying the Client’s Rights

The Saudi legal practice system prevents the lawyer from buying the rights of the client as stated in article 25 of the system: “The lawyer is not permitted to buy all or some of the rights in-dispute, in which he is the attorney.”
Attached to the statement mentioned in article 25 the lawyer cannot do the following:
a- The lawyer buying those rights or some of them under someone else’s name.
b- The lawyer transferring the possession monuments to his name in order to claim them without an attorney-ship.
The prohibition in this article does not apply to the lawyer after the end of his relationship with the lawsuit.
In the Kuwaiti system, article 32 states that the lawyer is not to buy all or some of the rights in dispute that he defends, and his payment must not be in specie (in rem) portion of these rights. Also, it is stated in article 31 of the Emirati system that “the lawyer is not permitted to buy all or some of the rights in-dispute, nor he is allowed to make an agreement to take some of these rights as his remuneration.”
Buying the in-dispute rights is considered an abuse and an exploitation of the profession because this implies the idea of exploiting the conflict, whereas the lawyer’s role must be above any kind of commercial work or trading. If the lawyer violates that, then the contract is considered ineffective. The prohibition includes the lawyer himself or action through others, such as his wife, children, or a friend.
The researcher agrees that the lawyer must be prohibited from buying all or some of the client’s rights in order to keep the course of the case organized and systematic, and in order not to allow the lawyer to abuse or exploit his client. The Kuwaiti and Emirati legal practice regulations have added that the lawyer’s payment must not be an in rem portion of these rights, while the Saudi regulations does not mention this issue.
On the other hand, if the lawyer is prohibited from buying the rights in dispute, it goes without saying that he cannot ask for an in rem portion of the rights. However, it is recommended that the Saudi regulations deals with this matter in order to protect the client’s rights and in order not to go through undesired complications that might be difficult to resolve.

Lawyers’ Rights in Saudi Arabia and Remuneration

Despite their different laws and regulations, most countries are concerned about the rights of lawyers and have mentioned the different legislations and their own rules for organizing the legal practice profession. This is because lawyers’ rights are directly connected to the right to defend, which different countries have been keen on assuring their respect for. Lawyers’ rights are connected with the rights of the people they defend and are connected, in turn, with serving the community. Therefore, the profession of legal practice must not be perceived through a narrow vision and must not be limited to defending personal, individual interests; rather it must be perceived as a vital, effective contribution to achieving justice, returning rights, and distancing harm. On this basis, the researcher has tackled in this chapter the rights of lawyers and their immunities in the Saudi legal practice system, as well as some laws such as the Emirati and the Kuwaiti. This chapter is divided into two studies (themes), lawyer’s rights, and the remuneration of the lawyer in the Saudi law system.
First: Lawyers’ Rights
First Right: The right to be the only one to plead for others in courts and such.
What is meant by pleading is the lawyer’s right to attend everything relevant to the legal procedures of the trial, including presenting requests and oral/written arguments. The purpose of pleading is to enlighten the court and convince it.
Most regulations state that law should not be practiced by other than licensed lawyers and in accordance with the regulations and limitations that differ from one system to another. Lawyers enrolled on the list of practicing lawyers are given by the Saudi regulations in article 18 the right to plead for others in courts, the Board of Grievances, and the committees pointed out in article 1 in this law system. Looking at the regulations of UAE and Kuwait, we find that they do not mention this right. The Emirati regulations prohibits anyone who is not listed on the Ministry of Justice’s list of practicing lawyers from practicing law. As for the Kuwaiti regulations, he set one condition for those who practice law in courts, which is to have their names listed in the temporary or permanent lists.
The Saudi regulations is the only regulations who has mentioned this right. This right has not been mentioned by other law regulations since it is considered to be axiomatic; hence nobody has the right to plead without meeting the conditions, having his name listed in the list of practicing lawyers, or being licensed. Alas, this right is mentioned in the Saudi law since non-lawyers can plead. Pleading was permitted for five categories, other than lawyers, and they are as follows:
First: An attorney-in-fact in one to three cases. If he has previously handled three cases on behalf of three different persons, he shall not be entitled to represent any other party. The attorney mentioned in item A of this article does not have the right to be in three cases, in any body, in one period of time. The attorney must point out how many cases and bodies he is currently taking part in or representing. The attorney has the right to participate in three cases for one person or more.
Conditions for a non-lawyer attorney:
1. He must be of Saudi nationality.
2. He must not be a government employee.
Prohibited matters for a non-lawyer attorney:
1. Having more than three cases for more than three people.
2. Being listed on the list of practicing lawyers or calling himself a lawyer.
3. Forming vocational companies for pleading.
4. Adopting headquarters to practice law.
5. Advertising himself in any form of media.
6. Offering consultations.
The Saudi regulations allowing non-licensed attorneys to practice law is considered an exception in the Saudi legal practice system “that hasn’t been mentioned in any legal practice system in the world.” This is what has caused some researchers in the Saudi legal practice system field to refute this exception. Dr. Abdulraziq Najeeb believes that this exception would lead to limitless unforeseen consequences and complications, since unqualified people who practice law would not be held responsible. Dr. Najeeb added that this could form a threat to the legal profession, since it cannot be guaranteed that its conditions would be met, and there aren’t any regulations to control them. Dr. Mohammad Al-Fawzan recommended that this exception be removed to preserve the legal profession from being practiced by unqualified people.
The legal practice system in Saudi Arabia was issued in 2002; therefore, many dispute attorneys have been practicing pleading for several years. Many of these dispute attorneys don’t have the qualifications to become licensed in the Kingdom, but some of them are more experienced than some licensed lawyers. This explains why the regulations thinks it necessary to make this exception to allow them to plead under the aforementioned conditions. The researcher believes that the Saudi regulations must form a law to include these experienced dispute attorneys by clarifying their rights and duties. The regulations must also establish regulations to ensure the rights of clients and their interests.

Second: Spouses, in-laws, and fourth-degree relatives.
The four degrees are:
1. Fathers, mothers, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
2. Children, their children, and so on.
3. Brothers and sisters.
4. Uncles, aunts, and cousins.
These four degrees apply to in-laws as well.
Third: the legal representative of the juristic person.
The legal practice system came up with an exception for the legal representative of the juristic person to plead in front of courts. The juristic person can be a public or private juristic person.
The Saudi regulations did not define what the legal representative of the juristic person means before mentioning it unknowingly.
Some defined the legal representative as a body established by the country, an individual, or a group of people, all of whose activities seek to achieve certain goals. The juristic person must be represented by a real person who has the capacity and independent financial disclosure whose presence requires the country’s approval.

Fourth: A trustee, a guardian, and an administrator of an endowment in connection with their trusteeship, guardianship, and administration cases.
Those are from the ones whose pleas are accepted along with lawyers , for they have been listed by the judicial authorities since their pleas preserve rights.

Fifth: Magistrate of the treasury.
This is an administrator of the public treasury with respect to matters within his jurisdiction, pursuant to the law and regulations.

Sixth: Countries’ ambassadors.
The pleas of countries’ ambassadors are accepted under the condition that their procuration is issued from the respective authority, since an ambassador is considered the trustee of his people, his government, and his country. It is for the best that ambassador is described as (the embassy’s lawyer or its legal representative).
Taking a look at the Emirati legal practice system, we find that the regulations hasn’t made an exception for anyone to practice law in the country if his name is not listed on the list of practicing lawyers in the Ministry of Justice, and the courts and government bodies aren’t allowed to accept the procuration of a lawyer if his/her name is not listed on their lists of practicing lawyers. Before the issuing of the legal practice system in 1991, the Emirati regulations told the practicing lawyers in UAE that they must present to the lawyer admission committee a certificate that proves they have been practicing law before the issuing of the new system , and the newly unlicensed lawyers were given 1 year to meet the new system’s requirements.
As for the Kuwaiti legal practice system, the regulations settled for one condition, which is that those who practice law have their names listed on the list of practicing lawyers, and he made no exceptions for anyone without a license.

Second Right: the right to provide facilities to the lawyer of the concerned authorities in the country.
The courts, Board of Grievances, aforementioned committees in article 1 of the legal practice system, official divisions, and investigative authorities must offer the proper facilities for the lawyer in order for him to do his job. They must also give him access to all their documents and investigations. They are not allowed to refuse his requests without a legitimate justification.
The lawyer is allowed to view the documents according to these conditions:
1. He submits a request to do so.
2. He only views documents that are relevant to his case.
3. He views them in the office where they are located, under the supervision of the responsible party.
4. He takes no pictures and makes no copies, although taking notes or writing the information down is allowed.
The researcher believes that writing the documents down is the same as taking pictures of them, therefore he thinks it should be allowed to take pictures.
Looking at the Emirati and Kuwaiti legal practice systems, the researcher did not find any item that mentions the lawyer’s facilities. Therefore, this is one of the merits that distinguish the Saudi legal practice system. The Kuwaiti and Emirati systems should mention this right because it is in the best interests of the clients and achieving justice.

Third Right: the lawyer’s freedom to choose the suitable defense mechanism.
It is only natural for the rules and regulations to give lawyers the freedom of choice when it comes to choosing the defense technique, since the cases differ from one to another. It has been stated in article 13 of the Saudi legal practice system that “the lawyer may choose the path that he thinks will succeed in defending his client, and he must not be questioned about what he writes or says in the plea which obligates him the right to defend.”
This article gives the lawyer his natural right of independence when it comes to choosing the proper defense method , under the condition that he preserves the honor, traditions, and regulations of the profession. The lawyer’s right to defend is a mandatory right for each party of the lawsuit, and without it, the case would be imbalanced, which would impede the achievement of justice.
The lawyer is entitled to plead for others and entrusted with defending them, therefore he has to commit to the principles according to the law and what he thinks right, and these principles are shown through discussions and convincing. The lawyer has to abandon the lawsuit if it appears to contradict these principles. It has been cleared in the regulations board that the lawyer “should not represent someone in a lawsuit if he knows that person to be tyrannous and wrongful, or to continue defending him if it becomes clear that he is tyrannous amidst the case.”
If the client asks the lawyer to proceed with the lawsuit on a wrongful basis, the lawyer must not accept. If the lawsuit commences on a rightful basis and then the client becomes wrongful, the lawyer must try to lead him back to the right path; if he cannot do so, he must quit the lawsuit to preserve the righteousness of the profession.
If the lawyer infringes on this right, he will be held responsible for whatever consequences follow. Article 29 states, “without breaching the compensation lawsuit of those wronged and affected, lawyers who infringe the system’s regulations or its Implementing Regulations, violate their duties, or dishonor the profession will be punished.” It is natural in most systems that lawyers have the right to choose the proper defense mechanism for each case, as long as it doesn’t infringe the law. Alas, all legal practice systems must mention this right. When looking at the Kuwaiti and Emirati legal practice systems, the researcher found no mention of such a right in these systems, whereas the Saudi system mentions it in article 13.

Fourth right: the lawyer’s right to attend the investigation and plea.
This right is one of the most important rights that lawyers have, considering how much it benefits them and their clients. When the lawyer attends an investigation, the investigator’s actions with the defendant are supervised. The lawyer’s presence in the investigation is also “protecting the right for defense and the guarantees which the law guides, in addition to uplifting the defendant’s morale, which is usually low because of the psychological state that controls him/her in this tough situation.”
As for the right to attend the pleading, it means “having the lawyer submit requests, defenses, and written/oral plea, and that is to shed light on the truth and convince the judge of the defense’s opinion.”
In our time, the lawyer no longer has the right to plead instead of discussing, “for it is the essence of the profession and its backbone.” The right of defense is a complement to judicature and uncovering the truth; it fulfills the goal for which courts were created, which is to achieve justice among people.
Legal provisions governing the right of the lawyer in the presence of the investigation and plead:
1- Any accused person shall have the right to seek the assistance of a lawyer or a representative to defend him during the investigation and trial stages.
2- During the investigation, the accused shall have the right to seek the assistance of a representative or an attorney.
3- The accused, the victim, the claimant in respect of the private right of action, and their respective representatives or attorneys may attend all the investigation proceedings. The Investigator may, however, conduct the investigation in the absence of all or some of the abovementioned, whenever that is deemed necessary for determining the truth. Immediately after the necessity has ended, he shall allow them to review the investigation.
4- The Investigator shall not, during the investigation, separate the accused from his accompanying representative or attorney. The representative or attorney shall not intervene in the investigation except with the permission of the Investigator. In all cases, the representative or attorney may deliver to the Investigator a written memorandum of his comments and the Investigator shall attach that memorandum to the file of the case.
5- In all cases, the Investigator shall order that the accused may not communicate with any other prisoner or detainee, and that he not be visited by anyone for a period not exceeding sixty days if the interest of the investigation so requires, without prejudice to the right of the accused to communicate with his representative or attorney.
6- In major crimes, the accused shall personally appear before the court, without prejudice to his right to seek legal assistance. As to other crimes, he may be represented by a representative or an attorney for his defense. In all cases, the court may issue an order for the personal appearance of the accused.
7- The courts of law, the Board of Grievances, the committees referred to in Article 1 hereof, government agencies, and the investigation authorities shall facilitate the lawyer’s discharge of his assignment, and shall enable him to attend any interrogation and peruse any relevant documents. His request shall not be denied except for a valid reason.

It is clear that the Saudi legal practice system has legally preserved the lawyer’s right to attend investigations and follow up with its procedures, as well as attend pleadings in court.
When taking a look at the lawyer’s right to attend investigations and pleads in Kuwaiti and Emirati legal practice systems, we find that they concur with the Saudi system, except for the necessity of seeking help from lawyers in major criminal offenses. In Kuwaiti and Emirati systems, we find that the defendant must hire a lawyer in major criminal offenses, and if the defendant cannot afford it, the country must hire one for him. The Kuwaiti system makes it a must “at the request of the court to assign a lawyer for free when it comes to civil or criminal or commercial cases.” In the Emirati system, “the court has to hire a lawyer to defend the defendant if the offense is punishable by death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for a period no less than 10 years. The lawyer has to defend the defendant and attend all hearings.” As for the Saudi system, the defendant can hire a lawyer, whether at his expense or the government’s, although the judge is not obligated to hire a lawyer for the defendant if it was a criminal offense.
The Saudi system affirmed the need for the defendant to personally attend the court, if it is a criminal offense, but it does not mention anything in regard to hiring a lawyer if the defendant does not hire one himself. Therefore, it is understood that the defendant must personally attend in case of a major criminal offense. As for other crimes, the defendant is allowed to assign a lawyer to attend for him if the court does not order his personal attendance. The researcher believes it is important for the Saudi regulations to affirm to the judge the necessity of hiring a lawyer in a major criminal offense, and that is to ensure the safety of the investigation and its justice and to preserve the defendant’s rights, for the defendant may not be aware of all the procedures and laws. Assigning a lawyer for the defendant helps him in the investigation and pleading, and it also helps the judge in clearing the case, for lawyers are essentially helpers of the judge and jury.

Second: The Lawyer’s Remuneration

The lawyer has the right to be paid for the services he provides for the client. The right of remuneration was not confirmed before the legal practice system was released/issued, and that was due to its lack of legal reasoning. However, after the release of the system, the situation changed, and the remuneration became a legal commitment. The Saudi legal practice system organized the issue of remuneration into three matters: determining the remuneration, ensuring the lawyer’s right in case of his dismissal, and ensuring the lawyer’s right in case of his death. This is elaborated as follows:
1-Determining the remuneration:
The remuneration is the sum of money that the client is committed to pay to the lawyer in return for his work on the case. It is considered that a service has been performed by the lawyer for his client in return for a certain amount of money.
The lawyer’s fees and method of payment should be determined by agreement with his client. If there was no such agreement, or if the agreement was disputed or void, such fees shall be assessed by the court that has adjudicated that case, pursuant to a request by either the lawyer or the client, consistent with the effort expended by the lawyer and the benefit obtained by the client. This rule shall also apply to any subsidiary claim ensuing from the original case.
The First Matter: What the Lawyer is Required to Do Before the Beginning of the Case
Before starting on the case, the lawyer must prepare with his client a written contract that includes the beginning date of the attorney-ship, the amount of payment, the method of payment at the delegation, the type of case, and the location of the courtroom, and each party must keep a copy of the contract.
The Second Matter: If There Has Been No Agreement or a Disagreement Has Occurred Between the Client and the Lawyer:
Estimating the lawyer’s payment is done by consulting experts in the field and by the order of the court looking into the case. The court’s decision is affected by the following situations:
a- If the attorney-ship becomes ineffective because the lawyer loses his legal or religious eligibility before finishing what he was assigned to do.
b- If the client dismisses the lawyer for a legitimate reason before the end of the case he is pleading in.
c- If the lawyer has been dismissed or prevented from practicing by an authority other than his own or his client’s body before the end of the case he is pleading in.
d- If the lawyer abandons his attorney-ship before the end of the lawsuit for a legitimate reason.
e- If the lawyer dies without an agreement about the estimation of payments between the client and the lawyer’s heirs.
In the Emirati legal practice system, article 29 clarifies that the lawyer is paid according to the written contract between him and his client, but the court looking into the case may decrease the amount of money upon the client’s request, or if the agreed-upon sum of money is exaggerated considering the effort it requires and the benefit that the client gains.
Reduction of the payment is not allowed if the agreement about it takes place after the end of the job. If there is no written agreement regarding the payments or if the written agreement is invalid/ineffective, the court that examines the case estimates the payments upon the lawyer’s request or his client in line with the lawyer’s exerted effort and the client’s benefit. Both the lawyer and the client have the right to complain about the estimation within the next fifteen days in order to inform the matter and to ask the client to attend in front of the court that issued the order.
Therefore, one can say that the lawyer and the client have the right to resort to justice in order to estimate the remuneration in the following conditions:
1- There is no agreement contract.
2- A dispute or disagreement occurs regarding the remuneration.
3- The agreement contract becomes invalid/ineffective.

The remuneration is associated with two factors: the effort the lawyer exerts and the benefit the client gains according to the services the lawyer has provided to him. This money is a result of the work done by the lawyer and he deserves the payment, which must be reasonable as well. Therefore, the court that is assigned to estimate the remuneration must take into consideration the proportionality between the remuneration, the effort and work of the lawyer, and the benefit the client gained. The payment must be not exaggerated but balanced and suitable for the effort; if the lawyer’s effort or the client’s benefit has increased, the payment must increase accordingly, and if the effort or benefit is less, the payment should be less.

2- Ensuring the Lawyer’s Rights in Case of Dismissal:
The client has the right to dismiss his lawyer, but he must pay all the expenses agreed upon earlier if the dismissal is proven to be illegitimate, unless the concerned court decides otherwise regarding the dismissal and complete payment. According to the Emirati system, if the client dismisses his lawyer without a legitimate reason after beginning the mission assigned to the lawyer, the client is obliged to pay all the agreed-upon expenses to the lawyer as if the lawyer had finished working for his client.

3- Ensuring the Lawyer’s Rights in Case of His Death:
In case of the lawyer’s death and a disagreement among the heirs and the client about the expenses, the court that looks into the case is to estimate the payment in light of the lawyer’s exerted effort, the benefit that the client has gained, the phase that the case has reached, and the agreement contract. In case of the lawyer’s death or his absence for more than three months, and the impossibility of knowing his location or address, the client has the right to demand the concerned court to give his documents, papers, and money that are at the lawyer’s headquarters, its branch, or in one of his bank accounts or any other body. According to the Emirati system, if the client dies and his heirs decide that the lawyer should discontinue in the attorney-ship, the lawyer has the right to acquire his payments considering the effort he has exerted and with consideration to the conditions of the agreement contract between the lawyer and the late client if there is an agreement. On the other hand, the Kuwaiti system did not tackle the issue of the lawyer’s remuneration in case of his death and only stated that “in case of the lawyer’s death, removal of his name from the list, suspending him, arresting, or it if it became impossible for him to perform his attorney-ship tasks, the court, upon the client’s request, delegates another lawyer to temporarily replace the former lawyer until the client chooses another attorney.”

4-Appealing to the Decisions of Estimating the Expenses:
The Kuwaiti system permits the lawyer and client to complain regarding the estimation within the next fifteen days of the announcement by having his opponent attend in front of the court that issued the order. The complaint is examined urgently in the consultation room, and the decision issued after the complaint is final and cannot be appealed to. In the UAE, both the lawyer and the client have the right to complain about the estimation within fifteen days of the announcement by having his opponent attend in front of the court that issued the order.
In fact, the Saudi regulations did not use a legal article to determine the methods of the appeal regarding the estimation of remuneration; rather the Saudi system only determined the concerned body that estimates the expenses, and the regulations did not tackle the matter of complaining about the judgment issued regarding the estimation of the payments. “Obviously, the regulations has left out the estimation decisions to the methods of appeal, which are under the judgment of the concerned court looking into the case, and the disagreement that emerged regarding the payment.”
Therefore, one can say that if the judgment regarding the expenses has been issued from a court whose decisions are liable to be appealed, the estimation decision is then appealable. Otherwise, if the judgment of the estimation was issued from a court that does not accept appeals, then the decision regarding the estimation is considered unappealable. Ignoring the methods of appeal in the Saudi legal practice system is considered a serious legal problem. This means that there are some decisions which can be challenged, while other decisions cannot, which creates injustice regarding the estimation of remuneration. It is highly recommended that the Saudi regulations resolve this problem and set boundaries to this breach by devising a legal article that allows the right to complain against decisions that are determined to estimate remuneration.

5- The Privilege of the Lawyers’ Remuneration
The privilege is what comes directly after the financial rights of the country, and this applies to the money and rights that go to the client because of the lawyer’s work or because of a sentence in the lawsuit of the attorney-ship. Undoubtedly, this privilege helps the lawyer to perform his job while he is assured to obtain his payment. The Kuwaiti regulation gives the lawyer’s remuneration a first-degree privilege for the money and rights obtained for his client and for the release of warranties, and a second-degree privilege for other sums of money in other situations. The Emirati regulation has given lawyers the right to remuneration and a privilege related to spending, which is immediately based on the rights of the country regarding what the client has gained due to the lawyer’s effort or sentence in the lawsuit of the attorney-ship.
However, the Saudi legal practice system does not grant the privilege of lawyer remuneration even if the lawyer performs his duties and responsibilities to manifest the rights of his client and to achieve justice; therefore, the Saudi regulations should grant the Saudi lawyer such a right similar to what is mentioned in the Emirati and Kuwaiti legal practice systems.
Chapter three: Disciplinary liability violations.

Definition

International law specifies the key duties for lawyers when exercising their legal professional. If a lawyer does not follow any of the prescribed regulations and committed a disciplinary violation, they will be subject to a disciplinary punishment. The regulations that govern the legal profession are different from country to country. The disciplinary actions can also be different from the authority that is responsible for suing the lawyers for disciplinary actions and the authority that is responsible for considering disciplinary actions. In addition, they are different in the procedures for disciplinary liability and the ways to appeal such disciplinary liability decisions. These differences usually depend on the executive and judicial system of that country. Therefore, we find that disciplinary action occurs in two ways:

1. Disciplinary action through the judicial branch of the government.
2. Disciplinary action through a union council.

Some Arab countries like Egypt and Syria follow disciplinary action through a union council. With that, the union forms a committee that meets annually to look after claims against lawyers. After careful review, the validated claims will be forwarded to a disciplinary committee that has the right to take action against the convinced lawyer, or they can refer the case to the public persecutor to take further action against the lawyer. Typically, if the investigation that was conducted by the public prosecutor, or if the Complaints Committee in the union council shows that the action is minor, then there is no need to forward the case further.
On the other hand, in countries that do not have union councils like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, the law dictates that any disciplinary action is to be taken by a specialist judicial agency and it is called a disciplinary action. In the next sections, we will discuss and compare disciplinary laws and actions in the Saudi Law with emphasis on THE CODE OF LAW PRACTICE Royal Decree No. (M/38) act of the year 1422 A.H / 2001 A.D. We will also shed light on similar laws for disciplinary actions in Kuwait and the UAE.

Disciplinary Violations

In an attempt to control practice, the Ministry of Justice in Saudi Arabia issues and maintains a list of practicing lawyers in Saudi Arabia and another list of those who are not practicing. The list also outlines the conditions which are to be met for lawyers to be allowed to practice law. If the lawyer has been accepted to the practicing list , the law clearly states that the lawyer could issue a practicing license permit for 5 years, which is renewable under some conditions. The cost of permit application is 1,000 SAR for a new license and 1,000 SAR for a renewal. Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice, the Board of Grievances, and other committees should be notified of the names of any new practicing lawyers at the issuance or renewal of the permit. There should be a list for the practicing lawyers in the Board of Grievances, and this list include their names with full address and contact information, and it should be available for public view.
The Saudi Law gave attention to the issue of discipline against lawyers with a separate section, which is the third section of The Code of Law Practice. The section of the code includes Articles 29 through 37. The section starts with Article 29, which outlines the methods of disciplinary actions and the parchments that could fall on the lawyer if he violated practice regulations, the assets of the legal profession, or assaults the dignity and ethics of the profession. The article stated:
“First: The name of a lawyer shall be struck from the list and his license revoked in case a hadd (Qur’anic prescribed punishment) or any other punishment in connection with a crime that impugns integrity has been entered against him.
Second: Without prejudice to a claim for compensation by any aggrieved party or to any other claim, any lawyer who violates the provisions of this Code or its Implementing Regulations, or commits a breach of his professional duties or any act as may be incompatible with the professional standards shall be subject to one of the following sanctions:
(a) Warning.
(b) Reprimand.
(c) Suspension of practice for a period not exceeding three years.
(d) Striking his name off the list and revoking his license.”

Similarly, Article 35 of the Kuwait practice Law states, “lawyers who do not fulfill their duties or the honor of the profession will result in the referent lawyer receiving one of the following disciplinary penalties:
1- Warning.
2- Reprimand.
3- Three-year suspension from practicing law.
4- Removal of name from the permitted list.”

As for the Emirates practice law, Article 47 states that “every lawyer who commits a breach of his professional duties or any act as may be incompatible with professional standards shall be subject to one of the following disciplinary penalties:
1- Warning, and it should be written to the lawyer stating the violation he made and warning him about repeating it.
2- Suspension from practicing law, not exceeding two years.
3- Permanent removal of name from the list of practicing lawyers.”
All such punishments are applicable to those who misconducted or falling short of duties as per Articles 11 to 29 of the Saudi Code of Law Practice, whether the offense is toward the profession, the judiciary, or the client, as well as including all breaches committed by the lawyer contrary to contractual obligations incurred by it under the contract with the client.
According to such articles in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE, it is evident that the lawyer must be engaged in his profession according to the law and to refrain from committing any act against the dignity of the profession. The lawyer also must respect the rules and instructions issued in the law. Any violation of the provisions of the law or its Implementing Regulations or breach of professional duties or disrespect to the dignity of the profession will lead to disciplinary action against the lawyer.
The basic principle of disciplinary action in law practice is based on the idea of “Mistake.” We can define the disciplinary mistake “as a misconduct or misbehavior which violates the fundamentals of professional duties.” Such misconduct will be measured by the objective standard based on external conditions, such as the time and place, to exclude the personal circumstances of the lawyer. Moreover, “the gauge of assessment is based on the consideration of the best behavior and the sacredness of the profession of law. Lawyers are expected to follow the regulations with no doubt.”
There is a dispute about identifying the disciplinary violations in general, some people believe that it cannot be identified in advance, and also that if we decide to identify every particular action, this does not mean that everything else is legal. But the discipline authority decides each case by it self whether the lawyer violated his duties.
On the other hand, some people believe that the disciplinary violations could not be identified because the duties that he should follow could not be identified. Furthermore, disciplinary law differs from the criminal law, where the crimes are identified in advance in accordance with the principle (no crime written definition). Thus, it seems very hard to identify the lawyers’ duties, but we can say that there are two kinds of obligations. Positive obligations impose certain obligations on the lawyer, such as the faithful performance of his duties. The second type is the negative obligations, which include prohibitions such as preventing the combination of the legal profession with other professions, and the disclosure of the client’s secrets. “Whatever differences of opinions, we could say that the disciplinary violations could not be listed under an inventory.”
As such, most laws and articles do not specifically outline which matters require lawyer questioning in a disciplinary action, similar to government officials, where there are no full identifying the violations that could fall on the public servant. Therefore, “the principle of (no crime without written definition) that applies in the criminal law does not apply here because most of these lawyer misconducts are simply not written and cannot be specified exclusively, because the violation that lead to disciplinary action applies when there is a breach of any of the lawyer’s duties and traditions imposed by the law.”
Therefore, we find that most lawyer regulations are written in rather general language, such as the statement “any lawyer who violates the provisions of this Code or its Implementing Regulations, or commits a breach of his professional duties or any act as may be incompatible with the professional standards…” Also, every lawyer who commits a breach of his professional duties or any act as may be incompatible with the professional standards shall be subject to one of the following disciplinary penalties.
Moreover, “lawyers who do not fulfill their duties or the honor of the profession will cause punishing the lawyer one of the disciplinary penalties.” In other words, lawyers have to abide by the professional and personal requirements of their duties, according to the law and customs.
We will give some examples of such lawyer misconduct:
• When the lawyer violates their boundaries during trail by soliciting private matters through suspect or witness interviewing.
• Act on behalf of two opposing sides at once.
• Not acting faithfully to one side of the conflict.
• Working for the interest of a company he preciously worked for and within a short time of employment termination.
• To accept the representation for a case he was previously involved in privately as an arbitrator.
• To quit representing a case at a critical time.
• To purchase from one of the conflict sides he represents the rights disputed, whether on his name or under a pseudonym.
• To not protect the privacy of the professional and to not follow the profession’s regulations.
• Treason and unjust practices.
• Failure to maintain the secrets of the profession.
• To not respect his duties toward the court and the judicial system.
With a violation of any of the above, or commission of a breach of the legal professional duties or any act that may be incompatible with professional standards, the prosecuting body can form a disciplinary committee to investigate the case. But what are the procedures for the disciplinary action? Who has the authority that is responsible for suing the lawyers for disciplinary action? Who has the authority that is responsible for considering disciplinary action? What are the penalties that could fall on a lawyer for disciplinary liability? What are the ways to appeal these disciplinary liability decisions? We will answer and discuss those and more questions in the following chapters.
Chapter four: Disciplinary procedures.
The Authority Suing for Disciplinary Action

The disciplinary authority is the authority established by law to carry out the task of disciplining employees, both in government departments and other sectors. This is the only authority that is specialized for the disciplinary action for lawyers. This authority is designed to investigate and to take action regarding lawyer misconduct. Most countries have laws that specify and regulate the procedures for disciplinary action, the authority that is responsible for suing the lawyers for disciplinary action, and the authority responsible for considering disciplinary actions.
Article 30 of the Saudi Code of Law Practice states “The Public Prosecutor shall, either of his own accord or pursuant to instructions by the Minister of Justice or any court of law or the Board of Grievances or any of the committees referred to in Article 1 of this Code, initiate disciplinary proceedings against the said lawyer.”
In addition, the Implementing Regulations for article 30 include that the action is initiated by the public persecutor based on the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution law. Moreover, the following individuals and organizations can request disciplinary action:
• Cabinet ministers or their representatives.
• Heads of courts and judges in courts.
• The Head of the Board of Grievances and their vice-chair and members.
• The chairs of various committees mentioned in Article 1.
• The chair and vice-chair of the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution.

We found that Saudi law is similar to that of most of the Arab countries; the public prosecution by itself has the authority for initiate disciplinary proceedings, as it is legally in charge of the interest and the security of the society. Also, the public prosecution has the authority to disregard the case upon its discretion. Therefore, requesting the disciplinary action by the public prosecutor according to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution law makes the lawsuit on the correct direction. However, if the disciplinary committee got the case without initiate from the public prosecutor, makes the lawsuit goes on the wrong direction.
Similar to this is Article 36 of the Kuwaiti Law, which states “The public prosecution initiates the case on its own discretion or upon the request of the minister of justice, the constitutional court chair, the chair of the court of cassation, the chair of the court of appeal, the chair of the court of first instance and the chair of the lawyer committee.”
In addition, per the UAE’s legal system, any disciplinary action against lawyers is initiated through the public prosecution in the case of any misconduct or a compliant to the disciplinary committee or the Ministry of Justice. Article 46, as such, states that “Should the lawyer, during his presence in the session for or due to the performance of his duty, breach the order or any matter requiring his disciplinary or criminal censure, the president of the session shall order the issuance of a verbal process stating such breach, and shall refer him to the Public Prosecution. The latter may take criminal procedures should the act carried out by the lawyer is a crime punishable by the law. It may also refer him to the disciplinary trial should the act carried thereby be a mere breach of the obligations thereof. The Public Prosecution shall notify the Lawyers Admission Committee of the outcomes of such procedures.”
When comparing what was stated in the Article 30 of the Saudi Law with the equivalent in the Kuwait Law and the UAE Law, we find that they all agree that the public prosecutor alone has the authority to initiate the disciplinary action, and its authority in this regard is absolute, and it could not be shared by one of the administrative or judicial bodies.
However, Saudi legal practice is different than in the Kuwaiti and UAE cases in that it also gave the right of initiating the disciplinary case to any court or any judicial committee and administrative committee, or the Board of Grievances. In the Kuwait and UAE practice law, they only gave the authority to initiate to a disciplinary action to the Heads of the courts. Therefore, the practice law in Saudi Arabia gave any branch or kind of court, the Board of Grievances, or any judicial committee the right to let the public prosecutor initiate the disciplinary action, along with any judge, a counselor in a court, a member of any judicial committee, or a counselor in the Board of Grievances. Therefore, in the Saudi Arabia practice law, every judge or counselor has the authority to initiate the disciplinary action.
There is no specific period to initiate the disciplinary action, and the Saudi practice law does not specify the duration of time in which a case can be heard. The question is: can we sue a lawyer for disciplinary action after the end of his duty with his client, or after retiring from the legal profession? In fact, the Saudi Law does not answer this question, but we see that nothing prevents the suit after the end of his duty with his client, or after leaving the legal profession, as long as the law does not require a time limit for the establishment of the lawsuit. Therefore, nothing could prevent the suit after the lawyer has left the profession because the law does not say anything about after leaving the profession.
The Implementing Regulations for Article 30 includes that prior to initiating the case, the requesting party should provide formal forms and documents with signatures and seals. The request should include the following:
• Full name of the public prosecutor, his designation, and working capacity.
• Full name of the disciplined lawyer, name of his office, and its location.
• The name of the party that requested the prosecution.
• All evidence associated with the claim.
• The request of the public prosecutor and their signature.
Therefore, the party which makes the request of initiating the disciplinary action should prepare all required documents with the list of violations he made, with the full name, the full signature, and sealing. This is considered as the beginning of an accusation claim from the requesting parties, as given in Article 30/2.
In addition, these are the effects of the claim from the public prosecutor to the disciplined lawyer:
1. None of the cases indicated in Article 29 can be applied until the pronunciation of the verdict with the lawyer’s punishment.
2. Lawyers cannot be suspended during the claim process, unless the public prosecutor requests so or the parties mentioned in Article 30/2.
3. The name of the lawyer remains in the practicing lawyer list during the process and it could not be transferred to the non-practicing list until there is a decision.
The claim process terminates, according to Article 30/5, in the following events:
1- Pronunciation of verdict.
2- Death of the lawyer.
4- The lawyer losing their ability to practice.
5- The removal of the name of the lawyer from the practicing list.
The competent authority to consider disciplinary action

It is known that the judicial system in the Kingdom has a distinct nature compared to the other Arab countries. The judicial authority and the legitimate courts are the general jurisdictions, the owner of general mandate, and competent to decide on all issues, including civil and criminal disputes. Regarding administrative disputes, the Board of Grievances is responsible. Its powers are expanded day after day; even now, it becomes a reference for the grievances many of the verdicts issued judicial committees in the Kingdom.
In addition to the judicial authority, a number of specialized committees have been created to resolve the emerging disputes about particular types of issues. The specialized committees come out of social and economic development and trade in the kingdom. They have specific and different specializations, some of which are judicial, quasi-judicial, and administrative, like workers’ committees, trademarks, and anti-commercial fraud committees, and the committee to decide on disputes related to commercial names.
The punishment of the lawyer for professional irregularities committed has been approved by the system. The law has created a committee to deal with the lawsuits against them, and send a report to the lawyer to appear in the disciplinary committee. The researcher will explain how the committee works and what the procedures are for the committee.
The legal system of Saudi Arabia created a committee called the Disciplinary Committee. The formation of the Committee is mentioned in Article 31 of the Saudi Legal Profession Code. The Minister of Justice should, pursuant to a resolution, set up one or more committees to consider the imposition of the sanctions provided for in Article 29 of the Saudi Legal Profession Code. This committee should consist of a judge and two experts, one of whom is to be selected from the class of lawyers who have been practicing the profession for a minimum period of ten years. The Minister of Justice also should appoint one of the board members to act as chairman. The members of this committee should be appointed for terms of three years, and the terms could be renewable for a similar period.
The chairman of the committee must specify the responsibilities of the members of the committee; the chairman is the one who provides the members with sufficient information to perform their work and maintain the functioning of the committee. The chairman should be the link between the commission and the Minister of Justice and must forward reports to the Minister. The Chairman should forward annual reports to the Minister of Justice for the Commission’s assessment, and these reports will be considered in the development of the Commission.
The researcher believes that the legislature succeeded when it appointed a chairman who should forward annual reports, because the committee should be evaluated annually to ensure that it works the way it should. And the chairman of the committee must be conversant with all the requirements of the Commission and be conversant with the law. The Minister of Justice must follow up with the Commission to control and help the committee function under the law without any breaches.
The committee cannot be held without the presence of all its members. Also, the committee issues its decisions by a majority of members and decides whose decisions are subject to appeal to the Board of Grievances. It should be appealed within sixty days of the date of notification of the decision of punishment for those who issued the complaint. The judge selected for the committee should hold the rank of Judge (A), and he should preside over the Committee.

The requirements for the lawyer members of the committee are as follows:
A. His name should appear on the practicing lawyer list for the duration of the membership.
B. “He may not have had any final disciplinary action issued against him.

The other experts are selected from those who have already exercised the following tasks:
A. Participated in the judiciary in the Islamic courts, or the Board of Grievances in the Kingdom for not less than five years.
B. Taught the Islamic principles for at least five years in one of the universities in the Kingdom.
C. Been in the investigation or prosecution for not less than ten years.

The member with the experience mentioned above should not have been removed from his job in the state for lack confidence and esteem, or for disciplinary reasons. The Minister of Justice should make a list of alternate members in case there is an absence of one of the members. Moreover, the disciplinary committee is held at the request of its chairman, and times are determined by meeting the need for it; it is held in the Ministry building or may be held in another place with the Minister’s approval. One of the important rules is that the meeting of the disciplinary committee cannot be held without the presence of all its members. The meeting should be held during the official working hours for the state, but, if necessary, the decision to meet during non-official working hours shall be made by the minister. There should be a place in the Ministry that the committee could meet, and it’s under the supervision of Chairman of the Committee, and he should take care of all the related business.
When we talk about the committee’s rights, the disciplinary committee has the right as needed to re-investigate with the discipline lawyer. Also, the committee has the right to return the case to any branches of the government for collection of the information and data needed for the case. The committee has the right to take action to find any evidence that the criminal judge could accept. Moreover, the committee has the right to ask experts because it’s a path of investigative method that the committee could use, if necessary. The committee is not forced to take the expert’s information, the committee has the right to assess all of the substantive elements of the case, and the members could only take what is reasonable and helpful for the case. In addition, the disciplinary committee has the right to a preview and hears the witnesses and looks at the paperwork and inspections. Moreover, the committee has the authority to estimate the seriousness of the administrative guilt and the appropriate penalty, but the committee must beware of the lack of an appropriate relationship between the degree of seriousness of the guilt and the type of administrative penalty estimated.
In the researcher’s opinion, the legislature succeeded when it gave those powers to the disciplinary committee. Using and asking other government agencies for some information or data often assists the committee in making the perfect decision against the accused lawyer, as well as facilitates the work of the committee. One of the best methods to investigate is to ask experts because some of the issues need to be shown to some experts to take some evidence to help the committee in making a decision. And the committee should be careful making the decision and selecting the appropriate punishment for the guilt of the perpetrator.
It is clear to the researcher that the committee has been formed by the Minister to consider the imposition of the sanctions mentioned in Article 29, and therefore the committee considers the misconduct of lawyers regarding the provisions of this order or its Implementation of Regulations or duties of the profession or business that impair the honor of the profession. Note that the decisions issued by the committee are subject to appeal to the Board of Grievances within sixty days from the date of notification of the penalty decision. It is clear also that the nature of the disciplinary committee is to make administrative decisions in terms of form and subject matter. Therefore, the researcher believes that the regulations has succeeded when decisions issued by the disciplinary committee can be appealed to the Board of Grievances.
The legislature explained how the committee could be held, how the members could be appointed, and the requirements of the Commission. The legislature has clearly said that all members should be experienced so the committee would be held under the law without any mistakes. The researcher also believes that the legislature succeeded when it specified the conditions for all the members selected for the disciplinary committee, the most important of which is that the member should have not been involved in a previous disciplinary issue, and that is in order to maintain the functioning of the credibility of the Commission and the Secretariat.
By nature, decisions from this kind of committee are administrative decisions, although there is a member who is a judge, but mostly it is an administrative committee because the majority of members are not judges.
When we look at the Kuwait legal system, the disciplining lawyers are from a board constituted by the president of the court or its agent as president, two judges appointed by the general assembly every year, and lawyers chosen by the governing council of the lawyers for one year, and it is renewable.
When we look to the legal system of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the jurisdiction of disciplining lawyers, according to the UAE legal profession law, will be the prerogative of the disciplinary committee. And it is headed by composing one of the heads of the courts of appeal judges and two members of judges selected by the Minister of Justice.
The formation of the council of disciplining lawyers without lawyers to represent it is something that needs to be revised. If such a council may not achieve the required guarantees for lawyers during the trial, especially if that trial is based on a breach of attorney duties toward the judiciary, it could also affect the independence of the legal profession and lawyers.
There are many tasks that members of the Disciplinary Committee must perform:
1. There should be a commitment to participate in the work of the Commission, which includes active participation in the meetings and discussions of issues during a meeting of the Committee.
2. Members of the committee must apply the law as required.
3. Members of the committee should attend and respect other members.
4. Members of the committee must identify the other members and contribute to reaching a collective decision.
Is this committee competent to hear the issues of compensation for damage caused by errors committed by a professional lawyer during the exercise of his profession? The Saudi regime has not answered this question. It did not specify the competent judicial authority to consider the claim for compensation for damage caused to third parties due to professional errors committed by the lawyer. It seems that the regulations silence on this jurisdiction does not mean that the disciplinary committee is responsible for this kind of suit. Because the phrases and vocalizations in Article 31 seem to state that the disciplinary committee was not competent in the issues of compensation for those who harm the rights of the legal profession through mistakes committed by the lawyer during the exercise of the profession. However, Article 29 state that “ Without prejudice to a claim for compensation by any aggrieved party or to any other claim, any lawyer who violates the provisions of this Code or its Implementing Regulations, or commits a breach of his professional duties or any act as may be incompatible with the professional standards shall be subject to one of the following sanctions…”
Article 31 confirms clearly that the committee is found to consider the imposition of the sanctions stated in Article 29. Therefore, the Committee is exclusively competent in these kinds of issues specifically. However, the action for compensation for the damage was not addressed in the article or mentioned in it.
Procedures of the Board

Notice to Appear

In Article 32 of The Code of Law Practice in Saudi Arabia, the legislator clarified that the attorney should be notified to appear before the disciplinary board through an official letter stating the pertained violation and a brief description of the evidence and that the letter should be sent no later than fifteen days after the hearing date. The attorney may attend in person or may appoint another attorney to attend on his behalf. The disciplinary board can request the attorney to attend in person, and if the attorney fails to appear after two notifications, the board is allowed to issue its decision in his absence. Furthermore, it is important to notify the attorney of the transfer to the disciplinary court, as this will give him time to prepare his defense.

(a) Notification Via a Process Server

The attorney should be notified to appear before the disciplinary board through the process server of the local specialized court where the attorney practices his profession. The signature of the attorney is required and a copy of the signed letter must be returned to the disciplinary board. Notification occurs via a process server at the attorney’s residence, meaning the attorney’s actual dwelling where he is settled and is accustomed to live.
The Law of Procedure Before Sharia Courts in Saudi Arabia states that: “Process servers, clerks, and such other judicial assistants may not perform any work that lies within the scope of their jobs in cases involving them or their spouses, relatives, and in-laws up to the fourth degree, and any such work shall be null and void.” Furthermore, “Processes shall be served by servers at the judge’s order or at the request of the adversary or the court administration. Adversaries or their attorneys-in-fact shall follow up the procedures and give the relevant papers to servers for service. Service may be done by the plaintiff at his request.”

(b) Notification via Mail

When necessary, the letter may be sent by registered mail to the attorney’s address, which is reported in the schedule, with a required signature upon receipt. Furthermore, in notification by mail, the letter can be handed to one of the people who live with him, such as his relatives, partner, or one of his employees in the firm, including the intern. If he was suspended or was imprisoned, the letter is to be handed to him via the sheriff, the prison keeper, or whoever is in charge.

(c) Appearance of the Discipline Attorney in Person

The attorney may appoint another attorney or more than one attorney on his behalf in accordance with the power of attorney procedures issued by the competent authority, as long as the board has not requested him to appear in person. Moreover, the deputy attorney must be registered in the schedule throughout the case proceedings. If the attorney refuses to receive the letter to appear or refuses to sign the letter upon receipt of it, the process server must write a record of this, sign it, and submit it to the disciplinary board. If the attorney appears in person or an attorney appears on his behalf, there is no need to notify him to appear after the case has been transferred to and looked into by the board. In this case, it is important that the attorney or his deputy attorney is notified of the court date with a written record at the office of the board. It must be signed by the attorney or his deputy attorney after confirming both his proxy and his eligibility to defend the client.
(D) Information For the Notification to Appear

The letter mentioned in this article should include the following:
1. The full name of the attorney;
2. The type of violation that the attorney is accused of;
3. Evidence of the violation, briefly;
4. The hearing appointment, date, and time for attendance, and the location as well.

In addition, The Law of Procedure Before Sharia Courts in Saudi Arabia states that: “A service of process must be in duplicate, an original and an identical copy. There shall be as many copies as there are persons if several persons are served.” The process must contain the following:
(a) The subject and date of the process, giving the day, month, year, and hour of the service.
(b) The full name, occupation or job, and place of residence of the person requesting the process, as well as the full name, occupation or job, and place of residence of his representative.
(c) The full name, occupation or job, and place of residence of the person served. If the place of residence at the time of service is unknown, the process shall be served at the last [known] place of residence.
(d) The name of the process server and the court where he works.
(e) The name and capacity of the person who received a copy of the process, as well as his signature on the original or an entry showing his refusal and the reason thereof.
(f) The server’s signature on both the copy and the original.

What is the judgment, if any, of the information was missing from the notification?
According to the provisions of Article 30, the case is brought by the general attorney and transferred to the disciplinary board. Thus, it falls under the board’s procedures. As for what follows this in terms of the notification procedures, notification of the transfer and of the hearing are necessary. If any of the information is missing, a request to delay the hearing must be processed.

(E) Timing for the Notification to Appear

The justice within a court provides the attorney with enough time to prepare his defense for the case. To apply this rule, the system requires that the attorney be notified of the court date within no less than fifteen days. The Law of Criminal Procedure in Saudi Arabia states, in article 137, that: “Prior to holding a hearing, litigants shall be summoned with sufficient time provided for them to appear before the competent court.” The attorney is considered at absence if he does not appear after being notified of the court appointment and after one hour passes of the court appointment without providing an acceptable excuse. It makes no difference whether the attorney himself was absent or his deputy attorney or whether he was notified via mail, a process server, or the case record. Until a judgment is made, the disciplinary board has the right to suspend the work permit of the attorney who had the disciplinary case brought against him. If the attorney or his deputy attorney attended the disciplinary case and asked for a time extension to prepare a defense, the time extension should be granted.
“The decision of the Disciplinary Board shall be issued after the prosecution and lawyer’s defense have been heard. The reasoning for such decision must be stated. The decision and the reasoning thereof shall be read out in full in a closed session. The Ministry of Justice shall, within fifteen days from the effective date of the final decision, notify the courts of law, the Board of Grievances and the competent authorities of that decision. Such decisions shall be kept in a special register. In all cases, disciplinary actions shall be communicated by a member of the Disciplinary Board. Delivery of a copy of the decision to the lawyer concerned in an official manner shall be treated as adequate notice. When the decision has become final, whether it be striking off the lawyer’s name from the list or suspension of his practice, only the decision thereof shall be published, at the lawyer’s expense, in one or more of the papers issued in the locality of the lawyer’s place of business. Should there be no paper in that locality, it shall be published in a paper in the nearest locality.”
In addition, The Law of Procedure Before Sharia Courts states in Article 61 that: “Proceedings shall be in open court unless the judge on his own or at the request of a litigant closes the hearing in order to maintain order, observe public morality, or for the privacy of the family.”
Article 62 states that: “Argument shall be oral. This, however, shall not preclude the presentation of statements or defenses in the form of written briefs copies of which shall be exchanged between the litigants and the original shall be kept in the case-file which shall be referenced in the minutes. The court shall grant the litigants sufficient time to review and respond to the documents as circumstances warrant.”
The board should issue their decision about the penalty for the accused attorney in the pertained case mentioned in the transfer file. Moreover, it is not permissible to implement a penalty on someone other than the person whom the case was against by the general attorney. Thus, the researcher views that the court is a declaration of the right to defend and that, therefore, the board is formed to hear the defense of the attorney relative to what was imputed to him as a disciplinary violation. Additionally, the investigation of the attorney, the detailed discussion of the evidence and the charges brought against him, and his answers and discussion are intended to help the court reach the truth.

Denying the Member of the Disciplinary Board to Participate in the Disciplinary Case:

The member of the disciplinary board should be denied participation in the disciplinary case, if not requested by the general attorney, the lawyer, or the deputy lawyer, in the following cases:
A. If he is related to the discipline attorney up to the fourth degree.
B. If he has an ongoing dispute with the attorney before the competent authorities.
C. If there is a relationship between him and the attorney, whether hatred or friendship, that will prevent him from making a judgment without bias.
D. The member of the disciplinary board who is not allowed to look into the disciplinary action is required to inform the minister of the reasons for this non-involvement so he can be given permission to step down. He is also required to prove his reasons in a special record report that should be saved in the management office.
If the member had reasons not to look into the disciplinary case and participated anyway, the general attorney or the attorney can ask the minister to deny his attendance, and the minister has the final decision in the matter.

Issuing the Disciplinary Decision

During the court, a record of proceedings should be written and edited by a clerk under the supervision of the Board Chief. This record indicates the location and time of the court, the name of the members of the board, and complete information regarding the general attorney and the attorney or his deputy attorney. This will include the attorney’s name, civil records, and residence address. Furthermore, if there is a witness, his complete information should be included in the record as well, including his name, nickname, age, job, nationality, residential address, testimony, a summary of the litigation, the evidence of the testimony, all the procedures that take place during the court, and the judgment wording and its reasons. This record is then signed by the individuals whose names were mentioned in it, and this should happen in every session. If one of the individuals refuses to sign, the board should include this in the records.
If the decision was passed by the majority, the dissenter has to explain his violation and the reasons that led to the initiation of the case, and the majority has to explain its point of view in a reply to the dissenter regarding the violation. It is not permitted for anyone to participate in the deliberation except the members of the board who are at the case hearing. Furthermore, the board has to have a record for every hearing and must insure it is kept according to the accredited template.
The decision is issued after hearing the attorney’s defense. Thus, the decision must have a reason, where reasons means that adequate justification for the decision is included, and it is shown how the board reached the decision. The reason is considered a major tool for guaranteeing the indifference of the board, for protecting the board from accusations, and for convincing the attorney of the board’s justice. Furthermore, the board is to maintain confidentiality when issuing the decision and should mention the reasons for the decision only in a closed session. This maintains the general trust in legal practice, which can, thereby, be considered a partner in the juridical system and in the achieving of justice.
If the board makes a judgment to remove the name of the attorney or to suspend his work permit, the wording of the judgment must be published at the expense of the attorney, and these expenses should be collected from the lawyer through the Legal Profession Department in the Ministry of Justice in accordance with the system’s procedures. The decision to penalize the attorney should not be declared until all the members sign the decision. Furthermore, the summary of what was written in the record should be mentioned in the decision in accordance with the accredited template, including the litigation summary, the evidence, the wording of the judgment, and its reasons, without unnecessary repetition.
The decision of the disciplinary board is considered final in the following conditions:
A. The attorney accepts the penalty issued against him.
B. The expiry of the decision’s objection duration.
C. The consensus of the ministry on the decision.
The decisions made by the disciplinary board are to be written in a special record in accordance with the accredited template and the date thereof. The ministry notifies the competent authorities of the content of the disciplinary board’s decision and publishes the wording of the decision as it relates to either removing the name of the attorney from the schedule or the suspension of his work permit. The management can seek help from the executive competent authorities when executing the final decisions issued by the disciplinary board.
Thus, we can determine the conditions for the validity of the board’s decision as follows:
1. Specialization: For the decision to be valid, it has to be issued by the disciplinary board, which should be formed by the minister of justice, as mentioned in Article 31 of the Law Profession Procedures. If the decision was issued without this board, the decision is invalid due to lack of specialization, and the person against whom the judgment was issued can appeal to the Grievance Board within sixty days from the date of the penalty decision notification.
2. To validate the decision, it must be accompanied with a valid reason that both justifies it and explains its reasoning. Moreover, this must have a legal description.
3. The purpose: The purpose of the decision has to be valid, and the purpose that the disciplinary board is seeking has to be valid as well. For instance, the purpose could be to forbid the attorney from returning to law malpractice in the future or could act as a warning to others not to commit the same violation.

Instructions the Board Must Follow:

1. If the disciplinary case brought against an attorney included more than one allegation, all the allegations should be transferred as one case to the disciplinary board. If another disciplinary case was issued before the hearing of the case, it should be included in the case.
2. If the disciplinary case included more than one attorney and these attorneys were either partners in a professional law company or partners in the pressed charges, their cases should be transferred as one case to the disciplinary board.
3. The disciplinary board takes on the responsibility to judge the accused attorney of the charges brought against him in accordance with the Shariah and the procedures mentioned in the laws and in this supplementary rule.
4. If the general attorney was absent from one of the hearings, the board is obligated to write him a reference before the next hearing is scheduled to insure his attendance or to designate another general attorney.
5. The board has to give the attorney a copy of the case if he requests one and has to provide him with a written answer, which should include the court case’s entire contents after it has been recorded in a record.
6. The disciplinary board can ask the chief office of Law Profession Practice and its branches to take a look at the papers and the documents in the attorney’s presence and prepare a record of the disciplinary case brought against him.
When looking at the Emeriti Legal Profession Laws, we find that Article number 52 states that the attorney should be notified to appear before the competent disciplinary board in person or via a letter and that a receipt signature is required at least fifteen days before the date of the court hearing. Moreover, the attorney is allowed to appoint an attorney to defend him before the disciplinary board. The disciplinary board can also order the attorney to attend in person if it is deemed necessary.
Article 53 states that at the Disciplinary Board’s request, at the general attorney’s request, or at the request of the attorney who is subject to discipline, the board can request the witnesses to attend if the board recognizes the benefit of hearing their testimonies. If one of these witnesses fails to appear without an acceptable excuse or if a witness attends but does not testify, the board can panelize him with the penalties in the penalty Law.
Article 54 states that the sessions of the Disciplinary Board must be closed and that the decision should be made after hearing the requests of the general attorney and after the defense of the accused attorney or whomever he appoints. Furthermore, the decision of the disciplinary board has to be reasoned and justified. Finally, Article 55 states that the disciplinary decisions should be announced by the media representative and a copy of the decision should be sent to the concerned attorney with a receipt.
When we look at Kuwaiti legal profession Law, we find that it is very similar to the Saudi and Emeriti system. It states in Article 38 that the attorney is notified to appear before the Disciplinary Board by means of a registered mail letter with a signature required upon receipt fifteen days prior to the hearing date. The attorney is permitted to attend himself or to appoint an attorney to defend him. The disciplinary board can, however, order for him to attend in person. Article 39 states that the disciplinary board, the general attorney, and the attorney can request the presenting of witness testimonies that will benefit the case. If any of these witnesses do not appear or if they attend but do not testify, the board can penalize the witness with the penalties determined in Article 140 of the penalty law. Article 40 says that disciplinary sessions should be closed and the judgment should be released after the board has heard the charges and the attorney’s defense.
Finally, Articles 41 and 42 state that the decision of the disciplinary board should be based on reasoned grounds, and these grounds should be stated in the closed session. The decision to remove the attorney’s name from the lawyers list or to suspend his work permit must be released to all courts, and the disciplinary board’s decisions must also be released to the courts and the relevant association of attorneys. Each should be given a record of the judgment. In addition, if the decision requires the removal of the attorney’s name or his suspension, this should be published in an official newspaper without mentioning the reasons. The disciplinary decisions will be announced via a process server, where a copy of the decision with a receipt will be provided to the concerned attorney.
The Kuwaiti and UAE Code of Law Practice almost agrees with the Saudi Arabia Code of Law Practice in the procedure of the disciplinary committee:
1- Disciplinary sessions are closed. The judgment is released after hearing the charges and the attorney’s defense.
2- The attorney is notified to appear before the competent disciplinary board in person or via a letter. The attorney’s signature should be received at least fifteen days before the court date.
3- The attorney is permitted to attend himself or appoint an attorney to defend him. The disciplinary board can order him to attend in person.
4- The disciplinary board, the general attorney, and the attorney can request witnesses testimonies if they will benefit the case. If any of these witnesses do not appear or attend but do not testify, the board can penalize the witness.
5- The disciplinary board’s decision must be based on reasoned grounds.
Chapter five: Disciplinary liability punishments that could fall on the lawyer.

Disciplinary punishments

In this section we will describe the disciplinary punishments within the codes mentioned in the Saudi law system and the type and the degree of every punishment. It is evident that the punishments mentioned in the system do not all have the same power: there are penalties related to the disciplinary aspect only and others that can end a lawyer’s career. career. We can say that the goal of disciplinary punishments is “to ensure the proper functioning of public facility by imposing workers’ respect to the necessary rules of proper functioning of that facility. The application of disciplinary punishment affects the employment status of the employee which leads to deprive him of some employment advantages that he is enjoying or deprive him temporary of definitively of his job.”
Saudi law system has stated,
“Without prejudice to a claim for compensation by any aggrieved party or to any other claim, any lawyer who violates the provisions of this Code or its Implementing Regulations, or commits a breach of his professional duties or any act as may be incompatible with the professional standards shall be subject to one of the following sanctions.
(a) Warning.
(b) Reprimand.
(c) Suspension of practice for a period not exceeding three years.
(d) Striking his name off the list and revoking his license.”
The lawyer who still practices his job after deleting his name from the table will also be punished by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or a fine of not less than 30,000 Saudi Riyal ($8,000), according to Article 37 of the Saudi law system.
Section I: Warning

Warning is the lightest disciplinary punishment. It consists of warning the accused of a harsher punishment if he again commits the same offense. Threatening is one of the disciplinary punishments of Islamic Sharia except that the threat should not be a lie and should be enough to prevent, reform, and sanction the violator. The warning punishment in the Saudi law system means to threaten the lawyer to perform the duties of his career, so as not to be exposed to a penalty that cannot reform his situation. The warning comes from the Disciplinary Committee of the Ministry of Justice. The nature of the warning does not affect the penalty to the lawyer intended by the Disciplinary Committee if he commits the same prejudice, so this addition does not change the effect of the warning or restrict the Committee from any sanction in the future.
Case summary:
Resolution No. 2 on 01/10/1433
The prosecutor has claimed that a speech from the courthouse president of Jeddah stated a claim from prosecutors against a defendant and his agent was a lawyer (the defendant). The lawyer gave an answer on the claim list and said that a judgment had been sentenced from the Office of the Ombudsman in Mecca in favor of his client and he had checked that judgment with the audit committee in Riyadh. After inquiring about the judgment of the Office of the Ombudsman they answered that the judgment was still being audited, contradicting the lawyer. The prosecutor said that what the lawyer had done was against Article 11 of the legal system, “the lawyer must practice his profession in accordance with the law and regulations, avoid any act that compromises his dignity, and respect the rules and instructions issued in this regard.” The prosecutor has asked the Commission for the application of the punishment upon the lawyer in accordance with Article 29 of the legal system.
The defendant justified it by saying that he had already mentioned the judgment was being audited by the Audit Commission in Riyadh, but wrote it had been audited on a note in a hasty error instead of being audited. He explained that what he did was a material mistake not related to any intention to violate the rules and that intention is one of the elements of responsibility. In the absence of intention, the violation falls, and the lawsuit should be rejected since it is based on incorrect support. He also explained that the disciplinary responsibility of lawyers is based on the idea of deviation in behavior and what was assigned to the lawyer is not a deviation in behavior but a typographical error, and the error is one of the excuses that cancels the punishment in the Islamic law (Shariaa).
The Committee decided that the lawyer must be careful what he says especially if the error in the words changes the meaning, and what the defendant did is against Article 11 of the legal system. So the Committee decided unanimously to punish the defendant by warning in accordance with Article 29 of the legal system.
In this case the researcher believes that the issue has been raised in the manner prescribed in the legal Saudi system, as in Article 30. The prosecutor raised disciplinary action to the lawyer from his own initiative, from the request of the Minister of Justice, any court, the Board of Grievances, or any of the committees referred to in Article 1) of this system. The prosecutor raised the case by the request of the Court President of Jeddah and:
A. The minister and his authorized representative.
B. The presidents of courts and judges in Sharia courts.
C. The president of the Board of Grievances, his deputy and the members.
D. The presidents of the committees referred to in Article 1.
E. The president of the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution and his deputy.
The researcher finds that the committee was right to sign the warning against the lawyer for his error. The error mentioned in the speech justifies that the lawyer misspelled the word, and in view of the researcher, whether there was a typing error or not, this error gives a bad image to the honor and dignity of the profession because a lawyer must be more careful. The regime has stated, “The lawyer must practice his profession according to the Sharia and regulations, not to do any act that compromises the dignity of the profession, and respect the rules and instructions issued in this regard.” The prosecutor has asked the Commission to apply the punishment in accordance with Article 29 of the legal system. According to the researcher, the lawyer should be careful what he does, because he is the only one responsible for it. The Committee was also right when it claimed the lawyer’s error has changed the truth and that is against the rules of legal profession. The researcher believes also that the warning punishment by the committee is the appropriate penalty for the lawyer to warn him not to repeat his mistake and not to be exposed to a tougher penalty next time.
According to this case, we find that the error from the lawyer is one of the examples of disciplinary infractions, since the system did not explain explicitly the infractions, but the organizer said in Article 11 of the legal system that a lawyer must practice his profession, “according to the Sharia and regulations, not to do any act that compromises the dignity of the profession, and respect the rules and instructions issued in this regard.”
Section II: Reprimand punishment

The reprimand shows disapproval of the lawyer’s professional behavior in violation of his duties publicly and privately. The signature of the reprimand punishment is not authorized more than once because its impact is harsher than the impact of the warning. The censure is a great characteristic of the warning since it is attached to the lawyer. The warning is signed and registered in his file in the general administration of lawyers. It thus becomes a proof that the lawyer cannot ignore the duties of his profession.
Case summary:
Resolution No. 7 on 13/07/1432
The prosecutor has raised against the lawyer (defendant) that the lawyer contracted a client to plead for his own benefit, and wrote in the agreement contract that he follows the office Saleh Hejailan, which is not true, and the prosecutor said that the agreement has tricks and lies. The prosecutor also said that the lawyer was using the name Omar Albrik in his publications while his name in the attorney’s statement is Omar Ben Brik Barki, misleading people. According to the customer complaint, the customer lost his rights and paid unfair fees. Finally, the prosecutor said, “We received a report from the judge of Riyadh district court Abdul Aziz al-Issa that the lawyer (the defendant) came to the judge’s office, but the judge asked him to wait outside until the his stuff and secretary csme, but he refused to go outside, raising his voice. The judge called the policeman; the lawyer declined to give his information to the policeman.”
The Committee said that what the defendant did was against Articles 11 and 12, which condemned the defendant, and by which the Committee decided unanimously to apply a reprimand.
The researcher believes that it is possible to analyze the case into three sections:
1. The existence of the agreement where it was stated that it followed the Office (Saleh Hejailan).
2. The defendant used a name different from the name in the attorney’s license.
3. The defendant raised his voice and refused to go out from the judge’s office in Abdulaziz.
The response of the prosecutor to the presence of the name of the office al-Hujailan in the contract that it is not true and that he has not received evidence and documents that prove that and that they have not received any documents proving that. According to the researcher’s view, it was the Committee’s error, because of the defendant’s right to access documents and evidence, and the rules in Article 32. “A lawyer has to be present in front of the Disciplinary Committee with an official speech stating the offense attributed to him and its proofs briefly, before the date of the meeting with no later than fifteen days. The lawyer is allowed to attend it personally or assign a lawyer and the Committee must order him to come personally but if he does not after informing him twice the committee is allowed to make a decision by his absence. The speech mentioned in this article includes the following:
A. The full name of the lawyer.
B. The type of the offense assigned to the lawyer.
C. The evidence of the offence in a nutshell.
D. The date, time, and place of the attendance.”
Also the response of the defendant with the use of a different name from the name in the attorney’s license was: “I cannot find in the system what prevents that and I do not know what the prosecutor’s view [is] either.”
This lawyer misrepresented his identity and deceived the customer. That is against the system, because he took a personality similar to his name and this is considered as a violation that the lawyer must be punished for.
Moreover, the researcher finds that the defendant must respect the legal profession, and must not raise his voice to the judge or refuse to go out when the judge ordered him to do so. The system has stated, “The lawyer must practice his profession in accordance with the law and regulations, avoid any act that compromises his dignity, and respect the rules and instructions issued in this regard.” The prosecutor asked the committee to apply the punishment against the lawyer in accordance with Article 29 of the legal system.
The researcher agrees that the defendant has the right to see evidence and documents of the charges against him and the committee must follow the legal system.
The prosecutor made a mistake in the previous case and his damage is considered a violation of Article 11: the lawyer must execute his profession according to the legal system and respect the rules of the profession. The committee applied the reprimand in that case; however, if there was evidence of the use of Office (Hejailan) in the publications of the defendant, the researcher believes the committee must apply a stronger punishment than the Reprimand, since that is plagiarism of another personality and a misleading of the customer by the adhesion of the lawyer to that office. The system also stated that it is punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or a fine of not less than 30,000 riyals, or both:
A. The person who holds himself out as a lawyer or practices law in violation of the provisions of this Regulation.
B. The lawyer who practiced law after deleting his name from the lawyers’ table, and these punishments will be signed by the competent court.
C. A person impersonating a lawyer if he makes his work as a lawyer, including: opening an office to receive counseling and advocacy issues, or referring to himself in publications as an attorney.
And it is considered practice of the legal profession contrary to this system if:
A. A non-lawyer pleads against the authorities in violation of Article 18 and its Implementing Regulations.
B. The Saudi lawyers and advisers mentioned in Article 38 practice their profession after the expiration of their licenses in one of the cases mentioned in item (38/2).
C. The Saudi adviser mentioned in Article 38 practices his profession when his previous license expired before the issuance of the system and had not been recorded in the table.
Section III: Suspension from practicing the profession for a period not exceeding three years

The system issues suspension punishment if the lawyer has not responded to instructions and insisted on committing infractions. We often find this punishment is not issued until after the passage of a lawyer with a series of planned punishments in the system like the warning and the reprimand. If he does not respond, the lawyer will be punished by suspension from practicing the profession, and so he must stop practicing the profession. The Saudi law system has stipulated that the resulting suspension from practicing law is the transfer of the lawyer name from practicing lawyers list to non-practicing lawyers list. The suspended lawyer must not open his office during the period of suspension, and if he does or practices his profession during the period of suspension he will be punished by deletion of his name from the lawyers’ table and cancellation of his license to practice his profession.
Also Article 35 made it clear that what is required under suspension is:
A. To not to open a branch office.
B. To return the original license and the card to the listing and accepting committee.
C. To not practice the profession.
D. To remove the office sign from the building.
In addition the system stipulates that if the suspended lawyer, banned from his profession by a disciplinary decision, opens his office or its branch or practices the profession even without opening the office, whether he did so himself, through an attorney, or an agent, a disciplinary claim will be raised against him according to Articles 30 and 32. Also, the suspended lawyer, from practicing the profession by a disciplinary decision, must not open his office, or practice the profession after a period of suspension set forth in the decision only after a decision by the listing and accepting committee.
Case summary:
Resolution No. 2 on 05/04/1435.
The prosecutor has raised against the lawyer (defendant) that the lawyer got the procuration from the client No. 1 against No. 2, and the procuration was cancelled after eight years. After three days of annulation, he got the procuration from the client No. 2 against No. 1 in the same subject of the claim. The Committee decided to suspend him from practicing the profession ten days. The Committee justified that what the lawyer did is a violation of Article 14 of the legal system.
The researcher believes that what the defendant did is contrary to the system and is one of the disciplinary violations by which the committee must punish the lawyer. Article 14 of the Saudi law system stipulates that:
A. The lawyer must not personally, or through another lawyer, accept any claim or give any advice against a party he is working with, or against a party ended its relationship with him until after a period of not less than five years after the end of his relationship with that party.
B. The lawyer who works partially for his client under a contract must not accept any claim or give any advice against his client before three years of the expiration of the contract.
In the former case, the regular term did not end to allow him to consider client No. 2, because there must be a period of three years after the termination of the contract. The researcher believes that the Disciplinary Committee had to increase the duration of the suspension, because a suspension for a period of ten days is not enough compared to what the lawyer did. Because what the lawyer did is considered a violation, the committee should apply a harsher punishment because the purpose is one of the conditions for the issuance of disciplinary decision. The decision should be correct in terms of the purpose of the resolution. This purpose is to discourage the lawyer to not come back to the administrative error and warn others not to commit that violation.
Section IV: Striking his name off the list and revoking his license

The license to practice law or a renewal of that license is issued by the Minister of Justice in accordance with the model certified by the Ministry of Justice. The issuance of the license costs 2,000 riyal, its renewal 1,000 riyal. The amount is paid officially to the Ministry of Finance. The license is given and one copy is preserved in the lawyer folder at the Ministry. If the lawyer wants to renew his license he must apply for it from the admission committee no later than three months before its expiration.
Deleting the name of the lawyer from practicing lawyers is punishment belonging to the suspension of the license. If the lawyer commit a violation and the Disciplinary Committee decides to delete his name from practicing lawyers, his license is immediately canceled as it is mentioned in the Saudi legal system, saying: without prejudice to the claim for compensation for damage or any other claim, if the lawyer violates the provisions of this system or its Implementing Regulations; prejudice to his professional duties; or commits an incompatible act with his job he will be punished by one of the following penalties:
A. Warning.
B. Reprimand
C. Suspension from practicing the profession for a period not exceeding three years.
D. Delete of the name from the table and cancel the license.
From this statement, it is clear that the cancellation of the license is followed by the deletion of the name of the practicing lawyer. The license is a custody of the lawyer and he must return it in one of the following cases:
1. When he renews the license.
2. When the suspension from practicing the profession is applied.
3. If the name of the lawyer is transferred to non-practicing lawyers.
4. If the Disciplinary Committee requests that because of a disciplinary claim against him.
5. If his name is deleted from the table.
That is why the cancellation of the license is not an independent punishment but related to the deletion of the name from the practicing lawyers table.
Article 36 has stated, “the lawyer, whose name is deleted definitely from the table by disciplinary decision after three years from the effective date of this decision, has the right to request the registration of his name on the table from the acceptance committee. The registration of the name in the table requires the conditions and procedures related to the registration stated in the system and this list.”
It is evident from this that the Saudi system did not apply the punishment to the lawyer by “the deletion of the name from the table and the cancellation of the license”. The definitive deletion of the name is here distinct from the deletion of the name from the table, confirmed in Article 36 as follows: “the lawyer, whose name is deleted definitely from the table by disciplinary decision after three years from the effective date of this decision, has the right to request the registration of his name on the table from the acceptance committee”
The researcher believes that this text raises the following observation: The Saudi regulations did not apply the registration decision only in one condition, which is three years after the termination of the delisting decision. Although, the text did not put any constraint, condition, or special procedure for the registration. The regulations also said: “The registration of the name in the table requires the conditions and procedures related to the registration stated in the system and this list.” Therefore, the article does not specify the legal basis and rules the committee can use to make an approval decision. From that we should ask: is the committee obliged to register the name since the lawyer requests a registration after three years from the day of the delisting decision?
Therefore the regulations must be more precise in the formulation of the delisting punishment and the regulations that organize the registration of the lawyers.
Also, we can use what was stated in the Kuwaiti legal system in which the Article 45 mentioned: “the lawyer, who received a disciplinary decision by erasing his name from the lawyers table, should to ask the registration of his name on the table from the admission committee after at least three calendar years from the issuance date of that decision, the committee must accept his request if the period is sufficient to repair the damage that he did. But if the committee refuses his request, the lawyer must not renew it until a year after the rejection and must not re-apply after that and the decision that issues the rejection must not be challenged.”
Also the UAE regulations stated in Article 57 that “the lawyer, who received a disciplinary decision by erasing definitively his name from the lawyers table, should ask the registration of his name after at least three years from the admission committee and that committee must accept his request and register his name the period is sufficient to repair the damage that he did. But if the Committee decided to reject the application, the lawyer must not renew it until a year from the date of rejection.”
Comparing the Saudi, UAE, and Kuwait regulations the researcher agrees with the UAE ones since the organizers were more accurate in giving more details in the system. The regulations was precise in his formulation of the punishment of the delisting of the lawyer name from the practicing lawyers whereas the Saudi regulations says only, “The lawyer, whose name is deleted definitely from the table by disciplinary decision after three years from the effective date of this decision, has the right to request the registration of his name on the table from the acceptance committee. The registration of the name in the table requires the conditions and procedures related to the registration stated in the system and this list.”
Section V: Imprisonment and fines

The Saudi legal system stated the imprisonment punishment is applied to those who misrepresent themselves as lawyers or violate the suspension period. Here the punishment of imprisonment does not exceed one year, and may be combined with another punishment, a fine penalty of not less than 30,000 riyals. The regulations identified the cases that require imprisonment or fine in Article 37 of the Saudi law system, namely:
1. “The person who holds himself as a lawyer or practice the legal profession, contrary to the provisions of this system.
2. The lawyer who practiced the legal profession after the deletion of his name from the lawyers table. those punishments are signed by the competent court.
3. The person holds himself as a lawyer when he accomplishes a job specific to a lawyer like the followings: open an office to receive counseling and advocacy issues, or reference himself as a lawyer in the literatures.
4. The following cases are considered practice of the legal profession in violation of the system:
A. When a non-lawyer pleads the authorities contrary to Article 18 and its regulations.
B. When the Saudi lawyers and advisers stated in the Article 38 exercise their profession after the expiration of attorney permits or licenses in one of the cases mentioned in item (38/2).”
Chapter six: How appeal disciplinary liability decisions.

Appeal in disciplinary decisions
The Saudi legal system allows the lawyer to appeal a disciplinary decision if he feels it has violated his rights and caused him harm. This shows that the system did not use the language of force, but it is flexible and guarantees rights to the accused lawyer. This is what we will address.
Article 31 stipulates that “the Committee holds in the presence of all its members, and issues its decisions by majority, and its decisions are subject to appeal at the Board of Grievances within sixty days from the date of notification of the punishment decision that was issued against him.” , and the regulation list of the legal system stipulates that “the final decisions issued by the Disciplinary Committee are not asked to seek reconsideration.”
Article 33 also made it clear that disciplinary decisions from the committee can be definitive in one of the following cases:
A. When the lawyer agreed to the punishment applied to him.
B. When the period to appeal the decision is expired.
C. When the Board of Grievances approved the decision.
Thus, we can say that the Saudi legal system allows the lawyer to appeal the disciplinary decision issued against him within 60 days of notification of the punishment decision, and if the decision of the Disciplinary Committee is definitive it will not be subject to appeal. Since the provisions of this committee are issued at the majority, here the majority is not from the judges, the researcher thinks that the appeal of the decisions at the Board of Grievances is a good idea to achieve more guarantees for lawyers. The system also succeeded in giving sufficient lead-time to the lawyer to appeal the issued decision within sixty days from the date of notification of the punishment.
The Saudi regulations gave the lawyer the right to appeal the decision issued against him in absentia. Article 34 states that “the lawyer can object the absentee decision that is issued against him within fifteen days from the date of notification or copy of it. The objection is applied by the lawyer or his agent to the Disciplinary Committee through its president.”
The appeal of disciplinary decisions is a way to contest and get them cancelled or rectified when issued in the absence of the lawyer; however, the result can be through the same committee that issued the decision. The right of appeal is based on the defense rights by which prejudice can nullify the decision. A court is not allowed to punish someone without hearing his defense or giving him the appropriate opportunity to state that in front of the committee that treats the case. If the lawyer misses the case for one of these reasons the way must be simplified for him in order to defend himself at the committee. That committee must review its decision or rectify it to defend and erase defective contents backed by the statements of the prosecutor.
The start of the period of objection in the absentee decision from the date of notification, and so the period of the dissolution of the lawyer right to counsel in the appeal shall apply only from the date of notification. But this does not prevent an appeal before this notification immediately after the issuance of the absentee.
The objector must present his complaint to the Disciplinary Committee during the period of the appeal, including the reasons that confirm the objection, and sign it. His right to object the decision will be forfeit in the following cases:
A. If he signs for the accuracy of the claim on his knowledge of the punishment and the period of the appeal is expired, but he did not object to it from the reception date of a copy of the disciplinary decision and signing for the accuracy of that or the date he, his associate, his trainee, or any of his employees received a copy of the report through a proceeding, or a registered speech accompanied with acknowledgment of the reception to the address indicated in the table in case of nonattendance to receive the copy and sign for its accuracy.
B. If he refuses to sign for the accuracy of the claim knowing the punishment, and the period mentioned in the paragraph is expired (a). But if he comes back to sign, the period will be calculated from the appointed date for reception of a copy of the resolution.
There are several points pointed out by the regulations to regulate the appeal against the decision of disciplinary decisions:
1. If the judgment is applied in absentia, then his right to object is disapproved after a lapse of 15 days from the reception of one copy of the resolution at the Committee’s headquarters through a proceeding, or a registered speech accompanied with acknowledgment of the reception to the address indicated in the table.
2. The Disciplinary Committee registers the objection submitted by the lawyer at the day of its submission, and must mention that in its specific book.
3. After reviewing the objection against the lawyer, the Disciplinary Committee confirms the decision or rectifies it according to its understanding.
4. If the Committee confirms the punishment, the original decision will be raised and objected to the Court through the Minister.
5. The objector must provide a new statement to the Disciplinary Committee to support the reasons for his objection submitted by himself in the note if it still has the lawsuit, and the grievance period has not finished yet.
When we look at Kuwaiti legal system, we find that Article 44 stipulates that “the public prosecutor and the sentenced lawyer appeal decisions issued by the Disciplinary Board stated in Article 37 of the Court of Appeal within fifteen days, starting from the time the verdict is issued for the public prosecutor, and for the lawyer, from the date of announcing the decision or receiving its copy. This Appeal is decided by a Board composed of the President of the Court of Appeal or its agent and of two advisers appointed by the general assembly every year and the decision shall be final.” Article 43 adds, “A lawyer shall oppose i the decisions that have been made during his absence within fifteen days from the date of notification or receipt of a copy of it. This opposition is done by a report of the lawyer or his deputy stamped by the faculty court .”
When we look at the Emirati legal system, we see that Article 56 stipulates that “both the public prosecutor and the convicted lawyer may appeal the decision given by the disciplinary board, which is particularly for lawyers before the Federal Supreme Court within fifteen days from the date of the decision concerning the Public Prosecution, and from the date of its announcement or delivery to the lawyer. The appeal takes place by putting a document written by the book of the Federal Supreme Court. The appeal is seen in front of the Department of Criminal Cassation sessions confidential, according to the regulations planned to appeal in the Code of Criminal Procedure.”
When comparing the appeal’s procedures in the disciplinary decisions between the legal system in KSA, the Kuwaiti one, and the UAE one, we find that some similar procedures and different ones. We know about the lawsuit in the disciplinary decision between the prosecutor who raised the disciplinary claim and the lawyer assigned to the Disciplinary Committee. If we assume that the disciplinary decision was issued against the lawyer with a suspension from practicing the profession for a period of two years, does the prosecutor have the right to object in the Board of Grievances to ask for tougher disciplinary punishment from the two years of punishment to the deletion of his name and cancellation of his license? It is clear that the Saudi law system does not talk about the right of the prosecutor to appeal disciplinary decisions issued by the Disciplinary Committee. It limits this right to the accused lawyer without the prosecutor as stipulated in Article 31, saying, “The decisions are subject to appeal in the Board of Grievances within sixty days from the date of notification of the punishment against whom the decision was issued.” This is contrary to what Article 56 stated in UAE law, “for both the prosecutor and the accused lawyer must appeal against the issued decision from the Disciplinary Board” and Article 44 of Kuwaiti law, “the prosecutor and the accused lawyer must appeal against the issued decisions from Disciplinary Board mentioned in Article 37 from that the Court of Appeal.”
Ignoring the prosecutor’s rights to appeal the punishments made by the Disciplinary Committee are contrary to the general rules established by the contemporary legislation to make the prosecutor as a custodian on the interests of the community. Also, it violates what was agreed on regarding comparative laws which gave the right to the prosecutor whether the verdict incriminates the lawyer or not. Ignoring the prosecutor’s right is contradicted with the system itself in that it restricts the right of the Prosecutor General’s position to appeal disciplinary decisions, is it logical or reasonable to deprive the authority that has the right to move the disciplinary action of the right to appeal disciplinary decisions issued by the Disciplinary Committee.
The researcher finds that the silence of the system about the prosecutor’s right to appeal against the disciplinary decisions issued by the Disciplinary Committee is not justified, but it is against the contemporary legislative functions of the prosecutor and his profession. The researcher also believes that the UAE and Kuwaiti system succeeded in giving the prosecutor the right to appeal against the disciplinary decisions issued by the Disciplinary Committee, maintaining rights and issuing the appropriate decision.