The Undersecretary of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Judge Issa Al-Mannai, stated that the total number of completed works for the secretariat of all courts of all levels amounted during the past year to about 250 thousand minutes, and the staff of the clerk’s office completed more than one million and 400 thousand procedures, during the year 2021.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Ayyam, he said that the most prominent implementation services provided through the national e-government portal have been updated, reflecting the requirements and procedures of the new implementation law in the electronic system, and work is underway to add a number of services, in cooperation with the Information and e-Government Authority. The law will enter into force today, Thursday, March 17, 2022, noting that a text message has been sent to all parties to the implementation files to introduce the new procedures, and to take the necessary measures if required, according to the capacity of the stakeholders in the implementation file.

He stressed that work is underway, in coordination with the Public Prosecution, to prepare a preliminary draft of the electronic transformation proposal in criminal courts, as it is currently being studied.

With regard to managing the affairs of minors’ money, he explained that the mechanism for opening files for minors has been developed so that the inheritance file is opened based on the personal number of the deceased by taking advantage of the information available in the electronic system of management and connected to the electronic system of the Information and eGovernment Authority, without the need to wait for the issuance of the religious duty.

He added: "Last year, the administration handed over (2123) inheritance dues with a total amount of approximately (7) million dinars, and in the current year (1150) inheritance dues with a total amount of approximately 3 million and 750 thousand dinars were delivered. Below is the text of the meeting:

-First of all, the Courts and the Execution Departments are considered among the basic bodies assisting the judiciary. Can you tell us about the most prominent works of the two departments?

The Courts Administration is one of the pivotal bodies assisting the judiciary, and its work is concentrated through the secretariat of the courts and the Registry of the Book Department.

In order to be closer to the work of the Courts Department, we refer to some statistics in total for the year 2021, as the completed work of the secretariat of all courts of all levels amounted to the preparation of about 250 thousand minutes, and the staff of the clerk’s office completed more than one million and 400 thousand procedures, including the implementation of court decisions by addressing the authorities advertisements, issuing certificates, and implementing court decisions to disburse the amounts deposited in the case.

As for the implementation department, it is also considered one of the important and basic departments that carry out the implementation of the decisions of the execution courts. In the year 2021, legal researchers completed more than 58 thousand procedures, including reviewing applications for opening and approving implementation files, issuing certificates, and updating file data. Real estate, and other related tasks. The execution accounts department has completed more than 188,000 transactions.

In the face of this great effort, what are the most prominent development projects witnessed by the courts and implementation departments in parallel with the electronic transformation in the justice sector?

The Ministry is constantly keen on developing the performance and raising the efficiency of the assisting agencies, in a way that effectively contributes to facilitating procedures, developing the quality of the judicial services provided, and supporting the speedy settlement of cases and the implementation of judgments.

One of the major development projects implemented by the Courts Department during the past year is the creation of an electronic system for the work of the Registry of the Book within a unified mechanism to follow up the implementation of court decisions, by integrating all procedures of civil and Sharia courts departments of various degrees under a unified mechanism competent to implement all the procedures of the various courts, such as addressing the authorities Formal and informal announcements, and other relevant procedures.

The goal of this new mechanism is to distribute tasks in a proportional manner in terms of the workload among employees, and to enhance the focus of the unit head and employees on the tasks entrusted to them and their meticulous implementation to ensure quality in work, standardization of procedures in all courts, and coordination of responsibilities and tasks between the staff of the clerk’s office and secretaries . This mechanism has already been implemented, and we are constantly following it up to evaluate it, as we see that it has achieved an important administrative success.

Among the new development projects is the modernization of the online lawsuit inquiry service available to lawyers and litigants, by adding the responses of the authorities, the result of the announcement, the method of advertising, and expert reports. Identity types have also been added for legal persons in the service of filing lawsuits other than commercial companies, such as sports, educational and civil institutions and the owners' union.

With regard to the implementation department, the expansion of the electronic link with the relevant authorities has been completed, and the result of the electronic notification has been shown in the electronic inquiry service. All this was done in joint work with the Information Systems Department in the Ministry.

- The ministry has completed the automation of civil, commercial, and Sharia courts. Is there any direction to include this in criminal courts?

Based on the directives of the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, work is underway in joint coordination with the Public Prosecution to crystallize development initiatives in this regard in order to contribute to providing the best judicial services to citizens and residents, and to continue raising work efficiency and facilitating procedures.

In this context, work has been done in coordination with the Public Prosecution to prepare a preliminary draft of the electronic transformation proposal in criminal courts, which is currently being studied.

- It is scheduled to start implementing the new implementation system today “Thursday”, corresponding to March 17, have you completed the preparations for its implementation?

Within the framework of the implementation of the new implementation law, work was done to provide the technical and procedural structure, as thirteen decisions were issued by the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, related to determining the mechanism for reconciling the status of theExisting rolls of execution prior to the entry into force of the provisions of the new law, the requirements for notifying the executor against him of fulfillment, the procedures for requesting the execution of executive bonds and grievance against the decisions of the execution judge, and the procedures for submitting a request to fulfill the debt subject of the executive document.

The decisions of the Minister of Justice also included defining the rules related to how to seize the movables of the port against him and their sale and distribution of the proceeds of the sale, the seizure of real estate and its sale and the distribution of the proceeds of the sale, and the determination of the rules and procedures for in-kind implementation, as well as the procedures for marking the credit record of the port against him, in addition to the two decisions on regulating the conduct of the port’s activity The special decision, as well as the decision concerned with determining the value of the minimum amounts that may not be executed in the accounts of the executor against him, and determining the categories of licensees under the Central Bank of Bahrain Law, for whom enforcement procedures are applicable in accordance with the provisions of the Bank’s Law, and regarding the method of calculating judicial expenses.

Recently, more than 50,000 text messages were sent to all parties to the implementation files to introduce the new procedures, and to take the necessary measures, if required, according to the capacity of the stakeholders in the implementation file.

The most prominent implementation services provided through the national e-government portal have also been updated, reflecting the requirements and procedures of the new implementation law in the electronic system, and work is underway to complete the addition of a number of services, in cooperation with the Information and e-Government Authority.

-Through follow-up, we learned of a project to automatically open inheritance files that include minors through electronic linking to the Department of Minors’ Affairs and Funds. Has this new mechanism been started?

Yes, as within the framework of the management plan for the affairs and funds of minors regarding electronic transformation and linking with various relevant authorities, the mechanism for opening files for minors has been developed starting from July 2021, so that the inheritance file is opened based on the personal number of the deceased by taking advantage of the information available in the electronic system of the administration And that is related to the electronic system of the Information and e-Government Authority, without the need to wait for the issuance of the legal obligation, while continuing to work with the current mechanism by opening the inheritance file with the concerned persons with the administration through the approved electronic means, until the stage of opening the inheritance file is fully automatic.

- Reports of the Office of Financial and Administrative Oversight touched on the issue of handing over adult inheritances, so what are the measures taken in this regard?

The Department of Minors’ Affairs and Funds communicates with the eligible persons of majority as soon as they reach the legal age, in order to hand them over their dues, through the available contact information. with the competent authorities.

In the last year 2021, the administration handed over (2123) inheritance dues with a total amount of approximately (7) million dinars, and in the current year (1150) inheritance dues were delivered with a total amount of approximately (3,750,000) dinars, and work is underway to urge the rest to receive the dues of their inheritances to reach them The legal age that is outside the jurisdiction of the state council over the funds of minors and the like.

In parallel with the digital transformation, the Ministry has implemented a supportive precautionary plan to provide many of its services by electronic means in light of the Corona pandemic, such as the services of the Sharia Procedures Department as well as Sharia research, is work still in place according to this plan?

Yes, work is still going on with this mechanism, which has proven its success and effectiveness in providing the judicial services in the jurisdiction, in addition to the services provided by the Ministry through the e-government website, and the Ministry has adopted these electronic mechanisms to be continuous. Work is underway to develop it to facilitate procedures without the need for personal attendance to submit applications.

How many mediators are licensed in civil disputes, criminal matters, as well as legitimacy?

There are currently 144 licensed mediators in civil defense and criminal matters as well as legality, all of whom are published on the Ministry of Justice website.