Jude Al Harthi, prominent Saudi lawyer
This week has presented more great news for Saudi Arabian women, this time regarding their role in the country’s legal sector. Reports out of the Kingdom indicate an increase in the number of licensed Saudi female lawyers, which stood at 785 by the end of this year’s second quarter, along with over 185 licenses that have been issued to women for legal practice in 2020.
These numbers are set to rise further as there are around 2,370 women who have already completed the legal training needed to obtain a license to practice law. Aspiring female lawyers in Saudi Arabia are required to train in various capacities, and will need to gain on-ground experience by interning full-time in law firms under lawyers with at least five years in the legal field.
As part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aim to increase the participation of women in the country’s workforce, a number of sectors and industries that were formerly dominated by men have now opened up to the Kingdom’s women, providing them with ample job opportunities. Indeed, the Kingdom has been increasing its focus over the last few years on empowering women and its Ministry of Justice has been working on closing the gender gap in the nation’s legal and justice sector.
For example, just last month, the Ministry appointed 100 qualified women as notaries. Their roles officially began on the 1st of November, seeing them partake in a three-month specialized training program organized in cooperation with the Justice Training Center. They are also getting practical training at the Ministry’s Agency for Documentation and Notaries.
The rise in women in the Kingdom’s legal sector has been a positive trend over the years. In early 2018, for instance, Saudi Arabia announced that the number of Saudi women who obtained a license to practice law increased by 29 percent compared to just 13 percent for men, and by about a 60 percent increase in the number of women who have entered the legal profession since 2017.
These numbers were seen as a result of a marked shift in Saudi Arabia, due to years of determination and hard work by the Kingdom’s lawyers. Indeed, female lawyers in Saudi Arabia achieved a landmark victory in 2013 allowing them to practice law and argue their cases in Saudi courtrooms, a triumph that came after years of being prohibited from appearing in court.
