President al-Assad issues new procedure ordinance law

Damascus – President Bashar al-Assad issued on Monday law no. 1 for 2016 on regulating procedure ordinance.

The new law specifies the new rules and regulations that govern procedure ordinance in trials in Syria, including the jurisdiction and powers vested in tribunals and courts, the type of lawsuits they are authorized to resolve, the circumstances in which Syrian courts may tackle lawsuits involving non-Syrians, the conditions for accepting pleas and motions, scheduling and notification procedures, conditions for annulment of procedures, regulations for court reporters, the paperwork for lawsuits and proceedings, and the fields and domains of specialty for each specific type of court or tribunal, among other things.

 Justice Minister Najm Hamad al-Ahmad said that this law meets the needs for speeding up the resolution of civil, commercial, and personal status lawsuits, and that it makes necessary reforms and developments to keep up with changes in the Syrian society, SANA reported.

Al-Ahmad noted that this law is part of the Ministry’s diligent efforts to achieve reform in the judicial field, adding that it took over seven years to finish and employed the expertise of prominent law professors, judges, and lawyers, in addition to receiving input and opinions from various sides involved in legal and judicial work.