Women Make Up 46 Percent Of Applicants For Conciliator Positions At Saudi Arabia's Ministry Of Justice

In August 2019, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Justice opened up key vacancies for women, putting out a call to recruit women for Grade-7 Notary Public roles. This week, the Ministry continues its push to have more women be part of the country’s judicial system, this time revealing that almost half of the applicants for its newly announced conciliator positions at the Reconciliation Center have been women.

Around 17,000 people have applied for the recently announced job openings, and almost 8,000 applicants have been women, following the Ministry’s announcement that it would be allowing both genders to apply for the positions. Conciliators engage in alternative dispute methods, meeting with the parties involved in a dispute, both separately and together, in an attempt to resolve their differences.

7800 female applicants register as mediators as the conciliation center by #Saudi ministry of justice opens doors for registration. Females make almost 50% of the total applications. pic.twitter.com/7QP2hvWpyU

— Saudi Ministry of Justice (@MojKsa_EN) February 2, 2020

 The Ministry is allowing all registered conciliators to work independently, in an office, or both. Conciliators can also charge a fee for the provision of mediation services or they can choose to charge a free. According to Saudi Gazette, registered conciliators “can practice conciliation out of courts or within the courtrooms. The conciliation minutes they issue will become executive documents once electronic approval was accorded by the Conciliation Center at the ministry.” Fields of specialization include family, financial, criminal, traffic, real estate, commercial, and intellectual property rights.

Over the last two years, Saudi Arabia has been working to boost the inclusion of women in various sectors and provide them with more opportunities through various measures, spanning from reforms and decrees to programs. Following this comprehensive approach, there has been a noticeable surge in the number of women across various sectors in the nation, including its Ministry of Justice, which has been working to empower women and integrate them into the justice system as part of a larger nation-wide effort.