Government | Tuesday 28 February, 2017 8:27 am |

As part of a bid to privatize some of its services to the public, the Ministry of Justice has launched an e-service to issue licenses to individuals to become official documenters of legal matters.

A source said the ministry announced that it has licensed 279 individuals to be documenters under the ministry in various parts of the Kingdom.

Despite the ministry’s statement, the ministry’s website presents a different number. There are only 192 licensed documenters in various regions of the Kingdom, according to the website. Last week, there were only 145 licensed documenters in all areas of the Kingdom, said the source.

The source added that as of Friday, there are only four provinces in the Kingdom without a licensed documenter and they are the Northern Borders, Jouf, Baha and Najran.

“Riyadh alone has 119 licensed documenters. Makkah has 31 licensed documenters, 18 of them in Jeddah. The Eastern Province has 24 licensed documenters,” said the source.

The source said Madinah has five licensed documenters, Asir has four, Hail and Qassim two each, and Tabuk and Jazan one each.

“The minister of justice had announced that the licensing of independent documenters will allow the private sector to sign off company contracts and stamp them on behalf of the ministry. The process of gaining the license is done online and is open during morning and evening shifts throughout the week,” said the source.

The source also said the ministry is cooperating with a strategic partner on the project, Thiqah Company for Business Services.

“The license is not granted to public sector workers. It is also not granted to individuals with records of misdemeanor. The license is valid for five years initially and is open to renewal,” said the source.