Head of the Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) Waleed Al-Samaani has directed all courts in the Kingdom to accept national identity cards rather than the presence of two witnesses as references in personal affairs cases, notably in divorce cases.

According to the directive, the courts have to accept the national ID of the husband desiring to divorce or make the marriage null and void due to the realization of witnesses on returning the wife as it is legally desirable as it happened before the judge and court clerk.

Secretary-General and spokesman of the SJC Sheikh Salman bin Mohammed Al-Nashwan said the directive came on the back of a proposal presented by the head of the Personal Status Court in Riyadh to the SJC to override previous procedures which required the presence of two witnesses in cases of divorce and returning the wife.

The General Directorate of Advisers at SJC studied the proposal and approved the use of the national ID in these cases, the spokesman said.

He stressed this step comes within the framework of facilitating and speeding up documentation procedures in courts, and speedy completion of transactions.

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