Courts and Judgments

Responsibility for the Qatari judiciary is shared among the bureaucracies of three ministries. Adlea (Civil Law) Courts are subordinate to the Ministry of Justice, Shari'a (Islamic law) courts fall under the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, and Prosecutors fall under the Ministry of Interior. The Adlea courts have jurisdiction in commercial, national security, all forms of trafficking (including drugs, contraband, and persons), and criminal matters. The Shari'a courts have jurisdiction in family, inheritance, deportation, wrongful injury, and most other civil cases. Both Muslim and non-Muslim litigants may request the Shari'a courts to assume jurisdiction in family, commercial, and civil cases.

The law also provides for the establishment of ad hoc state security courts. Although there have been no cases before these courts since the current Amir assumed power, they have not been abolished formally by law and remain an option. Defendants tried by all courts have the right to appeal. The Appeals Court is the highest in the country.

The Shari'a courts apply most principles contained in the draft Family Status Law, which covers marriage, inheritance, and juvenile matters, to cases currently under adjudication. Some provisions of the legislation continue to be debated. Shari'a trials usually are brief. Shari'a family law trials often are held without counsel; however, an increasing number of litigants, especially women, use lawyers to present their cases. After both parties have stated their cases and examined witnesses, judges usually deliver a verdict after a short deliberation.

Trials in both the Adlea and the Shari'a courts are public, but the presiding judge can close the courtroom to the public if the case is deemed sensitive. Lawyers in the past did not play a formal role except to prepare litigants for their cases; however, an increasing number of litigants avail themselves of a lawyer to present their cases, particularly in divorce cases. In such cases, lawyers prepare the litigants and speak for them during the hearing. Non-Arabic speakers are provided with interpreters. Defendants are entitled to legal representation throughout the trial and pretrial process.

Source: IPR Country Guide