The initiative’s goal is to streamline judicial work and enable the review of proceedings by the parties and judges JEDDAH: The Saudi Ministry of Justice has launched in the Makkah region the second phase of its initiative to make audiovisual recordings of court hearings. The introduction of the system in the region follows the successful completion of phase one in Riyadh. “The first phase has covered over 77,000 hearings at 15 judicial departments in two months,” a ministry statement said. “The Criminal Court topped the list with nearly 45,000 recorded hearings, followed by the General Court with over 26,000, and the Labor Court with nearly 5,000.” For easy search and access, the recording system ties hearings to their time through the Najiz court system. The initiative’s goal is to streamline judicial work and enable the review of proceedings by the parties and judges, and most importantly, by the Supreme Judicial Council.