Saudi women lawyers welcome new divorce notice via SMS

A number of Saudi female lawyers have said the new system introduced by the Justice Ministry to notify married women through SMS in case of divorce, will put an end to a situation where the women are the last ones to know about their latest marital status

Many Saudi lawyers said several reforms introduced by the Ministry of Justice lately contribute greatly in ensuring justice for women and to protect their rights, according to Saudi Gazette.

The new initiative will notify the women immediately via text message to their phone numbers registered through the Absher system when a divorce deed is issued by a court.

The text message will inform the divorcee of the number of the divorce document and the court that issued it.

Lawyer Somayya Al-Hindi told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that Saudi courts in the past heard many cases of Saudi women who continued to live with their ex-husbands not knowing that they had been divorced.

“Saudi men in the past obtained divorce deeds from courts without the knowledge of their wives and without informing them of their new marital status,” Al-Hindi said.

“This will put an end to any attempts at cheating or impersonating the identity of women to take control of their bank accounts and property using previously issued powers of attorney,” Al-Hindi said.