Attorney advocates alternative penalty system
Khalid Al-Nowaiser
By ARAB NEWS
Published: Aug 26, 2010
JEDDAH: A Saudi attorney
called for a law eliminating imprisonment as a penalty for infringing upon
certain private rights as part of efforts to modernize the country’s legal
system.
Cases involving debts
and nonviolent offenses (other than fraud, theft, bounced checks and alimony
cases) should not lead to the imprisonment of an offender, said Khalid
Al-Nowaiser.
Creditors should call
for other remedies rather than imprisonment of debtors who can’t pay back their
loans, he added.
Al-Nowaiser suggested
alternatives to imprisonment, such as seizing assets or establishing liens, a
travel ban on the offender, the freezing of bank accounts or garnishing wages.
By employing these means, creditors would be fully protected without denying
the debtor his ability to earn a living to pay back the debt.
Al-Nowaiser added that
the bail of indemnity should be canceled and replaced by a financial bail,
because the bail of indemnity is a clear and direct call for imprisonment, not
only for debtors but also for their guarantors. As a result, both he who incurs
the debt and the person who guarantees it expose themselves to the possibility
of imprisonment, thus affecting their families, friends and employers. He said
that a prison is a place for criminals, fraudsters and cheaters, not for
insolvent persons.
He added that there are
many negative consequences arising from imprisonment, because one’s
incarceration becomes a gateway to criminality, mental illness and exposure to
violence.
Meanwhile, the family of
the imprisoned debtor loses the income and the support of the family member.
Al-Nowaiser said the cost of incarceration is about SR11,000 per month per
prisoner.
