In an interview with Sabq newspaper, the Chairman of the National Society for Human Rights, Dr. Mufleh Al-Qahtani, emphasized that the Supreme Court’s decision to empower women without the consent of their guardian will contribute in finding solutions to some of the problems they faced in the past such as obtaining a passport and he has pointed out that the previous directives has been issued urging that the parental consent should not be required for women to obtain a national identity card.

Besides, Al-Qahtani has said: “The issuance of this order is an important pillar in supporting women’s rights and enabling them to obtain services without requiring the consent of others.” He has also pointed out that the entities that have regular basis to request such approval should raise these provisions during three months.

He has added that “It is known that some parents have abused the concept of jurisdiction over women, harmed them, deprived them of some of their rights and arbitrarily abused them; this is why this decision is trying to strike a balance in this area. To illustrate, there is a need to preserve the family as a nucleus of society, as stipulated in the Basic Law of the Kingdom, and the rights of women, and not being arbitrarily deprived of them by some parents.

In addition, “It is assumed that any relationship between the individual – man or woman – and the state does not require the consent of another person to complete the relationship or act since all men and women are equal in rights; and if some behavior of some family members are harmful to this family, the victim or the guardian must demand to lift such damage in accordance to the provisions of the Islamic Shariah