Bagdad(Mogadishu24)-Somalia’s Minister of Justice, Hassan Maalim Mohamud, addressed the efforts of the Somali government to reform its judicial institutions during the 39th ministerial meeting of the Council of Ministers of Justice in the Arab nations.

The session focused on accelerating cooperation agreements related to the fight against terrorism, money laundering, financing of terrorist groups, and technological crimes.

The Minister pointed out that in recent years, significant improvements have been made to enhance the efficiency and independence of the Somali Judiciary. This progress came after the leadership of the justice institutions was entrusted to individuals with knowledge and skills.

On the other hand, the Minister acknowledged that the government faces several major challenges:

• Some of the country’s laws cannot be implemented within the current situation.
• The number of employees in the Judiciary is insufficient.
• The government lacks the financial capacity to hire additional workers.
• There is a need to establish judicial institutions in areas recently reclaimed from the Al-Shabaab group so that citizens have access to judicial services.

The Minister of Justice emphasized that addressing all of these challenges requires urgent support. He requested that Arab countries assist Somalia in reforming and modernizing its judicial institutions to create a judicial service in line with the present era.

After the ministerial meeting, the minister held discussions with the Chairman of the High Council of Justice of Iraq, Faiq Seydan, and other officials from countries participating in the conference.

They discussed ways to strengthen judicial cooperation between Somalia and Arab countries.

Somalia has faced several challenges since its collapse in 1991, including civil war, tribal clashes, and the formation of terrorist organizations like Al-Shabaab,

Despite these challenges, Somalia has managed strengthened efforts to rebuild its institutional such as defence, financial institutions, and judicial services, which played a vital role in its journey towards debt relief, which will clear the loans contracted during the pre-civil war era.