Juris Doctor (JD) students at the College of Law and Public Policy (CLPP) of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) recently attended a special guest lecture on the courts of the State of Qatar and local judicial processes.
The lecture, conducted within CLPP’s JD programme falls under the corporate social responsibility and community engagement initiatives of Qatari law firm Sultan Al-Abdulla & Partners (SAP). It aims to provide students with an expert perspective of the Qatari court system. Training sessions and special guest lectures are an integral part of the curriculum at CLPP to ensure that practical skills are developed alongside a theoretical understanding of legal issues and concepts.
Ashraf Feshawi, the guest speaker and a partner at SAP, provided students with an overview of the legal framework within the court system in Qatar, as well as judicial steps and procedures available in the country. His lecture explained how the local court system is based on civil law derived from the French as opposed to the Anglo-Saxon common law system, and emphasised the importance of differentiating between the two systems to understand the application of court precedent before the courts.
The students also discussed different types of cases that may be brought before the courts, including civil and trade cases; real estate; construction contract disputes; labour matters; family law cases; and administrative cases.
As part of the lecture, JD students learned more about issues that can arise in practice, such as whether a court can consider cases with a foreign governing law, the duration of cases before the courts of Qatar, and how hearings are conducted before the respective judges.
The Advocacy course is offered within the JD programme and covers advocacy in international arbitration and litigation in both civil and common law jurisdictions. The students also participated in a mock trial at Qatar International Court.
HBKU’s JD programme is the first graduate law degree of its kind in the MENA region. It offers training to graduate students and covers a range of disciplines that helps develop to understand the diverse legal systems – civil, common, and Sharia – Qatari laws that govern complex events and transactions.
For more information about the JD programme, visit the HBKU website at hbku.edu.qa.