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DUBAI - A new bill to be announced in Saudi Arabia will allow women lawyers to deal with cases relating to child custody, divorce and other family issues, daily newspaper Arab News reported on Thursday, quoting an official.

“This is an excellent move as it would give women lawyers … a chance to argue cases in courts,” Hadi al-Yami, vice president of the Saudi National Committee for Lawyers, was quoted as saying in the newspaper.

The newspaper did not say when the bill would be passed. It added that the country’s Justice Ministry was introducing new regulations to allow women to deal directly with their solicitors.

Yami added that although women make up half the population, women lawyers are still unlikely to represent female defendants in court.

She said that under a 2001 decree, licenses are awarded only to practicing male lawyers. While there are no restrictions on women lawyers practicing, a lack of clarity remains and women are not issues licenses to practice law.