The Ministry of Justice is taking a closer look at the possibility of fixing the fee structures of lawyers in a bid to ensure uniformity. There have recently been reports in the media debating the issue as people have been complaining that lawyers charge high fees and there is no uniformity. Justice Minister H E Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanem told Al Sharq in an interview that he was personally of the opinion that a small committee be set up to first study the issue and look at its various aspects. Subsequently, depending on what recommendations the panel comes up with a mechanism can be put in place to fix the fees of lawyers. The law is silent on the issue, the minister said. Asked if there were enough legal offices in the country, Al Ghanem said he personally did not think that the market was saturated. More legal offices and consultancies are needed as the country has been witnessing an economic boom. Replying to questions on cyber crimes, the minister said some crimes were indeed covered by the law as suitable amendments have been introduced over time, but there are many other types of cyber crimes which are |not covered. A committee which has been set up is busy studying the issue. With regard to foreign representatives of legal firms here having been permitted to appear in the court on behalf of their clients in disputes that involve sums up to QR100,000 the Minister said there had been representations from Qatari lawyers objecting to the move. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=May2009&file=Local_News2009051134259.xml

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