Lawsuit Filed Against the General Directorate of Traffic

The Women2Drive campaign, part of Right2Dignity initiative, has taken a strong and clear position with perseverance towards its legitimate demand for women driving. Moreover, since there is no legislation that forbids a woman from driving in Saudi Arabia, and there are no restrains for a woman to issue a driving license, a lawsuit has been filed at the Court Administration (Grievances Board) in the Eastern Province on 15 November 2011 by Ms. Manal Al-Sharif; to object to the negative decision issued by the General Directorate of Traffic, upon refusing to grant her a driver’s license. This also serves as an objection to the General Directorate of Traffic’s persistent method of ignoring all other requests for drivers licenses made by other Saudi women.

The Grievances Board allows citizens to object to government decisions judicially by filling lawsuits against it, whether this governmental decision is negative or positive. Therefore, upon receiving a negative decision by the General Directorate of Traffic to grant Ms. Manal Al Sharif (prosecutor) a driver license, and stemming from our belief that positive change is enforced through legitimate channels and via our national [judicial] institutions and also in accordance with laws and regulations, a lawsuit has been filed.

We hope that this case, and cases that follow it, contribute to the effort in pushing for the application of international agreements signed by the Saudi Arabian government. This would assist in furthering the goal of achieving women’s rights, as well as raise rights-based awareness in Saudi society.

One of the goals in doing so is to force a legal answer to the persistent question that has been raised for decades, “Why have women in Saudi Arabia been denied the right to drive a car, like men do?”.

Full case documentation can be found here: http://www.allahem.net/2012/02/blog-post.html

The Right2Dignity Initiative calls on all those who are interested to file a similar lawsuit to follow the following steps, please also note that a lawyer can be provided by the initiative:
1 – Apply for obtaining a driving license in local Department of Traffic
2 – Upon rejection of the application, send an objection via telegram or registered letter to the General Administration of Traffic in Riyadh. Here, you will find a sample letter of objection:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7hl4_pD_WDiMzUwMDQ3MjctZDQyOS00NmNhLWI3ZGItMjlhZTEwYjE5Y2I2&hl=ar&pli=1
3 – Send us the date of sending the telegram / letter, next, you are entitled after 90 days to file a lawsuit in the Grievances Board.

Members of My Right To Dignity Initiative
www.women2drive.org