In a significant judicial development that ends years of professional and administrative controversy, the Administrative Court of Appeal at the Board of Grievances issued a final judicial ruling that champions national competencies. The ruling obliges the competent authorities to classify graduates of the Bachelor’s degree from technical colleges under the title “engineer” explicitly, without any additional descriptions or sub-classifications such as “technician” or others, thus putting an end to the job differences between them and their counterparts from university engineering colleges.
Ending the controversy surrounding professional titles
This ruling brings to a close a long period of claims and legal proceedings concerning the professional disparities faced by graduates of technical colleges. The court, in its landmark judgment, affirmed that adding any qualifier or description to the job title of Bachelor of Engineering graduates diminishes their professional standing and creates an unjustified advantage lacking a sound legal basis. The court further noted that this discrimination explicitly contradicts the Royal Decree issued in 1409 AH (1989 CE), which clearly and unequivocally stipulated the equality of graduates from both the technical and university tracks in terms of benefits, job rights, and salary grades.
Legal basis and grounds for the ruling
The judicial panel explained in its detailed reasoning that while the issuance of the new Engineering Professions Practice Law transferred the authority to classify professions to the relevant technical body, it did not repeal or amend previous royal decrees. The ruling emphasized a fundamental legal principle requiring the integration and complementarity of legal texts, rather than the suspension of any one of them, to ensure the stability of graduates' legal standing and safeguard their acquired rights. The court deemed the insistence of the concerned authority on adding discriminatory descriptions a violation of the principles of equality and justice guaranteed by the state's laws.
Dimensions of governance and its impact on the labor market
This ruling is of paramount importance, extending beyond the individual plaintiffs to encompass a broad segment of Saudi Arabia's national talent pool. Historically, graduates of technical programs have faced challenges in professional classification, impacting their opportunities for promotion and job competitiveness compared to graduates of traditional universities, despite receiving intensive practical training. This ruling reinforces the Kingdom's commitment to supporting technical and vocational education and development, as this judicial redress will encourage more young people to pursue technical careers without fear of future discrimination in job titles or career paths.
The final ruling was also based on a series of official correspondences and minutes of previous meetings between the relevant parties, which had previously resulted in a technical and procedural agreement to classify graduates of technical programs as "engineers." Accordingly, the court overturned the previous initial ruling and reaffirmed the decision of the entity that had refused to classify graduates, obligating it to implement the royal decree and ensure complete equality.
