Iran-backed Houthis raise judicial fees approximately tenfold

The Iran-backed Houthis have raised judicial fees in the capital, Sanaa, and the areas under their control, and are now dealing with it as a source of taxation and revenue stream, and increase the economic and living burdens on Yemenis who suffer from the scourge of war ignited by the militia since March 2015.

The head of the so-called Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, issued Law No. 3 of 2022 amending some articles of Law No. 26 of 2013 regarding judicial fees.

Under the law, the militia imposed a proportional fee on commercial, civil and administrative disputes with a known value between 1% and 10 of one percent of the value of the lawsuit, provided that the value of the fee in civil lawsuits does not exceed YR200,000.

The Houthis also raised the fixed fee for civil, commercial and administrative lawsuits that are "not subject to appraisal" tenfold, from YR500 to 5000.

Since their takeover Sanaa, the Houthis have turned the judiciary into a tool to impose their control in Sana’a and other governorates.

The Houthis used the judiciary to seize and confiscate the opponents' money balances in commercial banks, in addition to transferring the ownership of homes, lands, companies and assets of what they describes as "traitors".