Harmonisation of legislation with international human rights standards

Exchange of experiences in Amman on harmonisation of legislation with international human rights standards with participants from the Jordanian Ministry of Justice.
Exchange of experiences in Amman on harmonisation of legislation with international human rights standards with participants from the Jordanian Ministry of Justice.
Jordan

As part of the institutional funding of the Federal Ministry of Justice, IRZ, in cooperation with the Jordanian Ministry of Justice, organised an exchange of experiences on 8 May, 2023 on the topic of “Harmonisation of legislation with international human rights standards”.

The exchange of experiences focused on the implementation process of international human rights obligations in national legislation and on the control mechanisms to ensure compliance with such obligations.

Hana Hamdan Saeed Al Khab, Head of the Department of Human Rights at the Jordanian Ministry of Justice, first provided an insight into how international human rights are implemented in Jordanian legislation.

Dr. Michael Erwin Fuchs, former Senior Ministerial Counsellor and lecturer, outlined the German design of the implementation process of international human rights conventions. He first described the difference between the monistic and dualistic theory which is implemented by Germany. International conventions are negotiated by the Federal President or the Foreign Minister. The signed conventions are then adopted into natural law by a transformation act with the consent or participation of the Bundestag (German Parliament) and Bundesrat (Federal Council) to then be applied in Germany. There are three safeguards in Germany to monitor national compliance with international human rights: the courts, parliament and politicians. In addition, civil society monitors the implementation of rights and reprimands the government if these are not sufficiently guaranteed. Most recently, the human rights report by Amnesty International named violations of freedom of expression and freedom of the press within Germany.

Finally, Hana Hamdan Saeed Al Khab explained the control mechanisms in Jordan. Similar to Germany, several regional, international and national reports are issued every year with recommendations on how to improve the protection of human rights. She emphasised in particular that Jordan must follow these recommendations, as they are often linked to the continuation of development aid.

IRZ would like to thank the experts and the participants for the lively exchange, which was convivial and goal-oriented, and is looking forward to further events in cooperation with the Jordanian Ministry of Justice.