Jordan – annual report 2023

Details
Published: September 4, 2024

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is an important partner of the European Union and a key player in the region. The country maintains good relations with both the Palestinian leadership and Israel and thus plays an important role as a mediator in the Middle East conflict.

Jordan‘s political and economic stability is closely linked to the situation in its neighbourhood. Since the period between independence and the Arab Spring in 2011, significant political, economic and security policy changes have taken place in the region, which have also influenced Jordanian politics and its vital interests. In view of the transformation processes, but also the conflicts in neighbouring countries, Jordan faces complex challenges – both internally and externally – and has to make difficult decisions in order to adapt.

In 2023, numerous changes were implemented to make the political framework in Jordan more democratic and participatory. Based on the recommendations of the Royal Committee (“Royal Committee for Political Modernisation”) convened by King Abdullah II in 2021, a number of reforms have been introduced to modernise the country politically and economically. These include, for example, the recent amendments to the constitution, the political parties law and the electoral law. Another nota- ble change was the increase in the number of seats reserved for women on local lists to 18. In addition to the existing direct constituencies, the upcoming parliamentary elections will also see national lists reserved exclusively for parties.

In the area of legal policy, the 2022 Judicial Strategy sets out the reform efforts of the Jordanian judiciary for the years 2022 to 2026. The aim is to make court proceedings and work processes more efficient and effective. The focus here is on speeding up proceedings and improving the available resources in civil jurisdiction. For example, the focus is on improving the qualifications of civil servants at the Ministry of Justice (including at an administrative level) and expanding and specialising the judiciary in civil jurisdiction, including mediation.

Furthermore, Jordan intends to adopt measures as part of the strategy that will lead to an increase in efficiency in the area of commercial law. This includes the plan to expand the commercial chambers responsible for commercial matters in the courts and make them more efficient. The increasing importance of e-commerce is to be taken into account. This should improve the management of legal and administrative resources in the area of commercial law and serve to significantly accelerate and facilitate business activities in Jordan.

In addition, the new Investment Climate Law came into force in 2023, which aims to improve investment conditions in Jordan by defining the rights and obligations of investors, guaranteeing their equal treatment, ensuring a stable legal framework and facilitating administrative and judicial procedures by reducing bureaucracy. This approach is intended to make Jordan more attractive to foreign investors in order to boost the. economy and possibly counteract the high unemployment rate. This rose to 22.3 per cent in 2023, well above the average of 15 per cent before the COVID-19 pandemic, with young people (46 per cent) and women (30 per cent) being the most affected.

In 2023, Jordan also enacted a new cybercrime law to replace the previous regulations, which is intended to ensure greater online security and privacy protection. However, due to vague wording, some observers (including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell, and the EEAS press team) fear that the law could also restrict freedom of expression.

Overall Concept

Since the start of project work in Jordan in 2006, IRZ has been supporting various institutions of the Jordanian judiciary with further education, training and counselling measures. In 2023, IRZ began to work with the Jordanian Ministry of Investment, which was established in 2021. Commercial law issues are at the heart of the Jordanian government‘s reform efforts, as evidenced by the new Investment Climate Law. IRZ therefore focusses its cooperation on these topics.

In addition, a project funded by the German Federal Foreign Office on “Promoting legal certainty: Supporting criminal law reforms in Jordan” was finalised this year. The aim of the project was to contribute to increasing efficiency and transparency in Jordanian criminal proceedings. This year, at the request of the Jordanian partners, a special focus was placed on the topics of “human trafficking”, “money laundering” and “cybercrime”. As part of the institutional funding provided by the Federal Ministry of Justice, IRZ organised an event on the topic of “cybercrime” with a focus on “hate crime”.

Focus of Activity in 2023

Constitutional Law, Human Rights and their Enforceability

  • Exchange of experience on the constitutional interpretation of laws and the impact of constitutional court decisions in Jordan and Germany
  • Exchange of experience on harmonising legislation with international human rights standards

Civil and commercial law

  • Kick-off workshop on issues relating to the investment climate and improving the legal framework

Public Law

  • Exchange of experience on administrative procedural law

Administration of justice

  • Expert dialogue on drafting legislation and legislative techniques
  • Expert discussions on the right to a fair trial
  • Exchange of experience on the probative value of digital documents in court
  • Expert discussion on issues relating to the digitalisation of the justice system, in particular e-files and data protection-compliant communication

Criminal and Penitentiary Law

  • Seminar on “Dealing with underage detainees and setting up an effective enforcement planning system”
  • Exchange of experience in the fight against cybercrime

The following events were also organised as part of the Federal Foreign Office‘s project funding on “Promoting legal certainty: Supporting criminal law reforms in Jordan”:

  • Seminar on transparency within the justice system with a focus on criminal proceedings
  • “Training of Trainers” on the topic: “Establishing facts in court and techniques for questioning witnesses and defendants in criminal proceedings”
  • “Training of Trainers” on questions of “Investigation procedures and their special features in human trafficking and money laundering cases”
  • Study trip of a Jordanian delegation to Berlin on the topic of increasing efficiency in criminal proceedings
  • Exchange of experience on money laundering and cybercrime
  • Working group meeting in Amman: digitalisation efforts within criminal proceedings and evaluation of the project

Outlook

IRZ will continue its cooperation with its Jordanian partner institutions in the coming year. In particular, cooperation with the Ministry of Investment is to be intensified, and the implementation of several measures in the area of civil and commercial law is being considered. The Ministry of Justice, the High Judicial Council and the Jordanian Judicial Academy remain important project partners. The cooperation is focussed on the education and training of judges through further education seminars and training courses in the field of civil and criminal law.