Economic development, access to health and human services, and improved educational standards are inextricably linked to citizen participation, respect for the rule of law, and a transparent and accessible public sector.

In Jordan, King Abdullah has demonstrated a sustained commitment to social sector reform and has initiated support for broader democratic reform initiatives. In the past few years, the Government of Jordan (GOJ) has worked to improve Jordan’s legal and regulatory framework and supported sweeping legal sector reforms, aimed at achieving full independence of the judiciary.

Challenges

Many of Jordan’s key democratic institutions and civil society organizations have inadequate technical, organizational, and policy skills to effectively perform their respective roles in a competitive, efficient, and responsive way. In addition, NGOs face a legal and administrative framework not entirely conducive to growth and expansion of this sector. Media reporting on Jordan’s political scene is less developed than what exists in Western democracies. There is also a relatively low level of participation by civil society in the public decision making process.

King Abdullah has also made it clear that “political development” will be a critical part of the current government’s mandate. Thus, for the first time since the early 1990s, political reforms have been placed at the top of the Prime Minister’s list of priorities. The GOJ has initiated dialogue with a broad spectrum of interest groups, including political parties and professional associations. Work has also been initiated to increase press freedom and effectuate media reform. The GOJ has also expressed readiness to support changes to laws regulating elections and the formation and activities of political parties. With respect to parliamentary reform, the GOJ has announced its determination to overcome the legacy of confrontational relationships between the executive and legislative branches of government.

The Ministry of Justice also articulated its own strategy for reform entitled: Judicial Upgrade Strategy or ‘JUST’. The JUST strategy was developed in order to bring about needed modernization to the Jordanian justice sector. The strategy calls for major sector upgrades, including court automation, the creation of a modern case management system, overhauling human resource management, promoting transparency through e-government and improving the overall integrity of the entire sector.

Response

In the governance sector, USAID is working in partnership with the Government of Jordan to strengthen the rule of law, strengthen Parliamentary infrastructure, support stronger ties between Parliament and civil society and improve the status of women. In the area of rule of law, USAID will provide support to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in its efforts to make the judicial sector more transparent, efficient, and support the government’s efforts to develop a free and independent judiciary. These objectives will be accomplished by training judges in technical legal fields to improve adjudications; automation of courts, including computerized case management and improved court administration; and a revamped judicial training institute, to include new coursework and new teaching methodologies.

Under legislative strengthening, USAID will work with and at the request of the Parliament to improve research capacity and encourage the greater use of information technology (IT) in the legislative process. Activities will also be implemented that promote stronger linkages between the legislature and civil society, media, and women’s groups to promote a greater understanding of key issues. Anticipated results from this partnership with the Parliament include improved legislative staff capability, stronger institutional capacity of the Parliament, enhanced key non-governmental organizations’ engagement in the policy-making process, and strengthened capacity of the press to report responsibly on issues of parliamentary process and technical issues.

Highlights

USAID has already initiated several programs to support the Jordanian government’s on-going efforts to promote political and judicial sector reforms. A series of assessments were undertaken to establish an automated case management and court administration system within the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). Working groups of Jordanian judges and respected experts have been formed to draft a judicial code of conduct and mechanism to enforce the code. A Jordanian working group has also been formed to utilize alternative dispute resolution (ADR) legislation in order to improve citizen satisfaction, while reducing the volume of cases that are litigated in the Kingdom. IT training is being provided to judges and court clerks, in anticipation of the modernization and automation initiatives discussed above. A series of assessments in the legal education sector are also scheduled for later this year and will provide a road map for improving the way in which future legal professionals are educated.