Jordan Times
Sunday, February 6, 2005
Kingdom to share
judicial reform experience with Arab countries
Representatives from almost all Arab countries will brainstorm over
projects designed to achieve administrative reforms in the region
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — Minister of Justice Salah Bashir on Saturday said several objectives of
the 2004 judicial upgrading strategy were implemented successfully last year and
“we are steadfast on implementing the rest of the plan.”
“We have spent a lot of time trying to diagnose
the administrative, legislative, logistical, managerial and human resource
challenges to arrive at the state of the judiciary that we desire,” Bashir told
The Jordan Times.
Initiated last year, the two-year judicial upgrading strategy seeks to improve
the overall performance of the judiciary in the Kingdom.
“We have conducted a thorough analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the
judicial process and we have devised a very detailed strategy and action plan
between 2004 and 2006 to address these issues,” Bashir said.
The minister, chairman of the organising committee of the good governance
initiative, was speaking one day before the opening today of a conference on
“Good Governance for Development in the Arab Countries.”
The judicial reform strategy, Bashir said, focuses on improving the performance
of the judiciary in general, supporting civil society and strengthening the
competitiveness of the national economy, while maintaining a fair and
independent justice system.
Bashir said major achievements realised in the strategy over the past year
included maintaining meritocracy in judicial appointments as well as applying a
plan to pinpoint the strengths, weaknesses and key challenges identified in the
strategy.
One of the major accomplishments in 2004, according to Bashir, included drafting
a judicial code of conduct, developing a system to store case files and
computerising the database to keep track of cases.
The strategy also succeeded in speeding up court proceedings by improving
notification procedures for defendants and witnesses.
The 2004-2006 plan also focuses on strengthening the role of judicial inspectors
by providing them with offices and increasing their numbers so they can conduct
their work with efficiency and independence, the minister explained.
Commenting on the judiciary's strengths, the minister said it included
sufficient constitutional guarantees, strong political will for upgrade, good
legal framework, hardworking judges, low incidents of financial corruption, and
relatively high financial compensation for judges.
A recent survey commissioned by the ministry and conducted by a local research
institute on a sample of 1,400 citizens indicated that 79 per cent of the public
were satisfied with the judiciary's impartiality, the minister said.
His Majesty King Abdullah had said during a visit to the Ministry of Justice in
April last year that “justice is the basis of good governance.”
“Our ultimate goal is to carry through the King's vision,” Bashir told The
Jordan Times.
Referring to some of the negative aspects that were listed in the strategy,
Bashir said there was room for improvement in the quality of judgement.
Another minus point was weakness within the courts' infrastructure, which the
strategy said needed upgrading, according to the minister.
“The strategy also pointed out that most court buildings were rented and unfit
for judicial work,” Bashir said.
Another weakness mentioned by the strategy is training of judges, as a result of
the sudden increase in their numbers, he added.
The minister said the strategy also revealed a gap in the salary between judges
and judicial administrative staff, which needs to be addressed and solved.
“We want to share our experiences, challenges and achievements with our Arab
colleagues at the conference and work together to identify challenges and
programmes to be implemented in the future... We will present our strategies as
a plan that could be beneficial to other countries in the region,” added Bashir.
Representatives from almost all Arab countries will brainstorm over pioneering
projects designed to achieve administrative reforms in the region, during the
two-day conference being held on the shores of the Dead Sea.
The meeting, held under the patronage of King Abdullah, is sponsored by the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and UNDP.